krpster

Have you tried putting it in the same position overnight where it is not so cold? Perhaps not the cold but maybe the static position it is in overnight. That is a much more common problem related to servicing vs. Reaction to the cold.

Thanks fellas,

 

I have to say that I am very impressed by the quality of construction of the Deep Blue. If they are all built this way i think they are very good quality for the money.

 

I almost pulled the trigger on one after seeing your post kbh. Got all the way to the complete purchase button but then realized I had better not buy yet another piece right before xmas. Already 2 incoming this month

 

The Story

So, a friend of mine had his Deep Blue Master 2000 Diver suffer a fatal injury while preparing for a dive out on the lake. It would seem that as tough as the watch is, a direct impact with the deck of the ship was too much for the mechanism to bear. While this in and of itself is a traumatic event for the horologically inclined, what came after is even worse and what has prompted me to share this with all of you.

 

After the Deep Blue had clearly sought to rest in its own watery grave my friend set out to find a means of bringing her back to life. I do not know the path that led him to the “watchmaker” in question but I do know that the result was not what would be expected of a professional and is certainly not what he paid for.

 

After getting her back from repair he was told that some items were bent as a result of the impact and the countermeasure was to bend them back!?! Seems like a highly dubious method to correct such a tight tolerance finely tuned mechanical device. He was also assured that the watch received a full service with ultrasonic cleaning and lubrication. All of this for the paltry sum of $250!

 

On the surface, following the repair, all seemed well except for the fact that the watch no longer hacked. Odd since hacking is a standard feature on the ETA 2826 movement housed within. Also, low and behold some scratches on the dial. Then only a few weeks later the date indication stopped functioning followed by the overall movement failing. “Watchmaker” indeed!

 

Not wanting to go back nor try to recover the money lost the next step was to find an alternate means of resuscitation. Hence the Deep Blue ended up in my hands. The following is what I found and outlines the resurrection of the Deep Blue!

 

The Investigation

So here she is as returned from the “professional”. Scratched, broken, dirty….

Of course I can’t blame the watchsmith for getting it dirty (that honor belongs to my friend) but to return it this way after service speaks volumes about the craftsmanship.

 

Upon opening up the case back a few things of note. This watch is build like a tank! Notice the triple case back o-rings and floating back plate!

Also note the dirt and finger prints inside!!!!

 

Let’s take a closer look at things with the rotor off.

What a mess! No lubrication at all and dirty too! More finger prints all over the spacer ring! Also note the condition of the screw heads. Over torqued and damaged.

 

Now for the case and crown. For an even closer look I used my handy dandy USB mircoscope.

Did I mention it was nasty!

 

OK. Obviously some work needed on the case and stuff. How about that dial? Scratch is pretty bad but workable I think.

What’s up with the hands? Something doesn’t look right.

 

Off they come!

Sweep seconds hand is bent and all of them are scuffed up. Just poor workmanship.

 

Time to dig into the engine. First the date wheel mechanism.

Some bonus hairs to help it run better!

 

Lots of extra dirt too.

 

Now for the keyless works. The minute train bridge had it all. Too much oil, dirt and hair!

Keyless works themselves had no oil at all and of course… dirt! Also once again the screw is over torqued and damaged.

 

Next the auto winder module. This actually didn’t look too bad (relatively speaking of course).

 

But the gear train bridge was a disaster

I have seen some pretty nasty jewels before… but these are really bad.

 

OK. Let’s get the gear train out.

WOW! And I though the bridge jewels were bad. These ones were even worse! There is no possible way that this movement saw any kind of cleaning or service whatsoever.

 

Here she is all stripped down and ready for a real cleaning.

Also FYI, I never did find the hacking lever. No wonder it did not work.

 

The Resurrection

I spent some time working on the dial while the parts were in the ultrasonic cleaner.

A little bit of time, patience and some elbow grease and the result is pretty good I think. The scratch was not too deep so after rubbing out with Rodico and a polishing cloth most of it came out.

 

Now on to re-assembly of the movement.

I hand clean and polish each part before reassembly. It allows for good inspection too.

 

How clean parts and oiled jewels should look.

 

More re-assembly and a perfectly oiled balance jewel. Can you spot it?

 

Ah-hah! I knew that date was in there somewhere.

All buttoned up on the front side.

 

Uh-Oh! During re-assembly of the auto winding module found yet another problem….

supposed to be a pinion there. No wonder it didn’t work anymore. Off to order some more parts.

