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Quartz watches during lock-down

MRC
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Checking my quartz Seamaster to set summer time I found its battery has died. OK, I also have many pure mechanical watches to wear but ....

.... apart from "smart" watches that charge through a USB connection or whatever (daily 馃槻), what will happen when the general public find their quartz watch has stopped and that places capable of fitting a new battery (eg Timpsons in the UK) are considered non-essential and closed for the duration? Rioting in the streets ::stirthepot::

For those here who are unfamiliar with quartz watches here is a photo of one

PA230186m.jpg


(Anyone who still keeps a slide-rule on their desk definitely has a screw loose)
 
S.H.
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Well, believe it or not the watch I wear most these days is a chinese Seiko SNJ025 : a solar quartz with no battery 馃槣 (I can bike around to work and wash my hands up to my ears without problems, it is the only waterproof watch I own right now)

DSC_7306.jpeg


(if the darn bug is still keeping us at home when I need a new capacitor, well, that is trouble 馃槻).
 
Charlemagne1333
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馃榾馃榾
MRC MRC
Checking my quartz Seamaster to set summer time I found its battery has died. OK, I also have many pure mechanical watches to wear but ....

.... apart from "smart" watches that charge through a USB connection or whatever (daily 馃槻), what will happen when the general public find their quartz watch has stopped and that places capable of fitting a new battery (eg Timpsons in the UK) are considered non-essential and closed for the duration? Rioting in the streets ::stirthepot::

For those here who are unfamiliar with quartz watches here is a photo of one

PA230186m.jpg


(Anyone who still keeps a slide-rule on their desk definitely has a screw loose)
A visit to Poundland (still open) may be beneficial. They sell watch batteries so it might be a good time to teach yourself battery replacement 馃榾
I鈥檓 in a similar position at the moment. I have two automatics in service with Omega, so it鈥檚 anyone鈥檚 guess when I鈥檒l be telling the time on those two again 馃檨
 
Walrus
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Damn didn鈥檛 even think of that. A lot of people don鈥檛 have the tools to open certain watches as when you buy the battery at a watch shop it includes installation. I think I鈥檓 ok with the handful of quartz watches I have I replaced 4 batteries just a couple months ago and I get a decent lifespan on the batteries. If this thing lasts that long we are all going to be in deeper doo doo. I don鈥檛 want to change your lighthearted thread into a bummer but I am concerned as I notice a couple mom and pop jewelry stores look like they may not plan on reopening. When I went to the place where the watchmaker I鈥檓 loyal to has his shop it looked gutted. He has two stores and I have a feeling he is closing the one closest to me. I would hate to think he is closing both. I hope we don鈥檛 lose a bunch of these small independent jewelry stores in the course of this virus.
 
connieseamaster
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He's probably consolidating tools and merchandise into one location where he can keep track of everything more easily. Security was the main reason why my watchmaker never moved his workshop out of his basement.
 
JimInOz
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MRC MRC
................
what will happen when the general public find their quartz watch has stopped
.....................................

Won't they just go to their battery drawer?

IMG_4469.JPG
 
T-Steve
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Fantastic. I thought I was one of the few with a "battery drawer" filled with weird batteries.

JimInOz JimInOz
Won't they just go to their battery drawer?

IMG_4469.JPG
 
Walrus
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connieseamaster connieseamaster
He's probably consolidating tools and merchandise into one location where he can keep track of everything more easily. Security was the main reason why my watchmaker never moved his workshop out of his basement.
I hear you and I am speculating so you may very well be right. It鈥檚 just the last few years he has tried selling the business several times. I certainly hope you are right, on this one I鈥檇 be very happy to be wrong
 
JimInOz
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Walrus Walrus
I hear you and I am speculating so you may very well be right. It鈥檚 just the last few years he has tried selling the business several times. I certainly hope you are right, on this one I鈥檇 be very happy to be wrong

And now he's at home listening to his wife..................

"I told you to accept that offer in November, but would you listen to me? Oh no, not you! And another thing etc etc etc".
 
Archer
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JimInOz JimInOz
Won't they just go to their battery drawer?

