Designer watch battery

[percheron67]

I am lucky enough to have a designer watch. For it to go back to the factory for a battery will cost around £100. Will it damage the watch if I take it to a watch repairer in my local town centre?

Depending on how expensive it was they may not touch it. I have a Rolex and tried to get some links removed locally. Ended having to go to a Rolex dealer and spending a fortune!

Well if it’s a designer watch that costs 20k £100 isn’t much is it?
Or do you mean Swatch/DKNY/Michael Kors/Fossil or similar?
Is it insured? You may invalidate your insurance if don’t get it properly repaired.

I have a 15 year old TAG that I always take it to the fab stall on our local market ( costs £4 to change the battery and he holds a record of when it was last changed)
The only think they won't guarantee is it still is waterproof but I'd don't wear in water or the shower
They have also repaired it
My sister sends hers away for a £150 battery change and 'service' once a year!!

I took my Gucci to the local market and the battery is still going strong years later. When my TAG needs a new battery it'll either go to Debenhams if they are still open (as they can seal it) or the market if not.

I should add they are out of warranty and not insured.

I don’t really understand this.
I have a Tag Heuer. When it needs a new battery, I have to have the watch sent to Tag Heuer (I went to an authorised dealer and a Tag Heuer store) to have them change the battery, which takes weeks. This is around £80.

If I go to an authorised Tag Heuer dealer in Denmark, they charge me around £10, and it takes an hour max.

Perch Thank you. It is a Gucci and has a Diamond on the face. It was several hundred. I shall have a chat to local jewellers.

My Raymond Weil is ancient and I take it to an indoor market for a battery change and clean up. It’s not guaranteed as waterproof but I never get it wet anyway.

Just go to Timptons or wherever. I’ve got some properly expensive watches, some are battery operated and I just go to the local high street.

New straps, links etc are different and I’d go to the brand shop or Harrods etc.

Mine go back to Watch maker, I don’t want to take the risk as if you send them back they are insured.

I’ve never left a watch in a shop. The battery has always been changed in front of me.

Mines just gone back to Cartier for a battery change. Everywhere I asked (jewellers) wouldn't touch it.
When I got i had a couple of links taken out I've put weight on and need them putting back in but I couldn't find them anywhere it's costing £300+ for the battery, service and links.

I have a Gucci watch. To begin with I put it to the jeweller I bought it from and they’d send it to Gucci.

Now I put it to my local market. It’s still going strong after 20 years.

I took dh's longines to timpsons and it cost £85 for new battery, plus resealing do it remains waterproof and that was for a lifetime battery replacement service. It took a few minutes. The jewellers have always sent the watch off and he'd be without it for weeks. The woman said she did loads of designer watches.

I have got a few nice watches, the local jeweller can change the battery in all of them apart from my Breitling. Some manufacturers use a bespoke key to open the back.

Means that only their dealers can touch it. Depends what it is.

Some manufacturers use a bespoke key to open the back. Means that only their dealers can touch it.

That makes sense. Normally, it’s a simple 1-min job.

Aderyn, my local jewellers, family firm since Victorian times, replaced a battery, put a link in the bracelet and resealed the back on my Longines watch for £5 recently.

I took three in and expected them to say they wouldn’t do any of them, they did the Longines and Dunhill (for £2) and explained why they couldn’t do the Brietling.

Posh watch stuff is a ripoff.

A lot of jewellers won't touch a designer watch unless they have the franchise.

Tbh if I had a watch that cost a few grand to buy I'd take it to a dealer and get them to sort it.

My dh has one and it costs him £80 for a new battery but they also service it at the same time. They have to send it off to the manufacturer to do it

I’m not precious about mine anymore, they might have cost a few grand but that was a long time ago and they are just watches to me now.

An experienced watchmaker is just that whether or not he has a franchise.

my Gucci goes to my local watch repairers and gets a new battery for 4.95, no problems. They had more trouble getting into my Vivienne Westwood but it only took a few extra minutes. I certainly wasn't paying a fortune to send that one off as it doesn't feel a particularly nice quality watch.

percheron67 if it cost a few hundred then it really isn't worth spending £100 on the battery replacement. Go to your local jeweller. The only issue may be that the original warranty is invalidated but to be honest, you'd be better off saving your £100 and just put it towards a new watch should anything go wrong. It is quite different if it is a Patek or Breguet type watch as they run into the 10s or 100s of thousands so obviously £100 is worth spending.

Agree that posh watch stuff is a total rip off. DH has probably spent as much on replacing the battery and servicing as he spent on the watch. If I'd realised it would be do expensive and such a pita I would have talked him into getting a battery free watch.
I don't really 'get' the love for expensive battery watches. DH loves them but in all honesty I like my citizen eco drive as much as some of the pricey ones he likes.