The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello,

First off, let me say that I love my Breitling. It is a beautiful piece of artwork and I am happy to have it (rose gold bezel w/ SS case, blue face, brown leather croc band). I received my B01 Chronomat as a present for graduating from law school about a month ago. However, the watch was purchased in St. Thomas in January of 2011 during a family vacation because we discussed Breitling as a potential graduation present before I was even accepted to law school. As such, while my parents were wearing their watches, mine was sitting in a box, not being wound for over 2 years.

I received my watch the day after graduation and have worn it every day since. However, I am having a serious problem with my Ling losing a substantial amount of time. As indicated in my manual, if continuously wound, my Ling should be losing or gaining a max of 15 minutes per year. Whenever I wear it, I lose about 10 minutes in a matter of hours, though sometimes it is a bit less. I have also noticed that it loses time faster when I am wearing the watch, as opposed to while it is on my automatic winder that rotates about once every two minutes.

I have heard movements can become seriously compromised if not wound every so often, and also that a nice timepiece requires maintenance about once every three years. I suspect the problem is the 2 years of not being wound, but I am not sure because I haven't had this problem with either my Rolex datejust (3 years old) or my Tag carerra (5 years old). I even did some research about fake vs. real B01 Chronomats because of how substantial the time loss is. However this is unlikely, as I have all the certificates and paperwork that go along w/ a real Ling, and my parents' Lings keep great time. Also, I know that the movement in the Chronomat started being fully manufactured in-house around 2010, possibly a learning curve issue?

I am in the process of having it sent in for a checkup w/ Breitling, but in the meantime, does anyone have any similar experiences or suggestions?

Thanks in advance for the replies.

It may well be a situation of the oil migrating from where it is needed and the watch now running slow because of the increased friction. The difference between winder and wrist could be any number of factors and assuming that the watch has a full wind before being worn / going on the winder I wouldn't put too much sway in that.

Welcome to BreitlingSource.

Thanks for the quick reply, keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. Can't get my watch back a second too soon!