Whinge about a jeweller

[eccles]

I have a Rotary watch which I have always taken to an upmarket jeweller in Kingswood to get the battery replaced. The watch is of medium but not outrageous quality and I thought that by taking it there it would be looked after.

Last night the watch stopped, and I was a bit suspicious: surely it wasn't that long ago that I had the battery replaced? I found the receipt and sure enough it was replaced two weeks less than a year ago. They usually last 18 months.

I checked on the web to see how difficult it was to actually DIY the battery replacement and it wasn't actually all that difficult. I prised off the back with a penknife blade without a problem, levered out the battery and saw a ring of corrosion around the battery's centre contact.

Well that's why it stopped then, the jeweller's had obviously stuck an out-of-date battery in there, charging me a tenner for the privilege. So I won't be going there again!

Well as it turned out they closed down in September this year so I won't be going there anyway. But now I've got the back off I found the battery number and ordered a couple of new ones on Amazon and in future I'll DIY the job.

So this is a sort of cheer as well.

[eccles]

There's a sequel to this little story. The two batteries arrived this morning and the watch started working again when I inserted it.
But I couldn't get the back on again. Try as I might, I couldn't get the damn back on again.
I went to the web again and the instructions began "Use your watch press...."
I thought WTF is a watch press? It turns out this is another little gadget that jewellers use to clamp down on your watch to squeeze the back into place and stop us plebs from doing it ourselves.

So back to the web I went with a query "How to close the back on a watch without using a watch press" which turned up this little gem:

My watch has a closed bracelet strap so I did need to use a link remover to be able to lay it flat, which I had already got years ago for a few pounds. But with a piece of MDF, a kitchen towel, a lens cloth and a few metal washers I did what the guy in the video did and it worked. My watch is back on my wrist with a new battery. Total cost was the price of two batteries £2.47. Quoted shelf life is 2025 so the second battery should be good for the next replacement.

[Furby]

Well done Eccles. But it all seems a bit of too much palaver to me and I think just buying a whole new watch is easier. Do many people wear watches now. I dont need one at home and just look on my phone while out.

[eccles]

Thanks Furby.

I think just buying a whole new watch is easier

That depends - I'm not going to throw away a £150 watch. But even with a cheap watch there's surely some satisfaction in getting it going again from one's own efforts.

[Patience]

I wear a watch. Generally a battery one or a real wind up one. Both are Omegas and formally my mum’s.
I find I get panicky if I’m not wearing a watch.