The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Admin,

I have had my problems with the Lings lately too. My first Bentley GT didn't work and I only had it for an hour and took it right back and they gave me a new one. The second Bentley GT was OK for 5 weeks and then developed the discoloration problem so I swapped it out for The Bentley Motors which I have had for almost 8 months with no problems. My new Super Avenger is fine but the second hand does not line up perfectly at the top when it is stopped but I don't really care. Naviman has been pissed off at the office lately with his defective Nav World so I would say that Ling is a little loose in the QC department recently and there is no excuse for it. All they have to do is thoroughly test each watch before shipping them. It's not bad enough to stop me from buying Lings but if I bought one at a dealer I would wind it and hang out for an hour or so before leaving with it to make sure it was OK. The guy's at Interwatches.com where I bought my SA test the watches before shipping them.

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LING MAN

Sure, that is a lot of problems, but then I look at the amount of Lings I've had, which is probably in the neighbourhood of 2 dozen, and I haven't had a problem with any of them that wasn't more than typical movement servicing, and it was about that time anyway...

I heard Breitling actually had really bad QC problems in the early to mid 90's, but I haven't really owned too many from that era.

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BreitlingSource Admin
http://www.breitlingsource.com - http://blog.breitlingsource.com

OK so they are still made in Switzerland then its obvious there quality has slipped BIG TIME on the Navitimer as I know 6 people in a small community of Helicopter Pilots having problems with their Navitimer too.

Ling man, i know this is off topic, but when you got your watch from interwatch.com were the papers signed/dated at all or just totally open?

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chronomat evolution mop
bentley motors t black dial

rhequest,

No not signed and dated. It came with all of the correct documentation though. They provide a 2 year warranty themselves. Whenever I have a problem with any Lings that I have had for a while I take them to a local watchmaker that knows Lings and that way I get them back much faster. I had an Astromat Longitude that I left the crown unscrewed on one time about 6 years ago and it got SOAKED internally, then I cracked the crystal and with all of that it still worked. When I got a Chronomat I took the Astromat in to him and he had it for about a week and when I got it back it was perfect. I brought the defective Bentley GT to him too and he told me to bring it back to the dealer which I did and got the Motors. I can tell you though that I am very happy with interwatches.com

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LING MAN

Rotors88, wow that is a lot of people having problems that you know! I am with you that Navitimers are for show and not a reliable timepiece. It's too bad because they do look great huh. No more Navitimers,no more Navitimers,spread the chant..... Lingman and I have decided that with Lings you need several of them because one is always going to be in the shop and you need one to wear while all your others are being fixed... Admin you have been VERY lucky I guess,hey let me borrow one of your many Lings while mine is getting fixed. I have better idea,I should buy another Ling for Christmas! I need MORE LINGS.......................

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Naviman

It might very well be that I don't wear my lings enough and that is why I've never had a problem.. too many perhaps? But I did used to keep them all on winders and always running.

I'm quite suprised that you know 6 people with the same watch having the same problem... I wouldn't think that much more than 6 of them have Navi's, that's probably close to a 100% failure rate in that community. I really would like to hear Thomas' stats for the ones he's sold!

I'm wondering if maybe subjecting them to the vibrations in a helicopter are what is causing the problems since you guys are all helicopter pilots.

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BreitlingSource Admin
http://www.breitlingsource.com - http://blog.breitlingsource.com

G'day site manager, i obviously know a lot more than 6 Helicopter Pilots & I know at least 18 who own Lings, & yes 6 have problems with their Navitimer. I don't know any non Pilots who own Lings As for vibration Lings own blurb claims that it can handle both vibration & knocks?? I suspect that they have had a quality control issue surface which is leading to these problems. Note there are other people writing here of their own problems with Lings, & I am sure there are many people out there who are not aware of this forum. Still think the Navitimer have the looks, sadly just not for Pilots who would use them for their engine on - engine off timer, to risky. So far my Airwolf though has been faultless,

Again, this is what put me off the Navi World. In this age of super cheap computers, afordable reliable cars etc etc you would expect absolute and uncompromised reliability/performance when you plop down fout thousand US dollars on something that just has to tell the time. Granted design/quality/material the determining factors but in essence it is a watch and you would expect it to function impecably as what it is.

The Datora on the other hand is great, no problems at all so far. I just wish the hands and dial were better designed re: readability. Other than that it has looks and performance covered! Too bad about the water resistency being so low.

Which brings me to the conclusion I first made when introduced to Breitling, their best watch is the Chronomat Evolution! 300M diver resistency, great design, excellent bracelet and performs like a champ. THE breitling to have! The navitimers are a second watch for sure.

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Certified watch nut.

