If this was limited to one watch I might suggest there's an issue with the rotor bearing or the mainspring, etc. but as you're experiencing this with two different watches I would suggest you're simply not moving your arm around enough throughout the day to sufficiently wind the watch. But thats a personal question... do you feel as if you're moving a reasonable amount during the day or do you have a desk type job where your arms sits on a keyboard rest for hours upon hours?

 

My last few watches were automatics and I never had one of them just stop while wearing it on my wrist. I was just wondering if its a known issue with Breitling movements. Doesn't sound like it. Someone else suggested winding it once a day, but again, my experience with automatics I've owned in the past, I never once had to manually wind them.

 

What do mean by reset? Resetting the time? What you're calling power reserve is the condition of the main spring while at rest. It doesn't 'kick in'.

It would seem the roots of your problems is eBay.

 

are you winding the watch using the crown before wearing it?

 

I haven't. I thought the automatic movement self-winds the movement?

 

^^ yes you have to wind it first to get it going then the rotor will take care of the rest. Your watches are not defective by any means

 

Interesting. My last watch was a Montblanc Sport Chrono 35777, never wound the watch once in the two years I owned it.

 

What do you mean by ''power reserve kick in''? It appears you have some unusual ideas of how watch movements work.
Your watch needs cleaning and lubrication if it stops suddenly while on your wrist.

 

ok

 

Get a watch winder and leave it on that overnight…sorted.

 

Not a "known" issue with Breitling movements. Wind it up good each morning and you should not have any problems, IMHO.

 

I was going to say that anything can happen with an Ebay purchase, but two watches from different sellers would be a pretty strange coincidence, particularly for a relatively durable and respected brand. I agree with the comments above - manually wind, then wear for a while before considering a return. Guessing the movements are chronometer-grade ETA 2824-2, so they have a short-ish power reserve of 38 or 42 hours.

 

Of COURSE the rotor winds the watch. How else would you wind the many millions of Seiko automatics like the 7s26 which have no hand wind feature whatsoever?

 

To be extra clear... The hand-winding of an automatic should only be required at the initial time set after it has stopped. I usually give mine 30+ turns. From that point forward, if you wear it every day and stay somewhat active, you shouldn't need to manually wind it. If you had to manually wind it every morning, that would totally defeat the purpose of the rotor.

 

How old are the watches and when were they last serviced?

 

You can check the available power reserve. Fully manually wind the watch and then set it down - do not wear it. Note how long the watch runs. If that is significantly less then the expected power reserve for that movement (look it up) there is clearly an issue to be investigated. If the power reserve seems acceptable when manually wound fully and not worn then the issue may lay with either a) your daily movement by itself being insufficient to impart full wind, and/or, b) an issue with the autowind system preventing it from winding efficiently. A watch running erratically and/or intermittently is a common indicator of a watch that requires servicing.

As has previously been mentioned, when buying used watches you need to consider the state of service. It is unwise to accept a seller's description of condition unless there is good evidence backing it up. If the service history is unknow you can assume a service to be required sooner rather than later and that cost needs to be factored into the price of ownership. Unless you know the watch to have been recently and competently serviced there may be issues affecting it running well and you may not gain a true picture of its capabilities.

 

I can’t say anything more than what others have said about why it may be happening, but I can say that it hasn’t happened with my SuperOcean.

 

Older Breitling chronographs would be ETA Valjoux I guess, where you have uni-directional winding: simpler but possibly less efficient than bi-directional. Your lifestyle could be active enough for your previous watch but not for the new ones. Regardless of that I would estimate the age and with no known service history do a full maintenance.

 

This👆

 

Sound like you’re not moving enough to put a full charge in the watch.

 

True to that thus I said “possibly” - from my experience both uni-directional Miyota 90xx and Valjoux have no issue with reaching full power reserve. A lot might really depend on wearing habits plus the necessity of a service.

 

Even a $400 thousand watch will stop running after the oils inside have dried up with no service...this has nothing to do with Breitling as a brand...
It might just be a winding issue like others have suggested but it's probably also that the watches simply need an overhaul (about every 5-10 years for a mechanical).

 

That's why you don't buy Breitlings

 

No, it's why you don't buy older mechanical watches without first asking the seller the service history and if the watch is running within spec.

 

Lots of good stuff here…to summarize
1) automatics are designed to maintain the power level. As such, when the watch is fully stopped, give it a full wind when setting. If the watch has no hand wind, gentle back and forth movement for 30 secs should do it.
2) a used watch from eBay May have issues that you don’t know about. Smart to factor into purchase cost that you may need to service it sooner rather than later.
3) try to not make it a Breitling thing. I have five, most of which are over 5-10 yrs old and have never had any issues at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I own several Breitling, Rolex and a couple other high end watches. My 4 Breitling watches have never given me a problem. I can’t say the same for the Rolex’s.

 

Which models/movements?

 

most of my swiss movts do state give it a wind before wearing it it from stop.
that being said... what about those non hand winding seikos?
something to be said about that... lol.

even from stop, as long as i put it on in the morning and have a normally active day, havent had one stop on me yet. but if i do the same in the evening and put it away before bed... its stopped in the morning.