 

After getting the reversing wheel replaced I move over to the front side and get the dial and hands sorted.

Much better, Straight as an arrow and clear of the dial.

 

Now time to do some work on the case and crown.

A little refinishing here and there plus a whole lot of cleaning.

 

Prepping the case back O-rings for installation.

Still can’t get over the fact that there are 3 back here.

 

Not only does the case have 3 o-rings the crown has 4. There are 3 on the tube and 1 in the crown itself.

This one is built solid!

 

Cased up and ready to be sealed in (don’t worry, I installed the auto winding module between these shots).

Case back ready to install.

 

All done. Returned to her former glory!

 

The Conclusion

So the moral of this long drawn out story is…do not trust just anyone to work on your watch. Follow the 3 R’s: Research, Reputation and Reference. If you don’t you never know what you will get, and as you can see resurrection can be a painful process.

 

Hope you enjoyed

Yup, Hami's are really good value for your money. Some cool pieces MOAB. Sure hope you got some good Black Friday deals or your wife will kill you

I do not believe that any of the Hublot or Daytona reps are made using the ST-19. Pretty sure most if not all out of the box versions of these use variants of the A7750.

Sure hope its true

I love that vintage style in a chronograph. However, I do find them to wear a little on the small side. 

Looks like the A2892. Not sure the going rate for watches equipped with this one but I think the quality is on par with the other 28xx series clones.

It is hard to say how long it will last. It really isn't so much a question of quality of the movement more about the cleanliness and preparation. It has been shown time and time again that a properly serviced clone movement can perform as well and last as long as its genuine counterpart. However, they seldom come from the rep factories in the proper condition. This can lead to mixed longevity ranging from 0 days to 10 years. Bit of a wild card actually.

 

With respect to getting it serviced there are several modders and services on the boards that can help you out. Some members have had success finding independent watchmakers that are just fine working on reps. If we know where you are someone may be able to point you in to someone or make specific suggestion.

 

Brave purchase in terms of rep accuracy. The Cosmonaut is my all time favorite Breitling but to date is has not been repped well. I would be curious to see some pictures once you have it. It suffers the horrible sunken date window of most of the Navi series and I am pretty sure they did not mod the movement for the 24 hr function. These alone would keep me from buying. Still would like to hear your thoughts once you have it.

Holy moly. I wouldn't even know where to start. Amazing work!

Wow! can't recall when I have seen an ebay seller with a negative feedback score Very unfortunate but as with all ebay transactions...buyer beware.

Thanks for that. Saw it in the airport recently and almost picked it up.

 

Cheers

All you need to do is adjust the curvature of one of the two curved link arms of the deployant. It is pretty straight forward to do and does not require pliers. If the locking tab is falling short of the slot then I would suggest a slight adjustment to the middle single link section. All you need to do is take a bit of the curve out of it which will effectively lengthen it allowing the locking tab to engage. Tweaking the clasp curvature is far easier than swaping parts, clasps and so on and will give you the result you are looking for.

You wish you were going to be alive in the years 2813, 2824, 2892 and 4813 because... well, just because!

 

priceless

As far as I know the response you are getting is reflective of the number of options for using a rep case to house genuine Speedy parts. To go gen dial you will also need the correct movement to go with it (gen Omega or other variant from a Tissot or the like) which of course leads to the hands (which you have mentioned). I do not believe these will fit into the rep cases that use A7750 or the Sea-gull ST19. In my memory I have not seen this done anywhere.

Unbelievable pair (don't usually say that to a guy ). And to think I have been happy with my DW 6239 all this time...

Very nice. Congrats on all levels

Yeah, whats up with the name change?

 

Congrats on the milestone!

Haven't decided yet for today but I am off to Port Dover so it must be motorcycle friendly

Welcome aboard Luc.

 

The Navi is definitely a lust worthy piece that many of us here long for. Fire away with your questions either here or separately in the Breitling section and we can help clarify the situation. The nutshell story however is that they are becoming impossible to get (as ceejay mentioned) and the versions that are around are not the greatest in terms of replication. Sunken date windows, misalligned slide rules and so on. The upside is that they are possible to franken up with some gen parts and with some effort, creativity and of course some $ you can have yourself a pretty decent piece.

Well someone has to buy the gens or we will have nothing to rep

Very nice! Nothing like Gen parts to step it up a notch.

Nice box. Quite a beast but very pretty at the same time.

That is a serious watch. Very nice.