The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi you guys.

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on a SuperQuartz B-1 and was thinking about how long am I going to be able to enjoy it.

I read somewhere that quartz watches have a service life span of about 20 years, is this true?
Is the SQ movement in the B-1 really the same as in the newer Airwolf? If yes, I guess that's good, but I'm still a bit worried about the possibility that in say, 10 years time, something goes wrong with it, and the service people are going to tell me the part they need to repair my B-1 isn't available anymore.

Am I being paranoid or is there something to this

Thanks.

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Super Avenger (Black, arabics, big logo, Pro II bracelet)
SuperOcean Heritage 46 (Black, Ocean Classic bracelet)
B-1 SuperQuartz (Grey, Fighter bracelet)
Chronomat B01 (Onyx black, Pilot bracelet)
SuperOcean Steelfish (Black, Diver Pro II, tang buckle)

It's a fair concern. At the end of the day in 20/30/40 years time, you can guarantee that technology will have moved on to the point that no-one will be making the individual circuits/resistors, etc that are in current quartz watches. And (more crucially) no-one will be fabricating parts for them either. Mechanical watches on the other hand are made out of cogs and wheels and little pieces of metal that someone will always be able to repair or fabricate. Which is why mechanical watches from the 1880's can almost always be repaired, whereas many quartz watches from the 1980's are already impossble to fix.

Having said that, some people maintain that Breitling have made a commitment to holding parts for all current quartz models for a certain number of years (the actual number escapes me), but I can't comment on whether that is true or not. And even if it is, there will still come a point when the stocks run out.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Hi, thanks for your input. I'm sort of torn because it's been a favorite of mine for a while now and I have a chance to get a brand new one and that would be very cool. On the other hand, it's still an expensive piece of kit and the thought that in 15 years it might just be a very nice paper weight makes me nervous. I'll have to sleep on it I guess.

If anyone has any info on the pledge from Breitling about making sure parts for their quartz models are available for decades to come, please share.

Cheers,
David

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Super Avenger (Black, arabics, big logo, Pro II bracelet)
SuperOcean Heritage 46 (Black, Ocean Classic bracelet)
B-1 SuperQuartz (Grey, Fighter bracelet)
Chronomat B01 (Onyx black, Pilot bracelet)
SuperOcean Steelfish (Black, Diver Pro II, tang buckle)

David

Why not contact Breitling direct............unless someone knows for sure as I think a similar subject has been discussed before.

You could ask them (Breitling) to confirm if the B-1 SQ movement (Breitling 78) will be available for a reasonable length of time. I mean if the new Airwolf Raven is just launched with the same internals they must have some idea about the anticipated lifespan of this movement.

When my B-1 goes in for a service in a few years I'll probably end up with an SQ movement - wonder if they'll write Super Quartz on the dial.........maybe in white crayon!

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Aerospace Titanium & Gold - Grey Face
B-1 on Fighter/Blue Shark - Blue Face
Emergency on Pro - Yellow Face

To complete the collection:
Navi 01 46/Black leather - Black/white
Montbrillant Datora/Navi - White face


LEARNING.......EVERY DAY

I would not worry too much.
I have recently gotten into High accuracy quartz watches and some of the folks over on the HEQ forum have vintage quartz watches and they are going as strong and accurately as the day they were made over thirty years ago. There seems to be a healthy gray market for parts as well.
I would not give it a thought, just make sure, like all watches, not to skip on the servicing and i bet the watch will outlast you!
I calculated recently that with my HEQ (High end quartz) that by the time I snuff it in roughly 45 years my watch will have gained (without tweeking!) three and three quarter minutes..I think I can live with that!

Oh yes, quartz is not souless, especially one as special as those in Breitlings

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All the best.
Ian

With surface mount technology and outstanding thermal control these top quality quartz watches will have a vary long life.Keeping them maintained properly and not exceeding their water resistance rating should have them going for many decades.I have a Bulova Accutron which is ancient technology but has lasted well over thirty years.It's in it's stand now keeping very good time.Breitling has built the B1 superquartz infinitely better and is very much in business today.My B1 SQ is in for routine maintenance.In three and a half plus years it hasn't varied more than about 20 seconds in regular checks with WWV.It should outlast me by a long shot. If You buy one you should be very happy with it. Jimbo52

The problem with 70s / early 80s quartz Breitlings is that the technology was very new and like any other emerging technology there was extremely rapid evolution and parts were just not available after a few years. Watches can still be brought back to life with donor movements, but the supply becomes more limited every year as pieces die.

