Hi, I bought an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra (Cal 1538) Quartz watch on Dec. 29, 2010 from an authorized dealer. A few days ago (Nov.26, 2013), the original battery finally died. I took it to the Omega Service Center to have it changed. I was surprised when told that my watch would need to have a full service costing around $300 because the battery leaked and was told that I have to pay for its repair as the warranty had lapsed. I was also told that I should have taken it to them for maintenance check before the warranty lapsed. Also, the battery that was inside the watch is an Energizer. Anyone has a suggestion on this? Does Omega really use Energizer batteries on their new watches? Thanks!

 

Well I guess its worth it then if the battery really leaked and they are going to really replace some parts...thanks dsio. By the way when should I have my quartz watch checked up/maintenance every year or just whenever the battery dies?

 

So this is the time I have it checked then? The secondhand is my indicator.... did not notice that though. Would you happen to know if Omega uses Energizer batteries for their watch. The Omega SC said that my watch had it and they don't know if omega uses energizer. Thanks again.

 

I've never seen an Omega with an Energiser brand battery, every OEM one I've see use Renata, unless they were changed out by someone else

 

I know. I think the Omega Service Center (OSC) here is duping me too...it's just that I wouldn't know how to prove it yet since they don't allow you inside when they open the watch. It's the first time that I had my batteries replaced so it's either the authorized dealer or the OSC who changed it...anyway I'll try to find out with Omega's customer service if they do put energizer batteries in it. Thanks JimInOz!

 

Just a thought, but could it be that the dealer had the watch in stock for a while and swapped the battery before you picked it up?

 

That's a possibility too as I have mentioned above. But anyway, just to clear things up, I already asked Omega's customer service about it and will wait for their reply. In the meantime, I have no choice but to have it serviced by the service center and just hope that they'd be honest enough in doing it and I hope it doesn't take that much time to repair (well according to them its 2-3mos) since they're getting the parts from Switzerland (I'm in the Philippines by the way)...

 

There is a good reason why Omega always use Renata batteries and that is because Swatch own Renata so I agree that the presence of the Energiser is a mystery.

 

Morale of the story:

DON'T BUY BATTERY POWERED COMPUTER CHIPS PROGRAMMED TO TELL TIME.

 

hahaha...that's why regret is always in the end!

 

That's what I told the service center manager...so instead of just changing the battery for maybe $20, they'd charge me for $300 for a phantom job...well, then this is just me being suspicious...

 

Omega uses Renata as has already been stated. However among watchmakers, Renata has a bad reputation for leaking prematurely.

I personally do not use them for this reason, and I use Maxell. Now I don't service a ton of quartz watches, and since I am not in a retail location, I don't do battery swaps by the hundreds each week (thankfully!), so the recommendation of Maxell came from another watchmaker who primarily works on quartz and does trade work, so he swaps a lot of batteries. He's the kind of guy who keeps the old batteries and sells them by the kilo for scrap - they contain silver...it would probably take me a 10 years to get a kilo of used batteries....and he sells this much every couple of months for scrap.

I have never had a battery that I installed leak, so to date I am confident in the Maxell.

$300 does seem cheap for a service or replacement of the movement. The movement alone is $250, so if they are swapping it (most likely scenario) then they are not charging much for the remainder of the work. It could be that they are actually servicing the movement, but usually corrosion damage is something that requires at least the circuit to be replaced.

Anyway, good luck with the watch.

Cheers, Al

 

Thanks Archer!