Breitling Emergency Watch
 

Hi,

I have a Breitling emergency watch (with 121,5 MhHz sender) for 6 years and always found it comfortable to wear on my trips as a "last resort" back-up.

Recently, Breitling have doubled the price for changing the batteries to US 600 !!! As an additional discomfort, the watch needs to be sent to Breitling for more than 4 weeks roughly every two years !!!

Instead of contacting a lawyer right away: Does anyone know a way to do a reliable battery change at a normal watch shop? Could this affect the functioning of the emergency sender device?

Many thanks,

Just before my last travel stint to SE Asia the battery of my Omega Seamaster started to expire. I contacted a couple of genuine reatailers here in London wrt changing it. Although it wasn't in the 600-bucks range it was still a bit of a hit, and a 2-3 week turnaround time. So i took it to the official distributer in Bangkok when i arrived there, and they changed the battery and checked the watch out in 20 mins for £8! Result...:thumbup1:

I've had a breitling for almost twenty years, although not the emergency one. I usually send it in every few years (whenever it stops working) for a "service", which is more than a battery change--they replace gaskets, etc. However, every time I send it in, they also try to replace all kinds of expensive cosmetic items (ie, the hands, the crystal, scratched links in the bracelet, etc.), which adds up to $600 pretty quickly. By the time I cross off all of the cosmetic items, it's still maybe $350. And it takes 4-6 weeks. I'm completely underwhelmed by all of this, and I won't buy any more Breitlings, that's for sure.

Are you sure that a Breitling dealer in town can't do something simple like change the battery? I'm pretty sure that I had a Breitling dealer here in DC change my battery for me a few years ago; wasn't cheap, maybe $40 or so, but it beats $600 and 4 weeks...

This is not a normal Breitling watch. The problem is the integrated emergency sender (with a 1m long extractable antenna).

Any watchmaker can open the watch and put one new battery in for the watch and two batteries for the 121,5 MHz sender.

The question is: how risky is it not to have the emergency sender maintained by Breitling every two years?

I think a pilot might be able to answer this, because the emergency sender is similar to those on aircraft.

Here is a picture:

http://www.chrono24.com/images/uhren.../1335696_s.jpg

Cut your losses, get a Casio :thumbup1: The thought of all that money on my wrist:thumbdown:


Trophymick

121.5mhz transmitters
 

hi
i looked at buying one around christmas time for a remote dive trip, in case the boat left without me/ sunk etc. a wee bit of research pointed out that frequency will no longer be monitered shortly

The Ultimate Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) FAQ - EQUIPPED TO SURVIVE (tm)

lots of people are still selling this frequency, without always pointing this out.
however, i suppose the local receiving equipment is still currently in use.
and there could still be a case for group purchase ie all divers from the boat are given one, and that particular boat has the soon outdated receiver.

but spending any money on a lifesaving tool on this frequency is i think not sensible.
406mhz transmitters are a little too big to put on your wrist at the mo, but are about £400. further info via that link may advise on the "best" one to get?
still a nice watch tho!!

Most EPIRBS use two frequencies -

One is for the satelite .. this is the one that is changing .. the old satelites are not being replaced .. and teh ground stations theat 'talk' to them are changing over to teh new frequency.

The other frequency is for 'ground' use .. I think you'll find that is monitored by comercial aircraft .. they can tell it is 'active' but not where. Search crews have directional equipment to locate it. Think you'll find this is the 121.5MHz signal.. and teh 406 EPIRBs will transmit that as well as teh 406MHz signal. Oh and the cheapest ones here are around $500?

The watch is designed for aircraft pilots - who should be near comercial air lanes .. thus making the 121.5MHz effective.

Oh, what things we cling to...

Grizzly7 and Frank Warner,

very good information. Thank you.

Althouh the new 406MHz frequency further devalues the Breitling watch, I think it will still be better to wear the 121,5MHz transmitter (to attract overflying aircraft and specific search crews) than to wear no transmitter at all.

Nevertheless, the Breitling policy sucks. Doubling service prices, while dropping the main function of that watch - without informing the registered owners - is not what I expected.

Booger me. And I was outraged when Casio wanted £40 to replace the battery in my altimeter watch...

My Seamaster usually went to Swatch for a battery change £50 every couple of years. This time however I was informed that the watch was faulty and needed a service - another £70. As it had been working when I sent it to them I asked for it to be returned. Took it to a watchmaker in Glasgow who changed the battery and tested it for £25 - still working and I know where it will go in future.

