Repair: Fake Breitling Navitimer / fake Valjoux 7750

[hiker01]

From WatchGuy UK!

Repair: Fake Breitling Navitimer / fake Valjoux 7750

This fake Breitling was sent in by Bal – he had a spot of bother with his girlfriend, involving alcohol, and a flight of stairs that he “fell” down. Watches don’t like this sort of thing, especially when they get banged against banisters and whatnot on the way.

I do not condone the selling and buying of fake watches, legal blah blah ding dong whatnot – you knew that already of course!

Nevertheless, this poor baby is broken, and needs my attention. Considering that the watch costs EUR 200 new, it’s not going to be cost efficient to give this watch a complete service – as that takes a long time on a chronograph movement. Fake or not, it’s the same work.

The watch doesn’t run at all, the balance moves a bit when shaken, but the escape wheel doesn’t turn at all.

Normally, fake watches don’t try to be fake any more once you have opened the back. This one does. This is a pretty exact clone of the Valjoux 7750, and they even bothered to engrave the Breitling name on the rotor. This would fool most people I’d say.

If you zoom in on this photo, you can see a spring lying right across the balance. I think I found the problem, but removing the spring doesn’t start the watch. So there is a bit more wrong with it. The spring in question is there to press the driving pinion against the chronometer centre wheel when the chronometer is started – it shouldn’t be on the balance. That’s what you get from “falling” down the stairs!

I remove the chrongraph bridge, which is also the rotor gear base. All looks very Valjoux, but it isn’t.

As I haven’t found the problem, I dig a bit deeper, and finally find one of the case clamps jammed against the escape wheel. I get it out, and the watch starts moving.

Now I have to reassemble the chronograph again – not that easy a task, and it takes quite a while to get everything in the right place. After about 3 attempts to put the bridge back on, I got it right.

Now the dial, second hand and chronograph hands go back on.

I case the movement, and put the rotor back in place.

And the watch is back together.

If this wasn’t a fake, but an honest Chinese chronograph, I would say it’s excellent value for money. Where else can you get a decent chronograph for EUR 200?

In any case, a lot better value than the real deal. The real deal costs EUR 1800, and the movement on the inside is worth EUR 200. The fake one costs EUR 200, and has a decent clone of the 7750 inside.

[redwatch]

Interesting write up!!