Breitling Aerospace Battery Replacement
alex...@adelphia.net
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.horology/browse_thread/thread/fa890477c17ceaf3/00a0bef0dfafed36?hl=en&lnk=st&q=breitling+aerospace+battery+replacement#00a0bef0dfafed36
Still great info. Just wanted to say I just changed out my Breitling
Aerospace battery for about $3. Breitling dealer wanted $150 (plus
tax and probably shipping) to send it to Connecticut, and said it
would have taken 8 weeks! Thanks everyone!
dAz
while I do agree a $150 is total rip off for a battery swap, it would
still be worth say $25 for a battery pressure test which any good
watchmaker should be able to do, and it is irrelevant to say you don't
swim or shower with the watch (as one of the posters stated), seeing the
replacement value of the watch is substantial it is worth making sure it
can keep the water out, it is not just swimming, but the pressure from
the garden hose can get past the seals too.
I would love to know what you got for the $150, did the watch needed to
be recalibrated? or this include a service?(not likely), those citizen
prodive watches needed to go back to Citizen for a battery pressure test
and depth recalibration, otherwise you could leave yourself open for
being sued if the watch failed on a dive, these Aerospaces would not
have any issues like that?.
Jack Denver
with a "luxury" watch. They figure if Rolex can charge $600 for a
mechanical service, $150 for a battery change and a pressure test (and
that's all it is) is cheap. Local jeweler keeps 1/2 and then you have
shipping costs both ways, etc. I think for that $ they do buff the watch a
bit too so it comes back looking nice.
I didn't realize they had snap backs on these - strange choice, no?
The OP overpaid for his battery - should have been under $1. I would have
used the savings to buy a new o-ring and some silicone grease.
"dAz" <dazb@zipDOTcomDOTau> wrote in message
news:47317ee5$0$24968$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
Jar-Jar Binks
temperature compensated movement. What other non-radio-controlled watch will
provide that type of accuracy? I don't know of any and therefore the
Aerospace is special. I also wouldn't let any schmuck touch my Aerospace.
The schmuck that is changing watch batteries at Walmart was fired from
Mickey-Dees last week because he couldn't get the hand of flipping burgers.
You get what you pay for. I don't want scratches all over the back of my
watch!
Jar-Jar
"Jack Denver" <nunu...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:xaqdnZxOTKfBbaza...@comcast.com...
Jack Denver
either. If I didn't do my own battery changes, I'd find a reputable local
watchmaker. That way I wouldn't be without the watch for two weeks and I
would save maybe $100 or more - almost no independent I can think of would
dare charge $150 for a battery change & a pressure test. Most of the $150
you pay a dealer gets eaten up on 1) dealer profit (prob. 1/2) and 2)
shipping both directions. Someone who is skilled enough to work on
mechanical watches is certainly more than skilled enough to change a
battery.
Some people don't feel good about a purchase unless they overpay royally.
Your claimed accuracy of 1.5 secs/ year is about 10x what Breitling actually
claims for the movement. You could have better accuracy with a $25 RC
Casio, or about the same (20 secs/yr claimed - actual may be better) with a
Seiko perpetual for under $200:
http://www.skywatches.com.sg/watches/product_info.php?products_id=1471
BTW, unless you are doing space launches in your backyard, what earthly good
is a watch that is accurate to 15 secs/ year? I regulate all my mechanicals
to run slightly fast so worst case I'm a minute early for a meeting, even
though the watch is no better than a few secs/day.
"Jar-Jar Binks" <jar...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:4cTYi.1612$L15...@newsfe08.phx...
Norman M. Schwartz
>I don't blame you for not taking an Aerospace to Walmart - I wouldn't
>either. If I didn't do my own battery changes, I'd find a reputable local
>watchmaker. That way I wouldn't be without the watch for two weeks and I
>would save maybe $100 or more - almost no independent I can think of would
>dare charge $150 for a battery change & a pressure test. Most of the $150
>you pay a dealer gets eaten up on 1) dealer profit (prob. 1/2) and 2)
>shipping both directions. Someone who is skilled enough to work on
>mechanical watches is certainly more than skilled enough to change a
>battery.
>
Like most authorized Breitling dealers, mine offered free life time battery
replacements for my Aerospace (and a discount on the watch as well). I have
to make two trips driving some 35 miles back and forth to get it to him; of
course it could be shipped by the US Postal Service or FedEx. Nevertheless,
two such trips, a lot of time and costly gas, and it does end up taking 2-3
weeks to return the watch into my possession. Breitling watches are sent to
his watchmaker (who also overhauled my Navitimer) and as told to me, works
on watches sent to him by Breitling. I wouldn't trust my _cheap_ Mickey
Mouse watches to a "Walmart"-like facility. If an Aerospace's warranty were
still in effect, it certainly would no longer be so if a "Walmart" crapped
it up.
Jack Denver
than 2 years, so by the time it needs a battery it's usually out of warranty
anyway.