My watch is worth more than your bike.

Sometimes I like to announce this to strangers.

It makes me feel swell.

F*** me! You're cutting tonight Dan. That's the second sarcy, post I 've read from you tonight. I know what you mean though. I do wonder where some people plan on riding their bikes and I do know how sarcastic you can be. To be honest, I can't fink of an easier way of getting my throat cut than wearing a £400 watch.

I like the HUBB, because there is lots of good information and very little sarcasm/jealousy/save-the-planet/"I am better than you" stuff.

I had previously registered in all of the German-speaking travel forums, and deregistered again because they are unfortunately full of "Dan 23"-like comments.

You like to ride low-budget Dan 23? Fine with me.

When you imply that a Breitling watch is not an appropriate statement for a traveller, I think your statement does not have the appropriate width or wit for this traveller forum. But hey: it's a free world. Everyone is entitled to his own errors.

P.S.
I have a different opinion about safety anyway (but am not missionary about it): very often it`s a bold and confident "rich" attitude that gets you through, whereas the "poor" approach attracts the gangster/bureaucrat/victim-seeker. Luckily, some have the choice to adapt. Has nothing to do with a Breitling watch, however...

Dan, I fixed your post for you.

Let the games commence...
 

Ooooohh, I say!!!!!!

Dan, please make your posts a bit "wider" in future.

No, you see our Dan gets paid by the word, so "short sleeves, long arms", as my Dad used to say. As for wit, well that's what Sarcasm is; Mancunian wit.

God Bless The Bold And Confident Rich
 

'I have a five thousand dollar watch'. That's all the original gauche post said. 'I have a five thousand dollar watch'. Do you really? How lovely. Of course, everyone should wear what they want, travel how they like, ride their own ride. But when the golfers in the first-class lounge start complaining that the leather chairs chafe their thighs, and the air-conditioner irritates
their eyes, then they can expect (and surely laugh-off) a little bit of late-night ball-breaking from the chippy, juvenile wankers in coach, no?

As the Good Gonzo Docktor said 'We are motorcycle people - we laugh at whatever's funny and we shit on the chests of the weird'.

Suerte, Dan

Without wishing to offend anyone (or sh*t on their chests!). You Brietling owners gotta admit it, it is kinda funny that you are paying $600 dollars to have a new battery put in your watch! I recently bought a watch (that tells the time, no less!) for about $25 (about $10 more than I normally pay for a watch). You could have bought...um, 24 watches like mine for the price of a battery in one of your!

And mine glows in the dark! :) (which is why I paid $10 more for it!)

Matt :) :) :)

I think you're being kinda harsh. Actually, I see lots of people ask questions on this forum that I think could be better addressed on different fora--so why do they ask them here? Cuz the responses on this forum are generally civil, if not helpful.

I would just hate to lose that, because then where would I post questions about my Lamborghini, Lear jet, condo at Vail, and where to find good servants?
:oops2:

Just kidding.

Actually, I DON'T think it's very funny--it makes me mad as hell. I wouldn't have bought it if I knew the maintenance cost; wonder if other luxury brands are the same--maybe we can get the Rolex, Patek Phillippe, etc. owners to chip in with their opinions? :biggrin:

What makes it even better is that I actually need to send the fooking thing back at least every 3-4 years because it loses time or otherwise doesn't work. That said, I've had mine for a long time so have some kind of sentimental attachment to it.

I've worn my Breitling all over the world (kayaking, biking, hiking) and never worried about it being stolen, although I am afraid that the bracelet will break and I will lose it (it's broken a couple of times, but I've caught it in time). Moreover, it's got two fatal flaws (IMHO) for a travel watch: poor night-time visibility (no light!) and an alarm that wouldn't wake a mouse. Finally, when I'm riding I don't need a watch at all.

So...this thread got me thinking about why I where the damn thing when traveling, and last night I ordered a G-Shock as a more suitable timepiece.

Salford?????
 

Dan23
If that is Salford / Manchester I should keep quiet about your watch, I used to work for Renault in Salford and know the area well for the unsavoury elements that live there.:2guns:
You might want to check your right of ownership.:detective:

I reserve the right to buy and wear what I want so I bought a Brietling for 150 Saudi Riyals, about £22:cool4:

Travelbug, hope you get yours fixed OK without too much cost.
Cheers
Ian:thumbup1:

How much????
 

