Refinishing of my Breitling Crosswind Special LE

[Scott D]

Hey everyone,

This is a re-post of the refinishing thread posted in the General Forum. On Rusty's recommendation, thought I'd add it to our forum since it's on one of our favorite watches, the Crosswind Special Limited (Ok, at least one of my favorites) ;D

--------------------------------
Hey everyone,

Had my watch tools out today changing a battery on the in-laws watch, so decided to try my hand at a refinish.. The Breitling Crosswind Special LE I picked up last month is in great shape, but has some “everyday wear” on it.. The case, bracelet & bezel have scratches, so thought I’d try to remove them & make it as new-looking as possible….

So first, a disclaimer. I didn’t mean to start this as a posted lesson / tutorial, but to polish my watch. As such, I didn’t get all the before shot I probably should have. And second, I only have so much room on the desk, so I didn’t have room for the extra lights, so some of the shots may be darker than I’d like.. Sorry…

OK, on to the refinishing!!

First thing I did was take the exterior parts apart. Removed the bracelet & bezel. I got to say, the Breitling bezel is the easiest & hardest bezel I’ve ever removed. Easy because all you do is remove the 12 screws around the bezel. Hard because you have to remove, and not lose, the 12 screws around the bezel. After the bezel, screws & rider tabs are removed, the bezel ring is removed.. Here she is, stripped to the parts.





Shot of the case (yuck!)






And the bezel (lots of gunk in the grooves)




Case & bezel


OK, let’s get started….. The tools…



OK, so I only have 2 hands, so couldn’t take any pictures while I worked.

Started out with 2000 grit sandpaper & sanded all the surfaces. One good thing about this Breitling is all surfaces are polished. So I sanded all surfaces until smooth, case, bezel & SS portions of the bracelet. I was unable to find any 3000 grit sandpaper, so next I used rubbing compound, like for a car, next. This was the time consuming part. Using a soft, lint-free cotton cloth (cloth baby diapers work great) I rubbed the compound into the surfaces of everything, case, bracelet, rider tabs, bezel & even the bezel screws. This part easily took the longest, patience & slow-steady strokes wins this game…

OK, so after I treated all the surfaces with the rubbing compound, I did it again, just to get it as smooth as possible. BTW, this worked great!

Next, off to be washed. Using a soft toothbrush & mild liquid soap, all parts got washed & lightly scrubbed to remove all rubbing compound residue. Next they’re rinsed & dried.

Once dry, a Cape Cod polishing cloth puts on the final polishing & luster. Not all parts came as polished as I would have liked, so back tot eh sandpaper & rubbing compound.

Once all parts are polished, it’s time to reassemble the watch.

Here’s the polished parts:

Case


Case & Bezel






I wish I'd used a plain white cloth under the parts as this one has a pattern you can probably see. The effect is the "smudge" marks you see on the case are actually reflections off the cloth. The metal of the case is completely scratch free & highly polished. The picture just doesn't do it justice!

Rider tabs & bracelet


Ok, so time to put the bezel back together to get ready for installation.. Put the 12 itsy-bitsy screws back on the bezel…


Whew, ok so that’s done, line it back up on the case


And tighten the screws. Done!


All that’s left is to put the bracelet back on


And she’s done!!!!





Just look at that Breitling detail!! Love it!





Unfortunately, the pictures really don’t do it justice. Before, you could see the scratches on the side of the case, bezel & bracelet from 5 feet away. Now, there are no scratches on the case or bezel, they both look brand new. The bracelet still has some scratches, but they are very light and you have to really look to see them. Given the gold on the bracelet, I didn’t want to rub too hard & decided to live with some light swirls instead of removing too much gold.

I hope you enjoyed it.. I sure did… Now, my CWS-LE really shines, as a watch of its stature should!


Also, I'd like to give thanks & blame to Aaron, of the Rancho-Shoe Free Down-Udder Watch Refinishing Center.... I never would have tried this without his great refinishing pictures & tutorial he did on his Omega, and without some extra "prodding" by Aaron. I'm glad I did though. It really was pretty easy, you just gotta go slow & have patience.... Now that it's done, I'd have no problems refinishing any watch that got scratched, which may actually lead me to wear some of my more "protected" watches more, which is a good thing!

[Houston]

Gulp


Oh man Scott, you really did it, didn't you? I'm speechless. If all these pieces came outa one of my watches I'd go beserk.....


;D ;D ;D


Great stuff pal - you win the Betta Brita Award for BreitlingLand engineer of the month


;D ;D ;D



Later Bud


ZIN
Not usually shaken nor stirred ;D ;D ;D

[wbarker]

You're nuts in a nice kind of way. LOL. Wonderful job and very educational. I sent this link to my son who has inherited my CWSLE, but with clear direction not to do this.

Bill

[Scott D]

LOL guys.. Yea, I've been called nuts many times before. Though I'll admit I was leary at the beginnig of this one. Those screws scared me. I was sure something was going to go zinging across the room as I took the first one out....

I was thinking of you Zin as I wrote this, hoping you were sitting in a sturdy chair so you didn't fall out again... ;D I know reading about taking a watch apart makes you physically ill.. And this thing has a bunch of exterior parts...

So Bill, how long before I get an email from your son starting out.. "so I followed your thread & have these parts left over..." ;D

[wbarker]

Scott,

How do you know my son so well? He is a natural born tinkerer since childhood. It would not suprise me that he would be so bold to try it, but heaven help him if he does. I left an invisible string on the watch and can pull in back to the east coast if I sense a bezel screw being loosened. LOL

Bill

[koimaster]

My head hurts even thinking about taking apart my watch like that.

[koimaster]

My head hurts even thinking about taking apart my watch like that.

[Aaron]

Gee I like how I got lumped into this,like I forced you. ;D ;D ;D ;D

Great tutorial.

So to remove the bezel do you remove the screws or is it the same removal system for Rolex and Omega Or are the screws simply there for cosmetics. (Except the ones holding the rider tabs of course.)

Aaron.

BTW,
Love that watch.

[Scott D]

aaron said:

Gee I like how I got lumped into this,like I forced you. ;D ;D ;D ;D

Great tutorial.

So to remove the bezel do you remove the screws or is it the same removal system for Rolex and Omega Or are the screws simply there for cosmetics. (Except the ones holding the rider tabs of course.)

Aaron.

BTW,
Love that watch.

Hey Aaron, yup - you absolutely forced me.. You said I wasn't worth of wearing my watches if I didn't do it.. Now how can I shy away from that?!?!?! ;D ;D ;D

So no - the screws actually do hold the bezel on. When they're all screwed in it centers & secures the bezel to the case... Wasn't too bad, actually made removing & re-attaching very easy as there's nothing you have to pry off.. Assuming you don't loose a screw. And actually you don't have to remove them all the way. Loosening all of them will work too.

And thanks! About 8 or 9 months later, it's still one of, if not the, favorite of my collection!