Six months to complete a service on a vintage model Colt???

[omar10213245]

I just recently picked up a Colt Chronograph from someone on reddit, and they told me that they were pretty certain that the watch had never had a service. Given that the watch was likely from the early 2000's, I decided to send it in to Breitling for a service. A few days ago I authorized the servicing, and today they informed me they were starting the process, and the watch would be done and returned to me on 7/29/24....the end of July?? Seriously?? Why in the world does it take that long to service a Breitling chronograph from the early 2000's?? Has anyone sent in a watch to their service center in Connecticut lately, and if so, did it actually take them 6 months to get it done and sent back to you? I'm really hoping they gave me that date as a "worst-case scenario" and that it'll be done and back in my hands well before then . . .

[Dave O]

I sent my Navitimer in for warranty work (watch was only 8 months old) and it took nearly 4 months to get it back (just got it back yesterday). Wasn't even a full service. The watch was just all of a sudden running slow. I've heard that for whatever reason getting a watch serviced through Breitling is a very slow process.

[omar10213245]

Originally Posted by Dave O

I sent my Navitimer in for warranty work (watch was only 8 months old) and it took nearly 4 months to get it back (just got it back yesterday). Wasn't even a full service. The watch was just all of a sudden running slow. I've heard that for whatever reason getting a watch serviced through Breitling is a very slow process.

dang....welp, looks like I'll be waiting until end of July, I guess.

[jnelson3097]

I had my Colt GMT from 2008 serviced last year when the crown stem broke. The initial timeframe was 6 months but I had my watch back after 4 months. Hopefully you have the same luck.

[RW16610]

Oh man, that's long time, especially for a watch you just bought and would like to enjoy. I'm hoping they can somehow get it back to you much sooner than this.

[jedione65]

Yeah that quite awhile. If it's out of warranty I would have just taken it to an independent watch marker. Some will get it back to you in about 4 weeks.

[1William]

No good answer for this one. Only excuses.

[omar10213245]

Originally Posted by RW16610

Oh man, that's long time, especially for a watch you just bought and would like to enjoy. I'm hoping they can somehow get it back to you much sooner than this.

thank you! you and me both!

[Oystersteel92]

I just authorized service on my wife's Colt Oceane II. Surprisingly they quoted a complete movement replacement to the latest version. I'm fine with that because the date wheel had occasionally not kicked over completely a few times per month, much to the annoyance of my wife. The watch also needs new crown.

The quote did say 5-6 months to complete which I figured had to be boilerplate to cover every movement type including the perpetual calendars and such but now I'm not so sure. In my mind this work should just take a few weeks.

I've also got an early B01 chronograph that needs to be serviced. Lord only knows how long that one might take, but maybe I should get it in sooner rather than later. Was planning to wear it to Vegas in August, assuming it would be back well before then.

[Dave O]

Originally Posted by Dave O

I sent my Navitimer in for warranty work (watch was only 8 months old) and it took nearly 4 months to get it back (just got it back yesterday). Wasn't even a full service. The watch was just all of a sudden running slow. I've heard that for whatever reason getting a watch serviced through Breitling is a very slow process.

One other item of note with my repair. First off, the watch is now keeping great time. That's the good news. Now for the bad news. My Navitimer is on a brown leather strap. I noticed after I brought the watch home that they damaged the leather strap during the servicing. It appears that instead of taking the straps off for the service, they left them on. As a result, when they bent the straps back to get to the case back the strap was pressed against the sides of the watch, which put a mark on the straps and actually damaged the leather on one of the straps. To top it off, when they used the tool to unscrew the case back it rubbed against the straps causing damage to this area as well, damaging the leather on both straps. My AD is checking with Breitling to see what they will do about it. I did, however, tell my AD that I did NOT want to send the watch back in and not have it for another 4 months. I'll post back when my AD hears back from Breitling.

