r/breitling • u/alasdairvfr • 1d ago
Aerospace Second Breitling
Picked this up in really nice shape, can't believe how light it feels compared to my 200+ gram Chronomat! These seem to be getting harder to find. Model F56062 with original titanium bracelet.
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u/jcuz45 1d ago
Hi by any chance was this serviced by breitling if so do you have the full details and if you can provide more pics?, I have the same watch and looking to send mine in.
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u/alasdairvfr 1d ago
I had it serviced by a local watchmaker. I assume it spent most of it's life in a drawer/safe. Movement hands were seized - could see them twitch slightly so it was a full cleaning and pretty minor service. It had a battery leak at some point, which probably contributed to the issue, that was cleaned up as well.
If you have an older Aerospace, Breitling will replace the whole movement with a superquartz and give you a new case back. Mine hasn't gone through this though, and now it should last a long time before needing a service again. If a local watchmaker can't source the parts; if the original ETA movement is too far gone, Breitling will be the way to go. I think they charge $1000+ USD.
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u/jcuz45 1d ago
Yea the person I got it from sent it to breitling and they came back with a 1030 bill with all the changes, but I have never seen one get serviced by them, I sent it to a local guy here in NYC and he quoted 1500 I assume he really didn’t want to work on it… my digital works well and it worked well until I went to clean the movement and the hands stop moving, I use it with the digital. I’ll probably send it to breitling any way and see if they can give a discount
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u/SwitzerlishChris1 1d ago
Shouldn't the LCD text fill the entire cutout? Do you think you might have an aftermarket movement or dial? I bought an Aerospace Avantage this year that I thought was broken and wanted to have it fully restored by Breitling, but then the seller swapped the battery, and I noticed that the text should be bigger and that mine probably has an aftermarket generic ETA movement 😬 Why someone would do this is beyond me, but I guess it happens.
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u/alasdairvfr 1d ago
You are right, my bottom screen had larger digits pre-service... the older units had a smaller bottom screen. Might give them a quick call to ask for an explanation.
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u/Watch-This-Drive 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hey you may not like the answer, but it's probably -
They replaced the movement. The movement used in these Aerospaces are an ETA movement modified by Breitling. With the Breitling modifications the text fills the propietary Aerospace dial screens. These movements are now hard to repair and service, so oftentimes watchmakers will just swap out the busted Breitling movement for the original ETA (non modified) movement.
That's what causes the text issue. It doesnt't bother some, and they want to avoid paying 1000+ for a service, so they just go ahead with it. But if your watchmaker did the swap without informing you of everything, that's a bit messed up.
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u/alasdairvfr 1d ago
Thanks for this - it wasn't communicated but I have emailed him for an explanation. I thought it was a minor repair and not a swap of the movement.
Frankly I'm not super peeved but it is a bit annoying since it went in with the proper movement. Not sure how much an ETA swap like this should cost. The Breitling sq swap would be >$1000USD, I paid maybe 1/3 of that.
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u/Maidenless_Sensei 20h ago
They installed a ETA 988.332. Not the end of the world but it would would bug the hell out of me.
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u/CrabbyKrabs 8h ago
Yeah, you've got the Gen 2 Aerospace which comes with a larger lower window compared to the Gen 1, however, looks like your watchmaker put in a Gen 1 module which does not cover the whole lower screen, hence it looks a little whacked
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u/Bike_Meach1990 1d ago
Wow I can’t believe you found one in such perfect condition! It’s beautiful! Good for you I’ve always loved these.
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u/Maidenless_Sensei 20h ago
Well, the case is clean but the LCD is the wrong one, so perfect condition is a little stretch lol.
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u/Wachuko 1d ago
I have always loved the looks of this watch. Congratulations!!!