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Found 13 results

  1. hi am not by any means any type of expert but thought this was the best place to start
  2. Hey guys, my name is Lorenz. I am an 18 year old electrical engineering student from Germany. I got this Breitling chronospace a56012.1 from my granddad and I want to repair it. Besides a slight clicking noise while turning the crown ( someone please let me know if this is normal ) it works just fine. My main problem is that the black color on the Bezel is worn out on some positions and I dont know where to find a paint that holds on the metal nor do I know how to paint it again. I have worked with watches already, I disassembled a mechanical movement cleaned and oiled it again so I feel pretty confident in doing this job. And I would also like to change out the crystal, does anyone know what size crystal I need for this watch? Thanks in regards for any advice.
  3. Well this isn't really a walkthrough because I'm learning on the fly but I felt it was worthy of sharing as the story will probably return some good advice. A bit over a year ago I picked up a Breitling Navitimer movement complete with crown, dial and slide rule. There were a few parts missing and a couple of broken pieces but I corrected those issues in short order and stored the movement away for that day when a case would come available. A few months later just such a case came up on eBay and I picked it up for a fair price even though the bezel was missing. The case has some issues- for example the threads for one of the chronograph pushers were stripped out (note the pusher held in with glue below) and it looks like the bezel was removed with a forklift. I widened the stripped out pusher hole and pushed in a stainless steel sleeve which will be tapped to accept the proper pusher (2.5mm tap, pitch 0.20mm). This work was completed some time ago then the project stalled out as replacement bezels are about as common as unicorns. Frustrated by this I decided to roll up my sleeves and turn a replacement. The correct bezel is approximately 3.25mm tall with a 41.0mm outside diameter, so I started with a 304 stainless steel ring which is 6.00mm tall and has an outside diameter of 41.0mm. I've not turned stainless steel on the lathe before and was hoping to start with a softer grade (say 400) but was limited by what would fit in my three jawed chuck. Now for anyone who is thinking, "you can't turn stainless like that on an 8mm lathe" you are of course correct (for the most part) but try I did and with a carbide graver I was able to make pretty quick work of the piece- chips were flying nicely but OH BOY DOES IT GET HOT! About twenty seconds of turning was all I could do before cooling the graver; this is of course why you always see stainless steel milled or cut under a stream of coolant. Since my workspace is limited and I don't want to make a big mess I moved on to Plan B (which was actually Plan A because I never figured I'd successfully turn a replacement stainless steel bezel on the lathe). Plan B was using brass, which meant I could put the carbide gravers away as they aggressively dig into brass like it's chocolate. This time I started with a thick brass washer and my usual HSS graver. Pretty soon I was knee deep in shavings (which are useful for bluing screws). I turned the washer to a ring with an inside diameter of 37.5mm. A recess was then cut 1.0mm deep to accept the crystal on one side and the inner bezel ring on the other. The inner bezel ring (on which the bezel is mounted) is about 1.8mm tall so the recess needed to be about 2.00 mm tall to accommodate the inner bezel ring and the slide rule. Getting the dimensions just right was achieved by using a black sharpie and a scribe (needle in a pin vice) to mark out the cuts then constantly checking and rechecking the fit. Once a proper fit to the case and crystal were achieved I proceeded to cut the exterior of the bezel. The cuts were done by eye then checked and rechecked for proper fit and finish. The outside diameter of the bezel where it meets the case tapers to 40.0mm and if I cut too much there's no way to add the material back. The current status is promising- below are the pictures as it stands today without notches. I'll be cutting the notches this weekend using a fine round escapement file. To ensure the notches are evenly spaced the plan is to remove a stainless steel bezel from another Navitimer I own and glue it to this one. The notches in the stainless bezel with then serve as pilot holes to guide my file. Once completed the plan is to have the bezel plated and the case professionally refinished (laser welded, etc.). Even though it's not correct for this watch, I'm thinking I'll probably have the bezel yellow gold plated as it will be easier to sell when and if a proper stainless steel bezel ever comes to replace it. A few things I've learned along the way that might be helpful- Don't get discouraged- I was 95% done two days ago when the bezel slipped off the chuck at speed and deformed- I had to start the whole thing over again. I did get to test my notch making skills on the bent piece though and that's worth something. A three jaw chuck isn't really the right tool for this job. There is a five or six jawed chuck for holding bezels, if you can find one, I'll bet it's a lot grippier. Turning large brass rounds on a lathe is great for your confidence. You'll think you're a master until it comes time for clean-up when you realize you really do need a proper machine shop (separate from your service workbench).
