Ziggy, Help! 7750 Navi chrono will not manually wind.

[doug]

I bought a Navi serie speciale from Trevor, but the watch will not wind manually. I turned the crown clockwise 30 or so times, and nada: running seconds didn't move. There is no resistance when I (try to) manual wind, no sound either; it's as if the stem is not connected to anything in there. Oddly, the auto mechanism seems to work. If I rock the watch back and forth, the running seconds hands starts. About a minute of this produced a running time of just under 2 hours. But it won't manual wind. Any thoughts on this? I assume that the mechanism is defective, but having no horological expertise, can't figure out why the auto works but the manual doesn't. Am I missing something?

[Jawo]

I bought a Navi serie speciale from Trevor, but the watch will not wind manually. I turned the crown clockwise 30 or so times, and nada: running seconds didn't move. There is no resistance when I (try to) manual wind, no sound either; it's as if the stem is not connected to anything in there. Oddly, the auto mechanism seems to work. If I rock the watch back and forth, the running seconds hands starts. About a minute of this produced a running time of just under 2 hours. But it won't manual wind. Any thoughts on this? I assume that the mechanism is defective, but having no horological expertise, can't figure out why the auto works but the manual doesn't. Am I missing something?

I think your watch is screwed. Try to uncrew the crown, pull couple of notches out then screw back in. I think this warrants a job for The Zigmeister.

[RWG Technical]

Sounds like the crown is defective. Common problem on many watches, including my Omega SMP chrono, had to replace the crown with a genuine one.

I doubt there is anything defective with the movement.

RG

[doug]

Thanks, The Zigmeister. Yeah, the movement itself seems to work fine. I held the watch in my had last night and rotated it for maybe 4 or 5 minutes nonstop and it ran for about 7 hours before shutting down. But I sure as hell don't want to do this every time I decide to wear it. So the problem, as you say, is in the crown somewhere. I emailed Trevor and he asked for photos of what was wrong, so I apparently did a poor job of communicating the problem to him, and will try again. Thanks once again for your reply, and for all you do for this forum.

[Physher007]

Why don't you just 'swirl' it to get it started and them slap it on your wrist?

[RWG Technical]

Thanks, Ziggy. Yeah, the movement itself seems to work fine. I held the watch in my had last night and rotated it for maybe 4 or 5 minutes nonstop and it ran for about 7 hours before shutting down. But I sure as hell don't want to do this every time I decide to wear it. So the problem, as you say, is in the crown somewhere. I emailed Trevor and he asked for photos of what was wrong, so I apparently did a poor job of communicating the problem to him, and will try again. Thanks once again for your reply, and for all you do for this forum.

The good news is that genuine Breitling crowns are available, I have not replaced one, but I assume you would need the tube as well...just as you do on the Omega's. Not sure of the compatability of the genuine crown/tube on the rep, but it should be possible to replace it.

RG

[doug]

The Zigmeister,

Thanks for the reply. I wouldn't have the foggiest, re where to even find a new crown. One of the posters suggested that I just "give it a swirl and slap it on your wrist". As I said, the auto wind seems to work fine. My question: Would it be okay to just do that, that is rotate the watch enough to get it going then just start wearing it, let the autowind do the work, and not worry about not being able to wind it manually, or would this crown/no manual wind issue eventually stress or damage the overall movemen? At worst, the absence of the manual wind is an inconvenience, so maybe I'd be better off not trying to ship it back to China and just live with the flaw.

[RWG Technical]

I would not ship it back, not a good idea at the best of times, for many reasons as reported by many members here...

Not a problem not being able to hand wind it, some asian genuine brands are not capable of being wound with the crown. As long as you can set the time and date when you put the watch on, it's not an issue...

RG

[doug]

Forgive the naivete, but is there a "most efficient" way to autowind your watch, that is a specific way/direction to rotate the watch while holding it that produces the most running time per movement, i.e. up-and-down, circular, tilting one way or the other back and forth (like a teeter-totter). Or does it make no difference as long as you are moving it? Since this is the way i will have to wind this watch, thought I'd ask. Thanks.

I would not ship it back, not a good idea at the best of times, for many reasons as reported by many members here...

Not a problem not being able to hand wind it, some asian genuine brands are not capable of being wound with the crown. As long as you can set the time and date when you put the watch on, it's not an issue...

RG