The Truth about Watches: DIY Repairs

I've done many of my own minor watch repairs over the past years.  By watch repairs, I mean changing batteries and replacing watch bands. I've got to reveal the painful truth about my DIY watch repairs:  they aren't always successful. I've screwed up a few of my watches. 

Oniss Meca Watch

Battery changes seem to be the riskiest operation. Sometimes, it can be tough to extract the old battery and insert a new one without damaging small parts of the movement that clasp the battery and ensure that it is able to power the watch.  Other times, it may not be too hard to change the battery itself, but dealing with press on casebacks can be a real pain. It's almost impossible to put them back on by hand.  You have to use a caseback press.  

A Caseback Press

But, you need to use caution.  I completely cracked up the crystal on this Oniss Meca watch in an attempt to press the caseback on using my caseback press. I also slightly cracked the crystal on my Hamlin watch. It really doesn't look good either.  The interchangeable round pieces are supposed to keep pressure off of the crystal on on the case.  Of course, the Hamlin had a semi-rectangular case.

Hamlin Watch in Better Times

I'd recommend watching every video you can on Youtube before using a caseback press. Thankfully, replacing watch straps is much easier!

Watch Repair Tools: The Spring Bar Tool for Replacing Watch Straps

When it comes time to replace a watch strap or bracelet, it can be a challenge to compress the spring bar that holds the strap in place.  This is one time that having the right tool comes in handy.  There is a tool that is made just for compressing those little springs without damaging the watch strap or the watch.  The tool is available in various forms on Amazon and is called the Spring Bar Tool.

My AVI-8 Hurricane Watch, a Spring Bar Tool, and a Replacement Watch Strap (in packaging)

I was fortunate enough to have a Spring Bar Tool included in my watch tool kit.  But, some replacement watch straps come with a tool in the packaging.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a small one in the packaging for the Fullmosa 22mm Silicone No Gap Watch Band that I recently ordered.

A Fullmosa 22mm No-Gap Watch Strap

All Spring Bar Tools have a flat "blade" tip that slides between the watch case and the watch strap.  The V-shaped gap in the end of the tip allows it to straddle the pin and the handle gives you a little leverage so you can compress the spring bar and remove the watch strap from your watch.  Some Spring Bar tools have interchangeable tips for handling various diameter spring bars and watch sizes.  Sometimes the indentation is too small for a given spring bar.

The Tip of a Spring Bar Tool

The Spring Bar Tool allows me to remove a watch strap easily and without hassle.  I highly recommend getting one or getting a watch repair kit that includes one.  It make the life of a watch collector much easier.

How to Replace A Watch Battery

Replacing watch batteries is a common problem faced by every owner of battery-powered quartz watches.  Often watches just languish for months or years for want of a new battery.  Many old watches just get discarded.  Some like these two Hello Kitty watches make it to thrift stores for resale.  My wife likes Hello Kitty stuff and bought these two with dead batteries.

The type of battery required is printed on the back of the case.  In this case, I was looking for a 377 type watch battery for both watches.  They came in a two pack from the drug store for about $7 or $8.

I am fortunate to have a case of dedicated watch tools and I also have a new caseback press.  I've had my kit for awhile.  But there are many like it available on Amazon.

For this project, the small blade proved most helpful for prying up the casebacks so that I could replace the batteries.  Some watches--particularly manly macho waterproof watches--have indents around the back because they are made to screw off using a watch case removal tool that works like a wrench.

Once the case back is off you can usually see the watch battery in the back of the mechanism.  If you look carefully with a magnifier, you may notice that crosses onto the back of the battery.  When you pry out the battery, be careful not to bend that out of shape.  It's a little flexible to enable you to get at the battery out, but it's necessary to get electricity out of the battery.

Next slip the new battery in where the old battery was.  Place the watch caseback on the back of the watch.  Be careful that any indent on the caseback lines up with the winding (setting) stem that comes from crown on the case so that you don't bend that stem.  Then you press the caseback down onto the case.  Sometimes that can be difficult to do by hand.  That's why it is useful to have a watch caseback press like the one pictured below.

There are discs for the press that match different watch sizes.  You'll want to pick the size that matches your watch and place that on the upper piston that gets pressed down on your watch.
Then, you put your watch and carefully lined up caseback on the press and gently press down.  It should snap right into place.  Be careful about putting too much weight on it or you could damage the watch crystal.  It didn't take much force at all using the press.  If it doesn't work, don't force it.  Check to see that the caseback is lined up and that the disc matches your watch size appropriately.

I was able to get both watches back running in just a few minutes.  Please note that I am just an amateur watch collector on the internet.  If you have very valuable or heirloom quality watches, you should probably take your watch to a jewelry store for a watch battery replacement.

To see how to replace a watch battery on a Timex Expedition or Elevated Classic, check out this post.

Contests, Contests, Contests!

Are you still using a hammer and chisels to repair your watches?  It's not very effective.  You probably need some watch repair tools.  Fortunately, I learned of a contest that can help you win some!

To recruit new members, increase forum participation, and be kick ass in general, the guys over at MyWristwatch Forums are running a very cool contest.  At stake is a nifty watch sizing and repair tool kit.  Check out the contest rules on their "promotions and give aways" forum.  It's a great group of  watch collectors!

If you win, come back and buy this course:




Photo By Janekpfeifer (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons