Resetting Hands after OVERHAUL = 3 weeks?

[breitlingherst]

Greetings All - I had an overhaul done on a Montbrillant Olympus by Breitling USA. Service took 6 weeks to be done and when the watch returned, the hands were not properly lining up. minute hand was slightly off, and the day hand was aligning on wrong letter of the day.

brought the watch back to the boutique and it was sent back to Breitling for the hands to be 'reset.' i was told it will take at least 3 weeks to replace the hands since the piece has to be dismantled(?!!?).

reading between the lines, does a second overhaul need to be done? basically the misaligned hands are just the result of the problems and not the root cause???

[azguy]

You'll never know, but I doubt a watch goes to the front of the line regardless of the issue or who's at fault.

[T. Ferguson]

I'm surprised the watch has to be disassembled just to realign the hands. But I doubt there is anything more major than that going on. If there was you'd think they'd have resolved it during the recent service. Sounds like someone just got lazy when stacking the hands.

[breitlingherst]

haha yea. hopefully its just an easy hand realignment (replacement) and the 3 weeks is due to it going into the queue ....

[Andad]

I would stamp my feet a bit and point out that you have already had your 'waiting period'.

[FeelingTheBlues]

Given that the hands are the very last things you put on the watch I don't see how or why the whole watch would have to be dismantled to replace them...I've put many hands back on watches and I never had to take anything out or of (except for the movement out of the case, of course...).

[breitlingherst]

just got a call...watch is ready.........

[breitlingherst]

scratch that.... one hand was aligned....month hand still off...ill see it in a few weeks....

[T. Ferguson]

Originally Posted by breitlingherst

scratch that.... one hand was aligned....month hand still off...ill see it in a few weeks....

Wow, they serviced the watch, didn't align the hands properly, and when you sent it back to correct this it was still returned with the hands not correct. Doesn't say much for the BSC if they can't even put the hands on the watch correctly, does it?

Ask the mods to correct the thread title to "Resetting Hands after OVERHAUL = 6 weeks and counting?

[breitlingherst]

its actually closer to about 8 weeks...dropped the watch off before Christmas but BUSA was closed until Jan 6 so the watch sat at the boutique until it could be shipped. I knew that when i dropped it off...but still about 8 weeks....

its like that old Jaguar saying about needing two. one to drive while the other is in the shop....

[breitlingherst]

thanks for all your comments. had a long talk with the watchmaker at the Breitling boutique yesterday afternoon. we went through the watch and he stated that as long as all the hands line-up at "12" when installed, then that will pass their quality control. in regard to the hand issue where the hand does not hit the second letter of the day, he stated that is part of the quirks of the watch, and each watch may be different. for me its thursday, but for someone else's montrillant it may be tuesday. they could try and adjust the hand so it hits in the middle of thursday's abbreviation, but that could affect another day; little push, little pull effect. he attributed it to handmade cars of yesteryear (Bentley, Rolls Royce) where there are little quirks attributed to handmade assembly.

I'm surprised by the quirk but if the Breitling watchmaker has given the watch his blessing, I am satisfied.

oh yea and PS he's a serious Navitimer fan. showed me HIS beautiful vintage Navitimers. including an AOPA Navitimer that said Cosmonaute beneath AOPA. very cool!!!

[rahible]

Originally Posted by breitlingherst

thanks for all your comments. had a long talk with the watchmaker at the Breitling boutique yesterday afternoon. we went through the watch and he stated that as long as all the hands line-up at "12" when installed, then that will pass their quality control. in regard to the hand issue where the hand does not hit the second letter of the day, he stated that is part of the quirks of the watch, and each watch may be different. for me its thursday, but for someone else's montrillant it may be tuesday. they could try and adjust the hand so it hits in the middle of thursday's abbreviation, but that could affect another day; little push, little pull effect. he attributed it to handmade cars of yesteryear (Bentley, Rolls Royce) where there are little quirks attributed to handmade assembly.

I'm surprised by the quirk but if the Breitling watchmaker has given the watch his blessing, I am satisfied.

oh yea and PS he's a serious Navitimer fan. showed me HIS beautiful vintage Navitimers. including an AOPA Navitimer that said Cosmonaute beneath AOPA. very cool!!!

Glad it worked out to your satisfaction. Being able to talk about and see rare vintage Breitling timepieces, with a Breitling watchmaker, goes a long way I'm sure. You didn't happen to snap some pics did ya?

[breitlingherst]

haha unfortunately not. i was in the back watchmakers room and it didn't even cross my mind to snap pictures since usually they don't invite 'the public' back there.