No, if they live in my neighbourhood, they give them to my wife as she is walking the dogs, and she gives them to me. Replaced two for a neighbour around the corner yesterday. No charge of course...batteries are cheap when you buy in bulk...

Interesting that whoever did the last battery change on one ignored the stamp on the inside of the case back telling them to install a 371, and instead they jammed a 395 in. 馃う
 
JimInOz
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Archer Archer
.......batteries are cheap when you buy in bulk................

Yep, I'm much the same.
If it's friends or neighbours it's a freebie, and I don't really buy in "bulk" bulk, maybe 10 of the ones I'm running low on.
Good neighbours for something that cost me less than a cup of coffee, why wouldn't you?
And if it's for a mate of a mate thing I only charge them cost, some are amazed at the price compared to what they paid at the shoe guy in the mall.

I did get caught short once though and went to the watch guy for a battery and he wanted $10. I just laughed and walked off. Told my mate it'd be a few days and ordered 10 from my supplier. SR920SW, 85 cents ea.

Archer Archer
.........Interesting that whoever did the last battery change on one ignored the stamp on the inside of the case back telling them to install a 371, and instead they jammed a 395 in. 馃う

Same diameter though Al 馃榿.
 
gbesq
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MRC MRC
Checking my quartz Seamaster to set summer time I found its battery has died. OK, I also have many pure mechanical watches to wear but ....

.... apart from "smart" watches that charge through a USB connection or whatever (daily 馃槻), what will happen when the general public find their quartz watch has stopped and that places capable of fitting a new battery (eg Timpsons in the UK) are considered non-essential and closed for the duration? Rioting in the streets ::stirthepot::

For those here who are unfamiliar with quartz watches here is a photo of one

PA230186m.jpg


(Anyone who still keeps a slide-rule on their desk definitely has a screw loose)
You quartz guys were screwed when General Ourumov set off the satellite weapon in Goldeneye. The electromagnetic pulse rendered anything with an electronic circuit useless. Just another reason to go with a mechanical watch - Omega, of course.馃榾
B0FDDE96-5856-4B02-B1D7-B51E8F7AF0E8.jpeg
 
padders
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Archer Archer
No, if they live in my neighbourhood, they give them to my wife as she is walking the dogs, and she gives them to me. Replaced two for a neighbour around the corner yesterday. No charge of course...batteries are cheap when you buy in bulk...

Interesting that whoever did the last battery change on one ignored the stamp on the inside of the case back telling them to install a 371, and instead they jammed a 395 in. 馃う

No idea what watch that was, presumably not an Omega but that seems a typical swap for the 1538 movement in some uses doesn鈥檛 it? My last SMP quartz had a 395 which fell out when I removed the dust cover then I noticed a Mylar pad which prevented it shorting and pressed it in place. I replaced it with a 371 which fitted properly. I think I saw you mention that it may even have once been a factory sanctioned bodge but I didn鈥檛 like it.
Edited:
 
Archer
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JimInOz JimInOz
Same diameter though Al 馃榿.

Well it was telling tat when my wife took the watches back, and mentioned that one had the wrong battery in it, the owner said "Oh, Ted must have done that." "Ted" is another local watchmaker who I have had to fix a bunch of his work after the fact. I went to his shop once to look at buying a workbench, and he pointed to one that had at least a 6 inch deep covering of watch parts, movements, dials etc. all piled on top of it. This was how he worked...

I declined to buy the bench, and then he tried to sell me a fake Rolex GMT. :whipped:
 
Archer
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padders padders
No idea what watch that was, presumably not an Omega but that seems a typical swap for the 1538 movement in some uses doesn鈥檛 it? My last SMP quartz had a 395 which fell out when I removed the dust cover then I noticed a Mylar pad which prevented it shorting and pressed it in place. I replaced it with a 371 which fitted properly. I think I saw you mention that it may even have once been a factory sanctioned bodge but I didn鈥檛 like it.

No, not an Omega. It was some cheap thing with a no jewel movement in it. It has a snap on case back, and the thicker cell was putting pressure on the movement - not good.
 
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