It is a very good day indeed

Not saying that the vibrations are an excuse for the problems, simply a reason. No doubt the watch should sustain the vibrations in a helicopter, you are absolutely right.

I know many people owning Lings, but 6 out of 18 (33%) is a VERY high failure rate.. one that I'd really like Thomas to substantiate. I believe you, but that does not seem normal to me at all is all I am saying. And the reasons for problems may not be the same for all of them (you didn't elaborate)... unlike the Navitimer World, which clearly has the same problem with the GMT hand in several cases.

I highly doubt 33% of all Navitimers that Breitling is shipping have problems, and I agree there are many not on this forum that are having problems, but I think that people with problems tend to complain a lot more than people without problems, and there are even more people that are perfectly happy with their Navitimers that are not posting problems. That is the reason I'd like to hear from a dealer as to the failture rate.

If indeed the failure rate due to poor QC is 33% or even 10 or 5%, that is too high and unacceptable... and this will be reflected in their future sales (or lack of).

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BreitlingSource Admin
http://www.breitlingsource.com - http://blog.breitlingsource.com

Altair,

You are right about that! The Chronomats are the most reliable and best Lings for sure. I have had two of them and they run like champs and you can abuse the hell out of them. They just need to make one that is 46mm or bigger because I am used to the size of my world and when I put on an Evo it is just too small. The best is the diver 300m feature. The Navitimers should be waterproof imho. They should have it designed so you can screw down the crown or leave it open for easy use while flying. Maybe this is not possible but that would be cool. They are a second watch for sure. They are lastly a watch and should tell time perfectly but that seems like too much to ask lately lol! I think the only choice is the SA or a Bentley and a few others but the Navitimers are out in my book.

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Naviman

I have not had any quality issues with Navitimer since the change to the cal. 23. I had them quite often with the powerreserve/winding mechanism of the old valjoux 7750 (cal.13). This specially happend, when people believed, that the free running rotor would wind it (which it does not, the other direction does!), and changed theire armmovements according to that. No surprise, the watch had no powerreserve.
I have never heard in of Breitling totalisers freely moving (except one case of a Breitling Montbrillant with an old Landeron cal. , which was about 1992, which was seriously messed up by Breitling Switzerland).
I also did a quick check with my repair people, and they knew nothing of any special problems with Navitimers. I also had no quality issues with Navitimer World 24h mechanisms so far, but my agent does check all incoming watches. Maybe something, the american/canadian importer does not.
Maybe the problem is caused by very good fakes? When You put a chinese copy movement into the watch, You will get those problems. I also know an old system of making 2 watches out of one: You sell a steel watch to China. They take out the movement and dial, put them into a gold watch, the original case will be filled with a fake movement and replica dial.
Very tough to tell, if those watches are real.

BG
Thomas

Hello,

I am from Austria and a frequent reader of this useful forum. Happy to have such useable tool - thank you!

Since December 2007 i am a proud owner of a new Navitimer with the incredible beautiful silver dial. I have loved that watch from the first sight.
I purchased it from a certified Breitling Dealer in Vienna.

Unfortunately i also experienced problems with the mechanism of my Navitimer after only one month. I wish, it wouldn't be so...
When i pressed the button to start the chronograph, sometimes the whole watch stopped work. I brought it back to the dealer and now it is in the Navitimer Hospital in Switzerland. I'll get it back in two weeks.
My dealer said he never had problems with the navitimer... but i don't know how much he's already sold.

However, it is a really sad story. I am a airline pilot in Austria. I also need a 100% reliable watch. And after my recent experience and after reading that thread, i am no more sure about that. Even when it is the most beautiful watch i've ever seen, it does not benefit if it is not working right.
For the time I have my good old swatch on my wrist; but if it the problem grows also to a "never ending story", I have to sell my first Breitling...
Sad, sad, sad...

Thanks for participation and greets from middle europe,

Rainer!

Hello,

I just purchased a new "standard" Navitimer last week from an AD and so far, so good. It was interesting to read all of the reviews in this topic. I hope mine functions correctly for many years to come. It's a beut!

Best,
Dave

Hello everyone,

As arrow wrote, he needs a reliable watch, I have to point Your attention at one very important point: A mechanical watch can never be as reliable as a quartz watch. The more functions a watch has, the more expensive it is, the more it is prone to defects, imperfections and problems. A Navitimer is a beautiful peace of art, a statement of living and culture, that gives You the flair of flying in the sixties, but never an instrument, that can match the accuracy of Your GPS.

For use in an airliner I would recommend a B1/Airwolf. A Navitimer is for outside of the cockpit only...

BG
Thomas

p.s. Arrow, where did You buy it from?