  4. Good morning I have a Breitling Crosswind watch in for repair and it has the classic crown which has become worn and detached from the stem leaving the threaded portion of the crown and the stem. I am after a new crown but no where sells only the crown or crown and stem tube combination. You have to be a registered dealer or approved service agent of Breitling it seems to have the ability to get the parts you require. Genuine parts that is. I have been told by breitling they won't sell just the crown etc as the watch will have to go in to one of their service centres for them to repair it and then they want to service the watch as well which my client does not want as he wants to keep costs down. How can I go about purchasing genuine Breitling spares in this case? Many thanks Andrew
  5. Hi, I have recently acquired this Breitling Top Time 2000 watch, and have finally decided to start renovating it. However, I cannot see any simple way of removing the stainless back - there is a lip all round the case which effectively hides the join! I understand some Top Times were front loaders, but I have had the crystal out to replace it and can see no way of removing from the front either. The crown/stem wobbles quite a bit when pulled out to the setting position, but does not appear to want to simply pull out to separate (and I am scared to pull too hard for fear of snapping it!). So can anyone advise me how to get the case back off, or how the crown should come out (slide apart or pull apart)? Thanks in advance.
  6. Hello- I own the watch described in the subject. When changing the band recently, the bezel popped off. I was able to press it back on, albiet it took a little bit of effort. I plan on taking it to a watchmaker for repair, I just wanted to understand what would/could have caused this to happen and what parts would be needed to repair this. The bezel rotates in order to do calculations for aviation. Pictured is a photo of the watch I have ( not mine, but identical model, poor band color choice). Best Samson
  7. A few months back, I purchased online this Breitling Navitimer for a fair price despite the fact that the watch was non-functioning at the time. I did this without seeing the movement which was a bit of a risk as there was the possibility the insides were rusted out, but the price was right and the I figured I could resell the case and dial if the rest turned out to be a disaster. Things looked bad when I received the watch as it wouldn't run at all and the pushers were jammed. I noted on inspection that the dial didn't sit flush either which caused me quite a bit of concern. Removing the caseback revealed one of the case screws had broken off and gummed up the works. Extracting the screw head brought the watch back to life and allowed the chronograph to function properly as well. Knowing I would need to extract the remains of the broken screw from the plate in order to properly secure the movement and seeing that the watch clearly had not been serviced in a while, I added it to my queue. It would be a few months before I would have time to work on it, but I must admit to being anxious. I don't often work with watches of this vintage that aren't terribly weathered but the dial and hands here were in quite good condition. Removing these gave my heart palpitations but with a bit of patience and caution I was able to get to the engine without damaging any of the paint. The video Mark posted earlier of a Navitimer service was a quite a help also as I was a bit stumped when it came to removing the bezel. The watch movement is a Venus 178 which is a fine manual wind chronograph movement that was produced in the 1950's and 1960's. Contemporary chronographs movements would be the Valjoux 72 and Lemania CH27. Disassembly was pretty straight forward. The chronograph mechanism is bolted piecemeal to the barrel plate so each lever needed to be removed separately. I would remove each spring first to release tension then proceed with the removal of the accompanying lever. Each screw was then returned to its hole so that I wouldn't mix them up later. Pictures were taken throughout the process for reference. The dial side received the same treatment for the hour recorder and keyless works. I had assumed I would need to dissolve the broken screw in a bath of alum in order to remove it from the plate but found this not to be the case. Once the barrel plate was removed, enough threads poked above the main plate to allow me to grab it with my tweezers and slowly unscrew the remainder. I have an old L & R machine for cleaning movements, so the parts were separated and packed in small baskets before undergoing a cleaning in the appropriate solvent and rinse. The case, caseback, and pushers were cleaned separately in small ultrasonic cleaner. Since the shafts of the pushers are not the same length I snapped a pic before disassembly for later reference. Following cleaning, each piece was inspected under the loupe before reassembly. I can't stress the importance of this step! Reassembly was the reverse of disassembly. I referred heavily to the images taken during the disassembly process and also