Repairing Luxury quartz watches.
Discussion
I’ve recently started to get the urge for a “luxury” quartz watch and have seen a few on eBay that are billed as not working. My question is how “expensive” can a quartz watch repair be? I normally budget a couple hundred when buying autos and manuals but have no reference for battery watches. My experience is usually replacing the battery in a Casio and that’s about it.
I don’t like them enough to want to spend north of a grand on so wondering if paying a few hundred less is savvy or am I wasting my money.
I don’t like them enough to want to spend north of a grand on so wondering if paying a few hundred less is savvy or am I wasting my money.
Super Sonic said:
If I was buying something to use for it's intended purpose I wouldn't buy a broken one. The seller may say 'just needs a new battery ', then you buy it and replace the battery and it still doesn't work. If it only needs a new battery, why hasn't the seller replaced it?
That’s my thoughts as well. Was curious to the “typical” issues a broken quartz may have. 732NM said:
It depends what it is.
Not one specific watch. Seen some Cartiers, Piaget, Omega. Models where there isn’t a manual/automatic version. They’re not high on my want list, plenty of other things I’d get before and equally I don’t “love” them enough to want to pay for a pristine version. A few hundred and couple more for repairs I can live with. £1000 plus just takes them off the list completely.
It can cost a lot.
A while back the battery in my Breitling Aerospace went flat and I didn't bother replacing it for a while. When I finally did I was told my battery had leaked and the only remedy offered by Breitling was a complete replacement of the internals, cost > £1k, i.e. more than the watch was worth at the time. I got it back without having any work done and have since completely failed to find anywhere else that will even touch it. It sits in a drawer to this day.
My advice would be to avoid broken quartz watches like the plague.
A while back the battery in my Breitling Aerospace went flat and I didn't bother replacing it for a while. When I finally did I was told my battery had leaked and the only remedy offered by Breitling was a complete replacement of the internals, cost > £1k, i.e. more than the watch was worth at the time. I got it back without having any work done and have since completely failed to find anywhere else that will even touch it. It sits in a drawer to this day.
My advice would be to avoid broken quartz watches like the plague.
Miguel Alvarez said:
Would an independent be more sensible or is it a case of broken and replace internals job done?
Quartz watches are pretty tough. If you think about the sort of reasons they stop working it's largely going to be water ingress or battery leaks, I would think? I would imagine both of those situations would require all of the internals replacing and at least for my Aerospace I would expect Breitling to be the only source for parts.You might get a better labour rate from an independent but I doubt it's ever going to be a cheap repair.
Depends on the watch. A (non LCD) Tag, Breitling or even Omega from up to about the millennium are going to have ETA -made movements which are about as easy as possible to service when it comes to quartz.
Anything pre-millennium from Cartier, JLC, Rolex, etc is likely to be very difficult to source parts for and when you start getting to the 80's you're in vintage electronics land in some cases.
Ultimately if you're looking to save money then someone out there has probably already bought and fixed it. You might find a bargain but if it was cheap and easy it likely would already have been done.
If you're just interested in it as a hobby then I'd recommend looking at watches like the old Tag 2000 or the uglier 4000, which are about as easy a quartz watch as you're likely to get. If that's not put you off then I'd start looking for something you actually like.
Common faults are:
Dirty (just strip & reassemble)
Corroded. (Ranges from "can be cleaned up" to totally borked.)
Resistor/coil/ bad watchmaking damage. Usually requires sourcing new/good used parts which can be easy or impossible depending on the watch.
Anything pre-millennium from Cartier, JLC, Rolex, etc is likely to be very difficult to source parts for and when you start getting to the 80's you're in vintage electronics land in some cases.
Ultimately if you're looking to save money then someone out there has probably already bought and fixed it. You might find a bargain but if it was cheap and easy it likely would already have been done.
If you're just interested in it as a hobby then I'd recommend looking at watches like the old Tag 2000 or the uglier 4000, which are about as easy a quartz watch as you're likely to get. If that's not put you off then I'd start looking for something you actually like.
Common faults are:
Dirty (just strip & reassemble)
Corroded. (Ranges from "can be cleaned up" to totally borked.)
Resistor/coil/ bad watchmaking damage. Usually requires sourcing new/good used parts which can be easy or impossible depending on the watch.
Edited by glazbagun on Tuesday 28th October 20:51
I have an Omega Seamaster Professional model 2541.80 which is quartz. It's the first of the Omega so called James Bond watch. I bought it in 1996/7 so it falls into your interest period. I wear it every day so it goes wherever I go.
The battery lasts maybe 3 years or so. I l always send it to Swiss Time Services to get a new battery and have it serviced at the same time. This usually means all the seals are replaced too. Last time I did this was in August 2024, cost was £350 plus VaT, so £420.
It needed a replacement crown to keep it waterproof, and I also decided to have the glass replaced as it was scratched. This was another £155 plus VaT, so £186.
HTH.
R.
The battery lasts maybe 3 years or so. I l always send it to Swiss Time Services to get a new battery and have it serviced at the same time. This usually means all the seals are replaced too. Last time I did this was in August 2024, cost was £350 plus VaT, so £420.
It needed a replacement crown to keep it waterproof, and I also decided to have the glass replaced as it was scratched. This was another £155 plus VaT, so £186.
HTH.
R.
glazbagun said:
Depends on the watch. A (non LCD) Tag, Breitling or even Omega from up to about the millennium are going to have ETA -made movements which are about as easy as possible to service when it comes to quartz.
Anything pre-millennium from Cartier, JLC, Rolex, etc is likely to be very difficult to source parts for and when you start getting to the 80's you're in vintage electronics land in some cases.
Ultimately if you're looking to save money then someone out there has probably already bought and fixed it. You might find a bargain but if it was cheap and easy it likely would already have been done.
If you're just interested in it as a hobby then I'd recommend looking at watches like the old Tag 2000 or the uglier 4000, which are about as easy a quartz watch as you're likely to get. If that's not put you off then I'd start looking for something you actually like.
Common faults are:
Dirty (just strip & reassemble)
Corroded. (Ranges from "can be cleaned up" to totally borked.)
Resistor/coil/ bad watchmaking damage. Usually requires sourcing new/good used parts which can be easy or impossible depending on the watch.
I believe Cartier will still service their Quartz models from the 70's.Anything pre-millennium from Cartier, JLC, Rolex, etc is likely to be very difficult to source parts for and when you start getting to the 80's you're in vintage electronics land in some cases.
Ultimately if you're looking to save money then someone out there has probably already bought and fixed it. You might find a bargain but if it was cheap and easy it likely would already have been done.
If you're just interested in it as a hobby then I'd recommend looking at watches like the old Tag 2000 or the uglier 4000, which are about as easy a quartz watch as you're likely to get. If that's not put you off then I'd start looking for something you actually like.
Common faults are:
Dirty (just strip & reassemble)
Corroded. (Ranges from "can be cleaned up" to totally borked.)
Resistor/coil/ bad watchmaking damage. Usually requires sourcing new/good used parts which can be easy or impossible depending on the watch.
Edited by glazbagun on Tuesday 28th October 20:51
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