Question about Super Ocean Bracelet

[teddy boy]

I read By-Tor's excellent comparision of the Breitling Super Ocean and the Omega Planet Ocean. Interestingly, these are the two watches I'm considering for my next purchase. I had pretty well decided I would go with the blue Super Ocean and have even looked a the blue dial gen to see if I'd like the look of the rep on my wrist.

When I read By-Tor's review, he indicated that the bracelet was hard to adjust. My question is the following. Is this difficulty serious enough that it would present a problem having a jewelry store adjust the band? I would obviously need to choose a non-AD jewelry store to do the adjusting so they would have no prior experience with Breitlings. There are plenty of jewelry stores around where I live that provide this service for a small fee. Should a reasonably competent jewelry store be able to adjust this band?

This is an important consideration because there is no way I can do this for myself.

[Usil]

It is the PO bracelet that everyone has trouble sizing and not the Super Ocean. The Breitling, is easy once you understand that 2 screws need to be removed to remove a link. The PO has pins that are very tight. I have sized 2 PO bracelets and have not had issues but I had the tools to do it. Without the tools there is no way you can do it. I used 2 different pin tools, the first one had a thicker pin and I used this to start the removal process. But the thicker pin removal tool is too short to push it all the way out so I used a second that was longer. Even then I needed pliars to remove the pin the final distance and you must be careful to pull straight up or you can break the pin. It's a bugger to do.

Usil

[PAMman]

I fully agree with Usil - the Steelfish bracelet is easy to adjust when you understand that 2 screws need to be removed to remove one link. Because of the angled links the screw heads that relate to one link are located in two separate links on the other side. Just remember that the screws go straight through the bracelet rather than following the angled design of the links.

[Pugwash]

Another with the agreeage. The Tin Haddock's bracelet is considerably easier than the Planet Ocean's. The SFSO bracelet requires one screwdriver. The PO requires a pin, a hammer, some patience and possibly a bruised thumb.

[Usil]

Oh, Yeah. I forgot about the little jewlers hammer I had to use too on one of them.

Usil

[teddy boy]

Oh, Yeah. I forgot about the little jewlers hammer I had to use too on one of them.

Usil

Thank you for the responses. I'm not sure where it leaves me, however. It's unlikely that I would find a non-AD jewelry store that could do this. I know that I can't do it myself. If you question whether I'm under estimating my ability, I recently posted on the general discussion that I thought my titanium bracelet was irrating my skin. It turned out that it was just dirty. Technical things have never been my long suit.

Thanks again for all the thoughtful replies.

[rogerthat]

Any small watchsmith (non AD) should be able to resize the Breitling bracelet in 15 minutes or less, and I can't imagine they would charge more than $10.

No big worry.

Cheers,

M

[teddy boy]

Any small watchsmith (non AD) should be able to resize the Breitling bracelet in 15 minutes or less, and I can't imagine they would charge more than $10.

No big worry.

Cheers,

M

I do have a watchmaker who works on both my reps and gens. I didn't think about him, thanks for the suggestion. I know now what my next rep is going to be.

This is why I'm grateful for this forum.

[By-Tor]

@Teddy boy: You obviously misunderstood that part in my review. Breitling is very easy to resize, I only complained about the loose screws. When you resize, remember to glue the 2 small screws properly so you won't lose them.

PO is a tough watch to resize, not the SuperOcean.

[Usil]

What By-Tor said. If you go for the Super Ocean, which is a fantastic watch - you won't be dissapointed. But, several, me included, have noted that the small screws that hold the links on arrived loose when we recieved the watch. No problem as long as you know this and do something about it immediately. You can get a small screw drivers set from Radio Shack for a few bucks if you don't already have one.

After you resize the bracelet for your wrist, remember this is a bracelet so do not make this too tight and it is best to do this in the evening when your wrist is larger, carefully remove each screw, apply Loc-Tite to the screws (the kind that allows for removal if needed in the future), and reinstall screwing each back tightly. The Loc-Tite will dry and the screws will then not accidentally loosen while you wear the watch.

Make sure you clear your desk to do this and I always put a plain piece of white paper under the watch and bracelet (I fold a 1/2 inch lip around the edge of the paper to raise the edges to prevent the screws from accidentally rolling away. Along with tiny screw drivers, you will need tweezers to pick up and place the screws into place.

Hope all this helps.

Usil

[teddy boy]

What By-Tor said. If you go for the Super Ocean, which is a fantastic watch - you won't be dissapointed. But, several, me included, have noted that the small screws that hold the links on arrived loose when we recieved the watch. No problem as long as you know this and do something about it immediately. You can get a small screw drivers set from Radio Shack for a few bucks if you don't already have one.

After you resize the bracelet for your wrist, remember this is a bracelet so do not make this too tight and it is best to do this in the evening when your wrist is larger, carefully remove each screw, apply Loc-Tite to the screws (the kind that allows for removal if needed in the future), and reinstall screwing each back tightly. The Loc-Tite will dry and the screws will then not accidentally loosen while you wear the watch.

Make sure you clear your desk to do this and I always put a plain piece of white paper under the watch and bracelet (I fold a 1/2 inch lip around the edge of the paper to raise the edges to prevent the screws from accidentally rolling away. Along with tiny screw drivers, you will need tweezers to pick up and place the screws into place.

Hope all this helps.

Usil

It helps tremendously, thank you very much. I'll be ordering the watch over the next few weeks and I'll report back on how it goes. I would promise to take pictures, but so far my photographic ability has been poor. In most of my pictures you can tell that it's a watch, but you can discern much more than that.

Thanks again.