The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello folks, I just joined this forum and I need some help. My Aerospace is 11 years old. I bought it new. It is only serviced by an authorized place (JD Watchworks in San Francisco), and the only thing the guy there, Juliusz, has ever done to my watch is change the battery, about 3-4 times. The last time Juliusz changed the battery is about 2-3 years ago.

The problem I need help with is that the analog hands fall behind the digital time. I've corrected it about 4 times in the past month. I just now corrected it, and the hands were 3.5 minutes behind. The last time I corrected this was 10 days ago.

Does this mean my battery is getting weak and needs replacing? Or is there another problem going on? Usually when the battery starts to go, the LCD readout flashes, and that's not happening now.

What could be the problem here? Is this something that Breitling might cover if there's a warranty or guarantee?

Thanks in advance!

Welcome aboard.

I'm no expert on the Aerospace, but from your post you say that the watch is 11 years old and the only thing that's ever been done to it in that time is the odd battery change. This would indicate to me that a full service is required because, while quartz movements have far less moving parts than mechanical movements, there are still parts that need lubricating and are subject to mechanical wear. Sounds to me like your watch would benefit from a trip to BUSA.

On your last point regarding warranty - your watch is 11 years old and you've owned it from new, so the warranty will have long expired, so you will be liable for any service costs.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

What Driver said, really.

The problem is a strange one: ana and digi can sometimes get out of sync when one is adjusted, but once sync/d they should stay that way so something's clearly amiss. Although you're getting to the end of battery life I wouldn't expect that problem to be a manifestation of low battery - as you say, you should simply get the EOL indicator. On service-interval grounds alone it needs a trip to BUSA.

Very likely friction / slipping in the running train - it's been running without oil for 5 years or so if the watch has never been serviced!

Every new battery change (3 so far in its lifetime), I take it to Juliusz Dabrowski at JD Watchworks in San Francisco. I think he does some light oiling each time he opens it. Also, I sure hope he does a pressure test each time, too.

For the full service, should I ship it to BUSA, or can I take it to Juliusz? (Or does Juliusz simply take it from me and then he ships it to BUSA?)

Light oiling with a battery change isn't going to do much. You can't get to most of the places where oil is needed without movement disassembly. Up to you where you take it, JD Watchworks is an approved Breitling service centre.

Thanks, Roffensian (and, Driver8). I'll move forward with either the Maintenance Service or their Complete Overhaul.

I had this with my B1, sent it for a full service and it came back fine. No further issues don't know what caused it though