Hello Ladies & Gentlemen!
I own a Omega Constellation (2002 Model). It's currently not working. The problem is my dad was using the watch since 2002 and unfortunately he passed away in 2011. After that, the watch has been lying simply unused. Now a month back i took the watch and wanted to get the battery replaced. Unfortunately, The battery had leaked and there is the greenish deposit in the battery contact terminal. I asked the watch repair guy if it's possible to repair it. I'm from India and he quoted 3500 INR (56.64 $) to repair it. Then i started to search the internet and found out that you will have to service the watch every 2-3 years. Now my doubt is that i do not know if my dad had properly done the service during his ownership period. And the watch is now 12 years old. Now where do i begin? Should i just replace the battery and go about it or give it for a complete service? Btw, The place where i gave the watch is NOT AN AUTHORIZED OMEGA SERVICE CENTRE. But, That place (P Orr & Sons) is a very famous for repairing watches since 1846 here in India. Now should i give the watch to this place or take it to an authorized omega service centre? And what exactly needs to be done on the watch and how much will it cost approximately? I want to keep it carefully since now it's hold a certain sentimental value. Help me out here! Im stumped and confused.

 

In Jakarta , that kind of price for quartz watch service imply they will replace the IC board of the watch. Ask them whether they will replace with genuine Omega parts or they use generic one.
If they can access or order genuine Omega parts then do not hesitate to use them. Try to talk directly with the master technician, not with their lovely receptionist .

 

I finally took the watch to an authorised service centre! He just replaced the watch and Voila! The watch started working perfectly! It's been three days and it is keeping up the time perfectly! Now I'm very happy. But my only doubt is that since the watch is 13 years old, do i need to get it serviced or leave it alone?

 

Service now and will work out cheaper in the long run.

Every 5-7 years for a Quartz service 2-3 for a battery change.

I would service it if there was a battery leak straight away

 

Personally I would let a quartz run until it stops or until battery life is unacceptable before getting it serviced. In a mechanical watch, there is pressure on the pivots of the wheels in the movement all the time it's running. In contrast in a quartz watch most of the time there is no pressure on the pivots - they are just sitting there loose in their jewels or bushings. Only when the motor pulses does the internal mechanism have any force on it. In some watches without second hand, there is only one pulse every 20 seconds - common on dress watches. But even a quartz where the motor period is one second, the watch will have force on it only during the pulses. I won't get into chopped pulses here in detail but the longest the watch would be under forces would be around 8 milliseconds out of every second.

You rarely see wear on pivots in a quartz watch. They are very different animals than a mechanical watch

Cheers, Al