Well, unless your watch was designed to take mercury-based batteries and they are no longer legal. My Seamaster gets about one year from currently available batteries and that includes the one fitted by Omega Bienne when they serviced it four years ago.
Zinc-AIr or Alkaline?
Whatever a nearby Rolex AD's watchmaker uses. At £15 to supply and fit I guess it's not too fancy. Omega ADs want to send it away and will take several weeks and cost 90 quid which I consider silly for something that lasts a year.
A different Manufacturer, but Rolex repaired & serviced my DJ 16220, they refused to pressure test it without replacing the crystal (said it was chipped, it wasnt) & refused to polish it unless I purchased a new clasp as they said it was cracked (having read on this forum, I would forego polishing now), also told me my date wheel needed replacing & the crown.
I insisted on return of old parts & they absolutely refused to return the crystal & crown, they returned the clasp (which I still cant find the crack on) & they returned the date wheel which looks absolutely fine to me. Horrible customer service.
Flip side, I emailed Omega customer services this 26/10 as I had a problem with an old omega box
Omega customer service emailed me back within 48 hrs asking for photos, within hrs of receiving pics, offered for me to pick up box from Sloane St Boutique in London. However I p/x'd it on the 27th.
But at least the offer was there.
The difference in customer service is staggering, Rolex are so so arrogant.
Jeeper
You are assuming shenanigans where there is none. There are a LOT of electronic devices that were calibrated for the steady 1.35V of a nercury cell that have to be adjusted for the higher voltage of a carbon-zinc or alkaline cell at 1.56V.
That they are willing to do the conversion is actually to your favor and you shan't scorn them for it.
Might be time to find an independent watchmaker who isn't a moron. "Change the cell with like!" You, I think, should cotact Omega in BIenne and tell them their US representatives are dipsticks (I am making an assumption).
I suspect that the Omega AD's problem is that they do not to deal with 40 year-old watches, or because it's a Seamaster they think I want it pressure tested. Look at it -- it's not a watch I ever intended to get wet.
What does anyone replacing the battery need to do except fit the equivalent?
To be fair, that’s probably in the t’s & c’s which we don’t read properly ( I will need to dig out the invoice & check ).
I would just have said, “let’s call the whole thing off”.