Sorry, come again?

I thought £500 was for the frikkin' watch! But what's that you say? $5000!!!!! ???. The battery costs what? $600!!! ???

I've got a mate who spends this kind of money on watches and other useless stuff. He used to browse the internet for unfeasibly expensive hotel rooms, and ocasionally book them. It's an illness, a panacea for his erstwhile cocaine habit and childhood insecurities.

i only wish i could afford to buy an expensive watch like a gshock, that cash would probably take me 100miles, if i coast the downhill bits in my unimog :)

that particular breitling i would say is more discreet and more likely to be on you than a sat phone that some people like as a back up. apart from it being redundant in that respect soon of course ;))

depends what trip scenarios you prepare for, and how far you can afford or want to go down that road.

most people have plenty of nickable stuff with them, how much difference does a posh watch make???
:confused1:

Monkey, you're not paying attention! The $600 is not how much the battery costs, but for a full "service" which includes changing the battery, changing gaskets, and changing a bunch of other cosmetic stuff which doesn't have to be changed. At least on a basic Breitling (w/o satellite stuff) you can get a battery changed for "only" $40 or so IIRC.

A G-Shock is "expensive"?! $38 on Amazon...I mean c'mon, man...it's much less than an airline would charge you for changing a flight because you overslept.

Sorry, I have an Attention Defecit Disorder.

Before anyone jumps down my throat I'd like to point out I have no issues with anyone actually wearing one of these if that is their cup of tea: each to their own.

I would say this however, to think that wearing a watch of that nature and value is not going to attract potential thieves would be incorrect, IMO. It is the same as opening a wallet full of cash to pay for coffee; to those who know where and when to look, and it is these undesirables that make a living from preying on foreign tourists. They are no doubt far more savvy and observant than you or I....

On an aside do not I feel that "bold and confident" and "rich" are inexorably linked. If anything I think it could put a barrier between me and the very peoples I am trying to meet on my travels. I have felt entirely "bold and confident" on my travels without succeeding in, or indeed, trying to look "rich".

When I travel I wear a £20 digital casio with a 200m WR rating. Inoccuous to look at, yet I can knock it about, and go diving if the opportunity arises! For me I just feel that $5000 would pay for a lot of hotel rooms, a lot of fuel, a lot of food and a lot of bike/tyres/spares. If it is safety that makes you buy it, then save $3000 and buy a $2000 satellite phone... That is probably what I would buy...

I genuinely think that a satellite phone would give you a greater degree of security in the event of an accident (directions, commnunicating injuries, etc) than a simply homing beacon.

emergency / safety
 

On the note of sarcasm, according your philosophy, an extremely expensive watch does not attract thieves but a cheap one does? I don't get that.

When I go travelling I always leave the flashy stuff home, tape of the makes on the camera's, exchange my extremely expensive Seiko for a plastic watch etc. Never ever had anything stolen, travelling the whole of Central America, most of South America, 30 countries in Africa, Australia, etc.

I agree with Warthog. For a bit of extra money you can buy an Iridium sat phone. A lot easier I would think and on the long run (2 years) a lot cheaper too because eventhough you wear a $5000 watch, you seem to find $600,-for a battery too much! That I don't understand either.

Cheers,
Noel
exploreafrica.web-log.nl

I've also travelled to Africa, Asia, Central America, etc., and I've never had anything stolen either, and I don't do things like put tape over the brand of my camera.

I just don't bring anything I can't afford to lose, am careful with my stuff, and keep my situational awareness cranked up. It's not any more complicated than that...

i know a sat phone is now "cheap" to buy, and you can chat to your mum however remote you may be, but its a baggage item not an on you the whole time item.
as a minimal emergency tool theres not many alternatives imho

"valuables"
 

I agree but if a writer looses his 50 cent bic pen in the middle of nowhere, it can still be a drama. The price of things and being able to afford to loose stuff are not always related to each other.

Cheers,
Noel

Certainly losing a canteen in the desert, or a passport, or under certain circumstances, a condom, is not good! You've got to look after your stuff!

We've kind of veered off topic a bit, but all I'm trying to say is that people are comfortable traveling with different stuff. Some people wear a $5k watch, others bring $2k in camera equipment, some bring, well, nothing. It's all good and I don't see why people criticize others for carrying stuff that they would not.