The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I struggle when using my slide rule as it is incredibly stiff. I use it for various reasons and wonder if anyone out there has a credible remedy. I came across a 100% synthetic oil called 'Liberty Oil' on eBay, but question whether I should be applying this sort of lubricant or not.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

I just saw that on eBay today, I have a navitimer world but never move the slide rule. The pros on here will give you the answer.

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The problem with the sliderule is that it's just plopped onto the case and held in place by friction...

If you put too much oil into the joint between it and the case, two things may happen:

- sliderule and crystal might come off.

- oil might end up on the dial.

I would advise against letting anything get near the joint, especially oil...

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

I would absolutely NOT lubricate a Navi bezel. The bezel on the Navi is that models biggest design issue when it comes to water resistance - meaning that its a weak spot for water and other liquids to enter the case. Any oil you use would be very fine and thin - kind of similar to water - so purposefully introducing a liquid to that part of the case yourself would be a very bad idea. It's worth remembering that the friction fit of the bezel is all keeps the case even vaguely water resistant, so while a tight bezel may be difficult to turn its actually helping your watch stay water resistant. If it bothers you that much, wait until the next service and ask Breitling if they can free it up a little. But don't do it yourself.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I also wondered about this, my sliderule is very tight, but figure that's better than it being loose - I can move it, but takes considerable effort.

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End of Discussion.

Before lubricating, I would talk to a Breitling tech. They are very friendly and if you call Breitling then they are always willing to patch you through to a tech who can explain things. They may even know how to losen it without lubricating it. Breitling's steel is 316L, so if you are worried about wear from use (I know you didn't mention it but just in case), it probably will not be an issue given 316L's excellent properties.

It's also possible an authorized dealer with an experienced watchsmith can losen it as well.




If water resistance isn't an issue, and given it is M/M contact, do you think any sort of lube that actually bonds to the metal would be useful? (of course as I said above, before doing this a call to a Tech is worthwhile!)

I use this on things with M/M contact that you let it bond to the metal and then can wipe it all off if you desire (kind of lime Militic-1, but it works a lot better). Generally the M/M contact is significantly more than a watch though so I'm not sure if it has any value here.
http://www.tetraproducts.com/product_view.asp?ID=1

Read a suggestion on another site to try dental floss to "degunk" under the bezel. Both my display back Cosmonaute and Old Navitimer bezels were so tight I could not move them at all without superhuman effort. Cut a long (10-12") length of dental floss, pushed the center of the strand under the bezel at one position and wrapped the strand around almost to where I started it. Pulled it around a couple of times and voila'! Worked great! The Navi bezel returned to its original (as I recall) perfect tension and the Cosmo bezel returned to its original tension as well. The Cosmo was always a bit tight but easily usable and it is again now. Give it a try. A very useful and easy technique for sure!
Cheers,
Ron

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Ron, you beat me to it and would concur.

I did the same with my Old Nav Red Arrows. You can use waxed floss but there is the chance that you'll leave some residual wax under the bezel which will retain any future dust deposits.

I used unwaxed floss and lightly sprayed some WD40 on the length of floss I was going to use. This did 2 things. One, it made pulling the floss round the watch head easier and two, helped drag out the crud that had accumulated between the bezel and case. Any residual WD40 can be cleaned off with an absorbant tissue. WD40 contains a very light lubricant that is left when the water displacing formula 40 (WD40) evaporates. Doing it this way, as opposed to applying the lubricant direct to the watch, will ensure that you have no seepage through the case onto the dial.

Happy flossing.

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Powdered graphite as a lubricant? May leak out a bit and stain cuffs for a while, but I would assume that it should stabilize after a while?

I know this is an old post but I wanted to say thank you very much! I had become quite concerned about the stiffening bezel on my 1 year old Navitmer World, but following your suggestion I obtained (at no great expense I might add) some dental floss and had a couple of 'wipes' around with it. The bezel now moves as freely and smoothly as it did when new. I didn't see a lot of gunk on the floss nor did I notice anything actually come out, but it's done the trick.

Dry dental floss is the way to go. Thank you again!