The battery in my SMP Bond quartz just died for the first time since I purchased the watch. It lasted about 3.5 years, so I feel like I got pretty good life out of it. Apologies if this is already posted somewhere. I searched around and couldn't find anything about it. I am wondering what the typical going rate for a battery change service in these is. I would expect that this typically includes replacing seals and pressure testing it as well. Just want to have some sort of idea going into this so that I don't get taken for a ride. Thanks.

 

I paid around $50 cad for my replacement battery in my SMP .

 

I paid around £70 in the UK from an AD. Yes, the seals were changed and the watch pressure tested. You can get it much cheaper on the high street, but I’d be careful.

 

Great, thanks for the info!

 

My watchmaker recently only charged me $40 to change my SMP Bond quartz battery, test the movement, and pressure test it for WR. But, it was cheap because he didn't have the seals in stock to replace the 3.5 yr old ones. I still get the friends and family prices.

I don't swim with it anyways, but it passed the WR tests. I may send it to Omega for this next time, or make sure I order new gaskets in advance of the battery change.

 

Larry, is seal replacement typically a quick job in the OB? I know you said "your watchmaker" so I assume you're not using an OB but thought you might know. What does seal replacement/pressure testing typically run in terms of cost?
I know a lot of people seem terrified of it, but I go with Archer's philosophy and take Omega's WR ratings at face value, and I actually swim in my Speedy Pro from time to time. Never have had an issue with it but it's creeping up on two years old and I think I want to get it tested/seals replaced to ensure it doesn't become an issue in the future. Thanks for any insight you might have.

 

I don’t know the cost to replace the seals - often Omega will also replace the crown and HeV and not just their seals, if it fails a WR test. They charge about $500 for a full service - all gaskets and seals, new crowns and hands, battery and movement testing, and polishing.

With just battery change they test the movement for proper functioning and battery draw, and pressure test for WR. If it passes they don’t replace the seals, but old ones that pass a test one day could fail the next day or in a few years. I was told this is about $160.

I haven’t sent my Bond quartz to Omega yet. I bought it from WatchVaultNYC in 2015 and the battery lasted until 2019.

[EDIT siri dictation typo on date]

 

Holy crap! 1004 years on one battery!
Can you find out where he gets his batteries?

 

More to the point, what was it like there?!?

 

I used to have a local guy who worked out of a Sears (now closed) who did batteries and minor repairs for me. He'd charge like $12 for Seikos, Hamiltons, etc. and I brought him my Rado once for a new battery, and it was $35. I asked, "is it simply because it's Swiss?" and he said yes.

I've had a few quartz SMP in the past, and I never bothered with seals and pressure testing when getting the battery replaced. I don't dive with a watch (I know I could, but why take the chance?) mostly because when I did SCUBA I did shallow dives not requiring decompression.

Yeah, I know, living dangerously. LOL