The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I am stymied why i cant change dates on my Breitlings easier. Some i can click and change. But i have 5 Breitlings i cane for the life of me find any way to change date than roll 24 hours for 20 days to catch up date!! it is maddening. My Omega's Rolex, PAnerai, Hublot ALL are a piece of cake. I just grabbed my super ocean racer i just bought in Singapore. tried to bring up to today and it is a pain in the ass!! who has time to do this every time i want to change my watch! Am i missing something . It is simply a pain in the butt watch all the way around. All of them are. Not sure what i bought yet another one. I forgot how uber sensitive they are. truly. My Chrono broke because i simply spun dial to hard. barely touched it. And i am told i cant be between certain times to change? is this true. When you buy a new high end watch the guy sets it for you. Really not sure if i am incorrect. but 20 minutes to set a watch and i change them every other day just isn't well thought out. I wont be buying another one. unless i am totally missing something. But there seems to be no other way to date adjust. but rolling the 25 days hour by hour. Any idea's other than the desk drawer? Thanks!

Most breitlings have quick-set dates, some do not though, depends on the model.

1) What models do you have?

2) Do you have the instruction manuals?

Let us know what you have and someone can walk you through it. Normally the crown needs to be in the correct position and the time may need to be out of the danger zone.

_________________
Chrono Jetstream
Montbrilliant 1903
Aerospace E79362

I am always changing the time before I do the date, regardless of it being a quick date system. I just get that confused that I treat all my mechanical watches the same. I forget which one is a QS and which one is not. I sometimes stumble across a QS watch by accident and my heart goes into my mouth, thinking I have just broken it.

Its not that bad, but I agree it can be a pain, although its a good habit to get into.

The reason you have bought 5 Breitlings, is because, well.......... There Breitlings.

_________________
Jim

"You have Control".

As stated above, the vast majority of Breitling movements have a quickset date which makes date setting a task that takes no more than a few seconds.... certainly not 20 mins. So unless by pure chance you've ended up only ever buying Breitlings that don't have a quickset date function, then yes I think you are doing something wrong. The manual is going to be your best bet as it explains the quickset date with the benefit of diagrams. However, as a quick overview, the quickset date is accessed at the second position on the winding stem. To find it, unscrew the crown until it pops out (this is called the first position incidentally, and is the position in which you would manually wind the watch). Now pull out the crown to the first "click" (called the second position) - that's the quickset date position where you can advance the date rapidly. If you pull it out to the second "click" (i.e. the third position), you can adjust the time. Therefore, if you are looking for the quickset date, and find the main hands are moving when you twist the crown, then you've gone too far and you need to go back one "click".

In your post you mention a "Super Ocean Racer" - I'm not sure what model you mean as there has never been a specific "Racer" variant of the Super Ocean. However all automatic SO's use either the B13 movement (which is Valjoux 7750 based) in the case of the chronograph versions, or the B17 (which is ETA 2824 based) in the case of the three hand versions. Both of which have the quickset date function.

Lastly, on the vast majority of automatic watches (and not just Breitlings) you are well advised not to use the quickset date between the hours of 8pm and 3am. However this only applies to using the quickset date....., and it sounds like you aren't using that anyway at the moment. Advancing the date using the time setting function (i.e. going through 24 hours to advance it one day) is not a problem during those times.

Welcome to BreitlingSource.

_________________
Driver8

Site Moderator

And if there isn't a quickset date then you can wind the time back and forth around midnight (usually about 9pm - 3am) to change the date.

I'm guessing that the OP has a Chrono Super Ocean and he's damaged the keyless works by forcing the date over. The date now has to be changed by turning the hour hand through however many days out it is.

Either get it repaired and or invest in a watch winder?

_________________
Oyster Date '78, Blackbird chrono DLC '10, Blackbird chrono' 02, Navitimer Fighters '02, Aerospace Evo , Seamaster Chrono Diver 300' 02, Carrera cbm2110

No need to go even that far.
I wind mine just past midnight and then back to 8PM and then again just past midnight. Works perfect and it was a Breitling Service Centre that showed me how to do it.
The most common one that needs this is the cal 23 that I'm aware which have the Chrono subdials modified in the 3/6/9 position and the watches using it can be found here:

http://www.breitlingsource.com/details/B23.html

The other most common Breitling calibres like the Cal 13 (same as the 23 but with subdials in 6/9/12 position) and the basic 3 hand with no Chrono cal 17 all have quick set date function.
Breitling watches using those can be found here:

http://www.breitlingsource.com/details/B13.html
http://www.breitlingsource.com/details/B17.html

It is not advisable to use the quick set function in all of the above mentioned watches during the risk period between 9PM and 3AM. Nothing unique to Breitling watches only and very common to many other brand watches as already stated above.

Breitling inhouse Cal 01, 04 and 05 movements on the other hand all have quick date set feature and no "date change danger zone", in other words, you can instantly change the date whenever you feel like it, even at 5 min to midnight, 5 past midnight and any other time in the remaining 23 hours and 50 min.
Reading and following the manuals also helps.

_________________
"It is just a matter of time!"

I've found that there can be some variation, but you're right - ideally 10 - 12:30 should be enough.

OK, new to the forum... OP is asking about a Super Ocean Racer, but I can't find that exact model. Is the OP describing a Super Ocean with the rubber racer strap? If so, looking at the reference on this for models shows the Super Ocean using the Breitling 17 movement. This is the same movement as my new Seawolf II and I definitely have the ability to pull the crown out to the second position and quickly adjust the date.

I see the OP acquired the watch in Singapore but he doesn't mention using an AD. Any chance the watch is counterfeit? Of course the most obvious answer to that is that I'm looking at the wrong watch and therefore the wrong movement! Please correct me if I am looking at the wrong watch...

As Driver8 already pointed out there isn't a Super Ocean Racer, until OP responds we don't know what he is referring to.

This is exactly why I invested in a watch winder!

_________________
Avenger M1
Airwolf
Omega Planet Ocean 9300
Omega Dark SoTM
B50 Night Mission
Chronoliner
Chronomat 47mm GMT Ltd Ed
Bentley Supersports
SuperOcean OuterKnown
Chronomat 44 (Yellow Ltd Ed)

Well, looking at your signature, no wonder

_________________
"It is just a matter of time!"

1. Set the time to 6AM
2. Adjust the date to the day before the current
3. Adjust the time to the correct one, passing 12AM and letting the date advance organically.

Not rocket science. If it takes 20 minutes maybe your butler can do it for you.

_________________
Avenger Skyland
If I said I was good, you'd think I was bragging.
If I told you I wasn't, you'd know I was lying.