I'd probably avail myself of "free" battery changes if a dealer included
them in the price of the watch. Apparently the OP's dealer did not, and
wanted $150 for something your dealer gives away for free (and which, other
than minor labor, costs 25 cents for a battery). So I'll let others decide
whether $150 is really a fair price for this service.
I think "free" battery changes are a good marketing tool - not only do they
create goodwill and overcome a possible objection to the initial purchase
decision but they insure that the customer will be back in your store every
couple of years and maybe will buy something while he's there. I'll bet
that they don't even have to pay off on that many of them - either the
customer moves out of town or the watch breaks or is given away, etc. so
that the average watch would only come back a couple of times. Even if they
had to pay $20 wholesale for a battery service with pressure test (and I bet
they pay less than that) that's not much of a bite out of a $2000+ sale.
"Norman M. Schwartz" <nm...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:5N_Yi.475$9q...@newsfe10.lga...
Jar-Jar Binks
I take my Aerospace to the Authorized Service Center in LA (Walter Gooden).
They change the battery while I wait and pressure test for $50.00 and they
also have a good reputation.
Jar-Jar
"Jack Denver" <nunu...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:sO-dnbWKZfLDyana...@comcast.com...
dAz
> Jack,
>
> I take my Aerospace to the Authorized Service Center in LA (Walter Gooden).
> They change the battery while I wait and pressure test for $50.00 and they
> also have a good reputation.
>
do they strip down the case and clean it, clean and grease or replace
and grease the gaskets?
looks like the movement is a 9 ¾''' x 11 ½''' ETA 988.352 or Breitling
cal.79
cannot find the tech info on the movement but the ETA988.333 looks the
same but without the thermal compensation, it uses a 370 or 399 battery
which cost me about a $1
thing is if they do the battery while you wait, I would hope they do a
consumption test on the movement, but it is basically back off, check
the battery, check the terminals to make sure they are clean and free of
electrolyte, fit new battery, maybe pop the crown out and grease the
seal, grease the back seal, fit the back, in the pressure tester, if it
passes they set the time then hand it to you.
$50 ..... hmmmm, I suppose they have to get the money back somehow for
those pricey pressure testers ;)
Jack Denver
http://forums.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=2087
In the context of "high end" watches, $50 for a battery change seems cheap
even if there is $40+ profit in it.
"dAz" <dazb@zipDOTcomDOTau> wrote in message
news:47354c46$0$8738$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
Jack Denver
many of the features of the Breitling for a very modest price (a little more
than a Breitling battery change, maybe 1/10th the cost of a Titanium
Aerospace):
http://chonstore.com/product_info.php?language=en¤cy=USD&products_id=10863
Tissot PR50 Titanium Seven T34.7.487.62 ... $230
To me one of the amazing things about Swatch (and the Swiss industry in
general) is that they will sell you essentially the same watch over and over
again at vastly differing price points...it's really up to you and your
fragile ego if you want to vastly overpay in order to show your friends what
big cojones you have. The Tissot may be essentially the same watch but it
doesn't bear the same "emotion" that the Breitling does. Last night I was
listening on the radio to an interview with someone from Benneton, the
Italian clothes chain... there it was again ... the interviewee frankly
stated something to the effect of "everyone sells essentially the same
clothes... the difference is the emotional spin we give our clothes thru our
marketing." So when you buy a Benneton sweater or Breitling watch, you are
not really buying a physical product (or the physical product represents
only a small fraction of the price) - mostly you are buying an ad campaign.
"dAz" <dazb@zipDOTcomDOTau> wrote in message
news:47354c46$0$8738$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
Norman M. Schwartz
> Speaking of the ETA 988.333, here is a watch with that movement that
> offers many of the features of the Breitling for a very modest price (a
> little more than a Breitling battery change, maybe 1/10th the cost of a
> Titanium Aerospace):
>
> http://chonstore.com/product_info.php?language=en¤cy=USD&products_id=10863
>
>
Jack Denver
if you are talking purely about function, it does basically the same thing
as the Breitling.
"Norman M. Schwartz" <nm...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:pslZi.161$NG3...@newsfe08.lga...
Olaf Peuss
> My Aerospace is accurate to about 1.5 seconds per year because it has a
> temperature compensated movement. What other non-radio-controlled watch will
> provide that type of accuracy? I don't know of any and therefore the
> Aerospace is special.
Any watch with a thermo-compensated movement by ETA - same type that
Britebling uses - will perform equally. The Sinn UX has got that type of
movement, too. There are a couple of other watches that use
thermo-compensated ETA movements, so in that respect, your Aerospace is
not unique.
Best regards,
OP
Jack Denver
http://watchescorner.blogspot.com/2007/08/high-accuracy-timepieces.html
Oddly enough, Breitling claims 15 secs/ yr while ETA claims 10 secs. /yr
for all other thermolines.
The outstanding bargain in high accuracy watches are the Seiko perpetuals,
with a claimed 20 secs/ yr (which is not significantly worse than 15 - one
is 4/100ths secs/day, the other is 5/100) for a couple of hundred $. And
they throw in a perpetual calendar to boot.
"Olaf Peuss" <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message
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