With modern watches not only are the movements more reliable and likely to last longer (at least at the high end), the rate of change of movements has slowed down so it's easier to find parts. The only significant enhancement in recent years is the addition of thermo compensation.

All that said, we just don't know how long movements and their parts will be produced and sooner or later the parts will become unavailable - just like they do with mechanical watches. The advantages with mechanical is that pieces can be fabricated, and at this point it's not practical to fabricate one off electronic components - maybe that will change in the future.

A sincere thanks to all of you for your answers! I've written an email to our main Breitling distributor asking them about this and we'll see if and what they answer.

Cheers,
David

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Super Avenger (Black, arabics, big logo, Pro II bracelet)
SuperOcean Heritage 46 (Black, Ocean Classic bracelet)
B-1 SuperQuartz (Grey, Fighter bracelet)
Chronomat B01 (Onyx black, Pilot bracelet)
SuperOcean Steelfish (Black, Diver Pro II, tang buckle)

Does the above thread and also being battery operated put anyone off buying a Quartz?
I personally would much prefer an automatic but my most recent Ling is a super quartz.Even though it's battery operated,it's the model i wanted so i went for it

question is: Are you put off from buying it because in 30 or so years down the track parts MAY be hard to come by? Don't know about you, but I'll get what I love. You might not be around in 30 years to think "gee I'm glad I didn't buy that superquartz."
Don't regret what ifs. Get what you really want.

People who have the older quartz movements from Breitling who bring it in for service, are now offered by Breitling to replace the movement to the newest Super Quartz if I'm not mistaken.
So in 20 years time you might be able to replace the old movement with an updated version. You should be safe to use the watch for at least 50 years

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Navitimer World baby!
Oh, and a sweet black arabics Super Avenger for the daily grind...

Never heard of that, and in most cases modern movements won't be compatible with the 70s / 80s watches.

Breitling do offer a credit towards a new watch when a quartz movement dies and they don't have access to parts for repair.

Yea, you make a good point there. I don't mind the quartz thing as such, obviously that's what this watch is about and I like it. But yes, I am a bit put off by the chance that in 20 years, it might be useless. It's not a cheap thing, at least to me, and it' also not a consumer good, like a laptop, which is outdated in 5 years, never mind 20.

Still, there's a big part of me that's thinking exactly the way you say, if I love it, why not buy it. So thanks for your advice, I hope I make the right decision for myself.

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Super Avenger (Black, arabics, big logo, Pro II bracelet)
SuperOcean Heritage 46 (Black, Ocean Classic bracelet)
B-1 SuperQuartz (Grey, Fighter bracelet)
Chronomat B01 (Onyx black, Pilot bracelet)
SuperOcean Steelfish (Black, Diver Pro II, tang buckle)

I have heard of that but I think it does not apply to very old models, I remember seeing someone who had an older quartz take it in for a service and they replaced the movement with a superquartz, I guess they do it to the models where the case has not change? I definately remember reading about this more than once!
Still, even if you have a super old one and Breitling offer a special price on a new one that is still something else, I know Citizen offer this service as well, I remember someone of watchuseek moaning that his 1990 Citizen could not be repaired as Citizen did not stock the parts any more, Citizen offered him a new watch at 60%off in exchange and he still thought it was a bad deal! Ya can't please some people! Oh yes, the watch he had was beaten to heck, he had a full 17 years use out of a hundred dollar watch and still Citizen were going to offer him 60% off a new one, that is customer service!

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All the best.
Ian

It's definitely true of watches that had both regular and thermo compensated versions - Emergency for example - but that's about 20 years newer than the ones that are now unrepairable.

I don't have any practical experience, but I believe that Breitling are reasonable about value of the piece as a 'credit' as well - but of course you have to be prepared to get past the personal conection to the watch.