[Oystersteel92]

Originally Posted by Oystersteel92

I just authorized service on my wife's Colt Oceane II. Surprisingly they quoted a complete movement replacement to the latest version. I'm fine with that because the date wheel had occasionally not kicked over completely a few times per month, much to the annoyance of my wife. The watch also needs new crown.

The quote did say 5-6 months to complete which I figured had to be boilerplate to cover every movement type including the perpetual calendars and such but now I'm not so sure. In my mind this work should just take a few weeks.

I've also got an early B01 chronograph that needs to be serviced. Lord only knows how long that one might take, but maybe I should get it in sooner rather than later. Was planning to wear it to Vegas in August, assuming it would be back well before then.

Received a start of work email with a promised date of in August. Will update with how long it actually takes.

[omar10213245]

update: so, surprisingly, they got my watch back to me far sooner than originally anticicapted. i received it yesterday via UPS, runs great, looks great. The only thing, is that i opted for a "new bracelet", since the original bracelet is missing a pin and tube to connect it completely, and what they supplied me with, is the current generation professional bracelet (full-polished, slanted links), when i was under the impression they still had some of these old-school 3-link bracelets, which I prefer. So now, I'm going all over the internet trying to find spare parts for this older bracelet, but having absolutely NO luck so far. Anybody know of a good source for a pin and tube for this old school bracelet? I'll post some pics. . .

[omar10213245]

Originally Posted by omar10213245

update: so, surprisingly, they got my watch back to me far sooner than originally anticicapted. i received it yesterday via UPS, runs great, looks great. The only thing, is that i opted for a "new bracelet", since the original bracelet is missing a pin and tube to connect it completely, and what they supplied me with, is the current generation professional bracelet (full-polished, slanted links), when i was under the impression they still had some of these old-school 3-link bracelets, which I prefer. So now, I'm going all over the internet trying to find spare parts for this older bracelet, but having absolutely NO luck so far. Anybody know of a good source for a pin and tube for this old school bracelet? I'll post some pics. . .

Okay, so the first pic is the newer, modern generation professional bracelet the watch came back with (I already took it off lol). It's nice, but I prefer the older one. The 2nd one is the original bracelet, which I need a pin and tube for; you can see where it needs to be connected...I noticed they sent it back with this little hang tag with "028827" written on it. Not sure what that refers to, I googled it, didnt really come up with anything.

Should I maybe call Breitling back and see if they might have what I'm looking for in their parts department?

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

[Oystersteel92]

Originally Posted by omar10213245

update: so, surprisingly, they got my watch back to me far sooner than originally anticicapted. i received it yesterday via UPS, runs great, looks great. The only thing, is that i opted for a "new bracelet", since the original bracelet is missing a pin and tube to connect it completely, and what they supplied me with, is the current generation professional bracelet (full-polished, slanted links), when i was under the impression they still had some of these old-school 3-link bracelets, which I prefer. So now, I'm going all over the internet trying to find spare parts for this older bracelet, but having absolutely NO luck so far. Anybody know of a good source for a pin and tube for this old school bracelet? I'll post some pics. . .

So about 8 weeks or so based on your original post? If so I would say that's acceptable. Here's hoping I get my wife's back within a month.

[Dave O]

Originally Posted by Dave O

I sent my Navitimer in for warranty work (watch was only 8 months old) and it took nearly 4 months to get it back (just got it back yesterday). Wasn't even a full service. The watch was just all of a sudden running slow. I've heard that for whatever reason getting a watch serviced through Breitling is a very slow process.

Originally Posted by Dave O

One other item of note with my repair. First off, the watch is now keeping great time. That's the good news. Now for the bad news. My Navitimer is on a brown leather strap. I noticed after I brought the watch home that they damaged the leather strap during the servicing. It appears that instead of taking the straps off for the service, they left them on. As a result, when they bent the straps back to get to the case back the strap was pressed against the sides of the watch, which put a mark on the straps and actually damaged the leather on one of the straps. To top it off, when they used the tool to unscrew the case back it rubbed against the straps causing damage to this area as well, damaging the leather on both straps. My AD is checking with Breitling to see what they will do about it. I did, however, tell my AD that I did NOT want to send the watch back in and not have it for another 4 months. I'll post back when my AD hears back from Breitling.

