The watch with us for repair today is a Breitling Superocean. The Superocean is a watch designed for use in water. These watches have a high degree of water resistance – with an original rating of up to 5000ft. This particular model has a grey dial with luminous hands and numbers to increase legibility even in low light conditions.
Initial inspection revealed the watch to be working but not well. The hands and date setting were functional, but there was a lot of resistance when attempting to manually wind the watch. The movement (based on an ETA calibre 2824-2) clearly hadn’t been serviced in many years. We also noted a couple of screws were in the wrong place – notably those for the automatic bridge and train wheel bridge were mixed up. Perhaps a sign the previous watchmaker to service this watch was not familiar with this calibre.
The watch is completely stripped down before the movement parts are thoroughly cleaned. We clean parts both by hand and then using a specialist watch movement cleaning machine – this way we can be certain everything is in good order and as clean as we can possibly make it. During this process we noted some wear around the top pivot of the Intermediate Wheel, so this needed to be replaced. We also noted the Etachron regulator was incorrectly set up – something which will adversely affect timekeeping.
After cleaning, rebuilding and oiling of the mechanism can begin. We use a number of different oils and greases in different parts of the watch movement, as per the manufacturers technical guidance. Once the movement is complete, the dial and hands are refitted, so this element is ready for the final casing up.
Our client asked us to work on the case and bracelet to refinish and improve the appearance, as on arrival with us the case and bracelet were very marked. To do this we use our polishing machine and – most notably in this instance – a graining wheel to achieve the brushed finish required on this model. We also needed to fill in a number of sections where the paint was missing from the numbers on the bezel.
Once this work is complete all that’s left to do is to rebuild the complete watch before pressure testing for water resistance. It is then ready to go on test before collection by our client.
Yours sincerely
David Clark FGA DGA MJVA PJDip. PJGemDip.
Managing Director, JVA Registered Valuer®
W.E. Clark & Son Limited