used the published technical sheets and representative Esemble-O-Graf. Before reassembling the chronograph the base movement was completed and properly adjusted. Despite having already procured a replacement, I reused the original mainspring as it seemed to have quite a bit of life still in it. My assessment turned out to be correct when I placed the base movement on the timegrapher and discovered the amplitude was fairly high. This is not a problem I've had before but since the watch had a full wind I felt there wasn't much need to replace the spring with a weaker one. The beat error was initially on the high side (3.1ms) but a bit of adjustment brought that down. I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't point out that adjusting the beat error was difficult as there is no beat corrector and the Breguet hairspring sits so low that it's difficult to see the position of the roller jewel. Assembly of the chronograph mechanism is laborious as each piece needs to be checked for movement and properly lubricated before moving on to the next. I had inadvertently mixed up a few screws on the dial said which added another hour of labor to the job as well. The toughest bit was the actuating lever for the hour recorder- it passes from one side of the plate to the other and likes to fall out when you try to thread the screw to secure it. Otherwise reassembly went as I hoped- no parts lost or left over! I cleaned the dial and slide rule with a bit of Rodico. The slide rule is set in the bezel before the crystal is dropped in. A new crystal was needed as well since the original was damaged beyond repair. Lastly, a replacement case screw was procured to reset the movement and a crystal press was used to reset the crystal and caseback. I added a black leather band as the expanding bracelet wasn't really my taste. For my next chronograph project I'm hoping for a Valjoux 72 movement or perhaps an Excelsior Park EP40. We'll see what comes along though.
  8. Sometimes you get lucky and for me, it looks like this is one of those times. Here I have a vintage Navitimer that I picked up for a fair price but also with a fair bit of risk involved as it was bought online and in non-working order. Under inspection following receipt I discovered that dial wasn't seated properly and pushers were jammed. Things were indeed looking bad. Imagine my relief upon seeing this under the microscope. That would be a case screw hiding under the fourth wheel! Unfortunately it's sheared off in the case, but the good news is that the movement started ticking merrily away once the screw was extracted and with the works unjammed the pushers are operating properly again. With luck, a simple cleaning, alum bath, and a new case screw will be all this one needs. (knocking on wood)
  9. Hi everyone. I am new here and I have an issue with servicing my Breitling which houses a 2824-2 movement. I have stripped the watch down, which was running quite well but didnt keep the best time. All parts have been cleaned and the movement reassembled. I was careful to check the workings of the movement as I was going along so that if there were any parts out of place I would have noticed earlier. However, when placing the balance in place, it doesn't run unless I give it a nudge. I have wound the crown a good 7/8 turns so there is sufficient power. Even after nudging the balance it will run for 5 minutes sometimes or a couple of hours other times. The hairspring looks great and is not kinked at all. Please have a look at the pictures and see if i'm missing something here....Any idea what could be causing the stoppage? The pallets are fine and in position and with the balance removed it will function as it should with the escape wheel when I nudge the tail. I'm lost with this one...Maybe it's my lack of experience but i'm hoping someone here with more knowledge will be able to help... Thanks in advance guys! David
  10. Hi all My Superoceans crown only screws down about a half turn from when it catches till when it is tight. Is this correct? Feels like it should screw down further. if it isn't right, any advice on sorting it out? thanks
  11. This is not only a question but I will deliver the solution as well! My Breitling Navitimer with the B01 movement was ever so accurate. Losing or gaining one second a day. Now, that I wore it after some time, it lost 5-10s per day! I had the same problem right after I bought it and brought it to the place where I bought it and the watchmaker said it was magnetized. After I got it back she again was running perfectly. Now I thought "Let's give it a try and put it on my cheap demagnetizer!" I did that for 5s pulling the watch away from the device while pressing the button. Now, one day later she is back in perfect shape. Lost 0s in 24h! Maybe this will help one of you in the future. Sometimes fixes are easy and cheap. Cheers Alexander
  12. Here we have some pictures of the Venus 178 chronograph movement which is on a vintage Breitling Navitimer. This watch had a broken mainspring and required a full strip-down and rebuild in order to fit it. Enjoy :)
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