The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi all -

I have a titanium Aerospace that I purchased new about 3 years ago. I've never had it serviced and I was reading the owners manual recently; the manual suggested that the watch gets serviced every 2 years. So, I went to my local AD and they sent it off the Breitling for an estimate. Today, I received the estimate in the mail from the AD. Keep in mind that the watch functions perfectly --- I just thought it was time for a servicing.

Anyway, the estimate includes an overhaul, a circuit block (?), crown gasket and battery seal gasket. They want $505 USD!!!! Is this normal? It seems completely outrageous. For comparison, I have a 9 year old Tag that's still running on the original battery and it's never been serviced!!

So, any suggestions? At this point, I'm thinking of just chucking the damn watch and buying a Chronoswiss.

Thanks!!!!

I purchased a pre-owned Crosswind in 2002. The original owner bought it in 2000. I noticed that it would loose 2 min per day after wearing it for an hour or so the previous day. I didn't think that was correct so I decided to investigate a "tune-up" and cleaning. The watch is 8 years old and Breitling recommends service after 2. After checking out a number of internet repair sites, I decided to bring it directly to Breitling in Wilton, Ct. They quoted me verbally
$300.00 for the work.
After a nice drive down the Meritt Pkwy and up Rt7 I came to the Breitling building. What an impressive place. Massive glass etched doors and teak flooring. The receptionist greeted me warmly. I noticed a Breitling on her wrist. Employees get on after 3 months of service. What a deal. I was ready to put in my application for employment. I was then directed to the service department where they took the watch.
Within a week I had my estimate for repair $705.00. The lead time was 6-8 weeks. I politely told them that I would come down and pick up the watch. They graciously agreed to ship me the watch at no cost. Two days later I had the watch UPS Priority Signature required. The return box was as nice as the original box the watch came in. Very impressive.
I questioned the price of the repair to the National Service Manager. I communicated to her that if one takes a Rolls in for an oil change the customer is not required to have an engine overhaul. After the conversation I understood her logic. The watch's unidirectional function was not working so back to Breitling.
After a 15 minute wait at Breitling the watch came back repaired, cleaned and polished. It looks like new and keeps time perfectly. Breitling has SUPERIOR service and a PROFESSIONAL staff. My experience with Breitling was like taking a ride on Air Force One.

They repaired it in 15 minutes? I think I missed something...

But anyway guys if you watch some of the Breitling repair videos and see the amount of work that goes into it (and notice it's not Chinese children doing it) you can see why the overhauls cost so much. On the plus side you get your watch back looking and functioning like the day it was picked up from an AD's showroom

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You did not miss a thing. When the watch was returned the uni-directional bezel worked in both directions and did not click. I'm fortunate enough to live close enough to Brietling so I made a second trip. Besides it was peak foliage time in New England and the trip down the Meritt Pkwy is beautiful that time of year.
When I arrived, the receptionist immediately sent me to the service dept. The service mgr. saw the problem and asked me to wait. She would see if a technician could "squeeze" me in. She came right back and said to wait in the lobby. She would be down with the repaired watch in 15 min.
Fifteen minutes later the watch came back repaired, cleaned and polished. I couldn't ask for better service. Another nice touch is that they serve Lindt Truffles in the lobby.

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The price is not outrageous for a full service - a little high maybe on the basis that quartz servicing is generally slightly less than mechanical. The question I would ask is whether you actually need the service done yet - 2 years is very frequent. Obviously battery life factors in, but if that's not nearing EOL then I would wait.

I'm in agreement with Roff on this one. "if it ain't broke don't fix it."

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2009 Superocean Steelfish

I'm with Steelfish on this one, Andrew.

With my Aerospace, I wait until the battery dies and then get it replaced and resealed via my AD. Typically £75 UK (before discount). It keeps amazing time year after year.

Nick

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Avenger Seawolf
Chrono Avenger
Aerospace
SOHC LE

I totally agree with this. Servicing every 2 years for a quartz (unless the battery dies... OBVIOUSLY!) is way too frequent IMO. Quartz watches are less prone to wear and tear compared to mechanical on account of having far few moving parts. Even a mechanical watch is likely to need servicing no more than once every 4 or 5 years or so.

IWC take a much more pragmatic approach to service intervals - they suggest "maybe every 4 years or so, but of it's keeping good time, perhaps a bit longer".

When all's said and done, the timekeeping will be the first thing to go if a service is required.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Thanks for the advice. I will tell the AD to hold off. Incidentally, I found out about the circuit block. The AD measured the brightness of the LCD on the watch. The brightness is supposed to be 1.9, but the watch was measured at 1.2 (a little dim). So they want to replace the circuit block to correct this --- frankly, I never even noticed it was a bit dim. Anyway, the cost of the circuit block alone is $185 USD!!!

So, I'm calling the AD tomorrow and I'm going to wait until I get the EOL for the overhaul.

Thanks!!!!!