My AD got tired of waiting on Breitling to make a decision so they went ahead and ordered a replacement strap from Breitling at no cost to me (I have a great SA and AD). Took about 4+ weeks to get the strap but at least I have a nice looking strap again that's not all marked up.

However, I'm not happy with Breitling service over all of this. 4 months for warranty service, damaged the strap and then didn't man up and replace it.

[omar10213245]

Originally Posted by Oystersteel92

So about 8 weeks or so based on your original post? If so I would say that's acceptable. Here's hoping I get my wife's back within a month.

Yep, I was pleased by the relatively fast turn-around

[omar10213245]

Oh, and I called the service center to see if they had the pin and tube I needed, they do not. Said they wouldnt have such components for a watch as old as mine...really?? My Colt is from the late 90's, at the earliest. It's not like it's some timepiece from the 1950's or 60's

[Oystersteel92]

Originally Posted by omar10213245

Yep, I was pleased by the relatively fast turn-around

Update:

Start of work email received February 8th.
Return shipment email received May 1st, so just under 3 months.

Not Rolex fast, but not terrible.

[omar10213245]

Originally Posted by Oystersteel92

Update:

Start of work email received February 8th.
Return shipment email received May 1st, so just under 3 months.

Not Rolex fast, but not terrible.

nice.

[1William]

Good news.

[Oystersteel92]

Originally Posted by 1William

Good news.

Not so fast. Got the watch today, and it looks great but the bracelet is noticeably shorter. Either links are missing or they put someone else's bracelet on it.

My wife is 6 feet tall and has wrists nearly as big as mine.

I'll call them on Monday and see what they say, but it's not making me feel better about the brand because I've not had great luck with their service center in the past and this is just one more thing.

I'm going to be pissed if I have to pay to ship it back, and if they send me links I no longer have a Breitling AD so I'm going to have to find someone willing to put them back in.

[Dave O]

So sorry to hear about this. Unfortunately, this was pretty much my experience with their service center as well. As posted above, I got mine back with a scratched leather strap because they never removed the strap or at least tape it to prevent damage when they unscrewed the case back. To top it off, my AD got tired of waiting for their response to the issue so they just replaced the strap on their dime. Most likely won't buy another Breitling as a result.

[cjcarter134]

OP I thought I'd mention that Breitling did make a version of the bracelet you want with screws. However, it will probably be more difficult to source find that bracelet than finding pins for the bracelet that you currently have. Please be careful with the older bracelets that use pins. They can become loose and fall out and your watch may fall. It happened with a Tag Heuer that I used to own.

[GRabens]

I'm getting ready to send in my Navitimer for a full service. I was just quoted a 5-month estimate.

[Oystersteel92]

Originally Posted by Oystersteel92

Not so fast. Got the watch today, and it looks great but the bracelet is noticeably shorter. Either links are missing or they put someone else's bracelet on it.

My wife is 6 feet tall and has wrists nearly as big as mine.

I'll call them on Monday and see what they say, but it's not making me feel better about the brand because I've not had great luck with their service center in the past and this is just one more thing.

I'm going to be pissed if I have to pay to ship it back, and if they send me links I no longer have a Breitling AD so I'm going to have to find someone willing to put them back in.

Happy to report that Breitling had me send the watch back on their dime. Got it back after 3 weeks or so and they added 3 links, no charge, and it now fits my wife perfectly. She's over the moon because the battery died at the beginning of Covid and getting it serviced had fallen though our personal cracks as it were.

Also happy to report the polishing job was very well done, and the crown/stem is no longer wonky (replaced, FYI). Now, as long as the date successfully kicks over for the the next month (occasionally hanging up had been a problem for years) I'll say it's perfect.