Battery Blues

June 29th, 2006

What!!! $150.00 for a battery change!!! It happens daily, people pay absurd prices for a simple and quick procedure. Or is it? Let me demystify what these battery changing folk do when they crack a watch open. A quality watchmaker will perform the following:

1) Remove dust or wrist remnants from your watch back. Why? Because when it is opened particles will drop right into the movement (that’s bad).
2) Use the right tools! Did you ever get your watch back with a big free form carving on the back?
3) Puff (shoot air around threads of the watch back) and check the movement for dust when it is opened. Check the contacts… clean them if necessary (exactly what it sounds like… where the battery touches)
4) Change gaskets and/or lubricate them to seal the watch properly.
5) And finally, a proper water test… using a tank or tube for appropriate depth testing.

That’s it! How much is this worth? Could be priceless! CTWG

Entry Filed under: Just In, Watches, Mechanical