The Breitling Watch Source Forums

So, I have a vintage Sprint which was give to me as a wedding present nearly 4 years ago by my lovely wife. Not the worlds most expensive watch but cherished nonetheless!

http://picasaweb.google.com/tobyartg/Wa ... EQEqjk5kw#

The other week I dropped it, on a hard floor . There was no visible damage to the outside, crystal all fine, second hand still moving etc the next morning I put it on an noticed it had stopped so tried to wind, nothing . So i have taken it to my AD in london who has sent to BUK, who it turns out have a Vintage Department who are carrying out a stress test. I now have to wait 4 weeks for an estimate and then decide if the price is worth paying, though to be honest providing it is not north of £500 I have already decided to do it.

I suppose the positive is that I will get back a watch that has been given a new lease of life as it probably could do with a full service. Will let you know the price when it arrives but would be keen to know if anyother members have had experience of BUK work on vintages. Will of course post pic once work has been done..

I suppose considering the no of old watches around they must be able to do something with them,I bet they even buy up old ones and keep them as spares,Can you imagine a watch being bought by BUK only you wouldnt know it was them

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I recently had my vintage Breitling refurbished by BUK. Mine (815/3 Long Playing) would be a good comparison to yours as it is similar in most respects, having a Valjoux 7736 movement that was also broken (I suspect I had overwound it years ago before I knew better). My experience was that BUK did a superlative job bar one little glitch, requiring it to go back for re-adjustment. It came back looking like new (although the dial was mint to start with).

I believe they will quote you for a full overhaul and depending on the appearance of the case, they may check with you on the degree of restorative work, for instance a sympathetic refurbishment that retains some or all of the patina. I think your figure of £500 is in the ballpark, but of course if severely damaged, it could be a lot more. I paid a little more, but that did include a genuine Breitling cowhide strap for £85 or so. They took 6 months to return mine, but it was well worth the wait. The results, if you choose to have it done at BUK, will I promise you, be stunning (along with the bill!).

PS. All replacement parts are NOS or are reproduced by Breitling Switzerland or their suppliers - hence a lengthy wait is possible depending on the parts required. Breitling service do not use secondhand parts. If a part cannot be sourced in or manufactured, the watch will not be repaired.

Ike

If it's just mechanical then GBP500 is likely about right. If there are broken dial feet then the cost can go up as you then need a new dial as well.

Either way, good luck!

It is TOO expensive! Makes me sick to see prices like that paid for the kind of work and the insult of waiting 6 months is just rediculous. A REAL rip-off. Craig

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S. Craig Bergsma

Ike, thanks for your words of encouragement in terms of quality of work, reassuring. However a 6 month wait does seem excessive. I will wait to see what they come back with.

Criag if it is north of £500 with a lead time of 6 months I may just drop you a line.

Another question for you guys, when I dropped the watch off I didn't give them the service book. I assume that I can send to them if i decide to proceed with the work. I guess it is worth documenting any work carried out?

Cheers

T

Had a call last night from the AD about the service for my Sprint. And this is going to hurt! For just the service it is going to cost £720
If I want to add on, new pushers and crown, new rotium? coating and a new crystal, the price is then £1200




Now I will replace the crystal as this is only £37. Question is should I do the rest? This work will cost twice what my wife paid for the watch 4 years ago!! Would welcome advice as I know nothing about the worth of Rotium coating, I can see the asthetic reasoning behing the pushers as the current ones are bronze in colour..Can I haggle on the service cost?

The watch is great, nothing special but I like that 70's style and want it working but as always welcome comments feedback etc.. I will never sell the watch as it was a wedding present, so this work is a sunk cost as I can not see a time when manual 70's Sprints are worth over £1500.

Cheers

T

PS they have offered me a Black leather Breitling pin strap for another £130 or so..the watch is blue!!

Rhodium coating is a protection against rusting and is liekly worthwhile if you are going to spend them money.

But, the costs aren't worth it for the watch's value - only if you plan to keep it.

Drop chronodeco (Craig) a line - he can likely do something cheaper.

To TARTG - my estimate to do all of what BUK quoted would be less than half of the L1200 based on the pics you posted earlier. Craig

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S. Craig Bergsma

Just by way of update, for those interested, I have decieded to bite the bullet and leave it with BUK for a service. Craig, I did consider your kind offer and was sorely tempted having seen some of your work posted here have no doubt you would have done a superlative job.

The reasons for going with BUK are basically 2 fold:

Firstly, they will do an excellent job which will also be guaranteed

And secondly, whilst the price is high, I don't have to pay until i receive the watch back. As this could be 6 months away I have time to save up. With my business being a little flat at present, the extra time to save up for the work will be of benefit.

So now the wait, will of course post picks once it is back, and by that time it will be like having a new watch

T,

I'd question the price of the strap at £130?. Mine cost £90 ish inc VAT.

Ike

Drop Chris Heal a line http://www.chealwatch.com/index.htm

Not used him myself but many good reports on TZ-UK

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http://f4buz.com/watches/breitling/fakes/fakes.html

For those interested, after a long 5 month wait, my sprint is back on my wrist. Gleaming like new! New crown, pushers, crystal, Rhodium coating and whatever they had to fix inside. Re-touched the hands that had some holes in and cleaned the face. Looks great!

I have 2 questions though.

I didnt get a full report of what was done, should I have done?
Also, whilst the hands have been made whole again, they do not appear to have re-painted the lume, should they have done?

I will post pics over the weekend.

Happy weekends to all.

T

I'm not sure what BUK's practice is with vintage pieces - UK members can confirm, but I believe that they provide detailed breakdowns on modern pieces (most countries do).

In terms of reluming, that surprises me slightly, I would have expected them to refresh with SuperLuminova - the Tritium has to be pretty much done by now. The good news is that you can have the lume refreshed fairly easily without more drama - although of course it requires pulling (and therefore likely replacing) the crystal or pulling the movement.

Glad that you got it back sorted out anyway.