Anyone know about Tag watch repair?

Antique_Guitars

thermionic said:

Incidentally, Vostok make their own movements and they can knock out a watch with an automatic 31 jewel movement for around £40. OK it's maybe not so durable long term as an Omega as a Rolex, but you can buy 4-5 new Vostoks for the price of an Omega service.

Sorry to Hijack the OP's thread but this is my Vostok

joneve

On a similar note to the original post - I have neglected my numerous Quartz watches that have needed replacement batteries for a good number of years….Now…Having read through this thread, if I took them to get the batteries replaced at the weekend, am I going to discover that they all (5 of them) have had battery acid leaks and will be rendered unusable? I plan(ned) on selling them to make room for my birthday purchase next year, so will be a bit gutted if this is the case! 

Just wanted know if this was an inevitable ending or something that sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't. 

chillidoggy

My mate bought a new Omega Chrono Quartz many years ago, maybe 1976? Rectangular thing, bloody odd, and I've never seen one since. I guess they never really caught on, or were a limited edition thing.

Neil

vasselmeyer said:

Neil said:

BTW If you want a watch that tells the time as accurately as possible you will want far something better than a petrol station quartz. 

It will be a thermo compensated movement like a Bretling or Seiko 9F but they are not cheap, the 9F only being found in the Grand Seiko line which cost thousands. 

A few Christmases ago my wife bought me Seiko Kinetic Coutura which is the most accurate watch I have ever had. I varies by no more than a second over a month and (I'm really hoping) it was no more than about £150. How accurate do we really need?

In reality  a mechanical watch that is within a couple of seconds a day is more than adequate for anybodies needs unless you are timing sports events in which case you would probably use an HEQ with a  digital display anyway.

And you don't need a battery. 

Neil

joneve said:

On a similar note to the original post - I have neglected my numerous Quartz watches that have needed replacement batteries for a good number of years….Now…Having read through this thread, if I took them to get the batteries replaced at the weekend, am I going to discover that they all (5 of them) have had battery acid leaks and will be rendered unusable? I plan(ned) on selling them to make room for my birthday purchase next year, so will be a bit gutted if this is the case! 

Just wanted know if this was an inevitable ending or something that sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't. 

Get the backs off and have a look. I swap all my own batteries and dead ones are a lottery with the better quality batteries lasting longer before leakage.

If it is just a jelly like substance emanating give it a good clean and fit a new battery. If corroded you can sometimes clean them up too.

Good luck. 

FX_Munkee

joneve said:

On a similar note to the original post - I have neglected my numerous Quartz watches that have needed replacement batteries for a good number of years….Now…Having read through this thread, if I took them to get the batteries replaced at the weekend, am I going to discover that they all (5 of them) have had battery acid leaks and will be rendered unusable? I plan(ned) on selling them to make room for my birthday purchase next year, so will be a bit gutted if this is the case! 

Just wanted know if this was an inevitable ending or something that sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't. 

It's not inevitable, it may or may not have happened.
If they're screw backed cases, just get yourself a case opener like this
easy to open close.
If they have push fit backs, you can open them with a good blade (be careful!) but you will need a press to close them again which is a reasonably cheap tool but requires a small amount of skill to use without doing some damage, so may be best left to a shop if you don't feel comfortable with it.

FX_Munkee

Antique_Guitars said:

thermionic said:

Incidentally, Vostok make their own movements and they can knock out a watch with an automatic 31 jewel movement for around £40. OK it's maybe not so durable long term as an Omega as a Rolex, but you can buy 4-5 new Vostoks for the price of an Omega service.

Sorry to Hijack the OP's thread but this is my Vostok

<snip large pic/>

Nice Amphibia auto
I don't have a Vostok but I've often "nearly" bought one. I'm a sucker for cheap auto's.

joneve

FX_Munkee said:

joneve said:

On a similar note to the original post - I have neglected my numerous Quartz watches that have needed replacement batteries for a good number of years….Now…Having read through this thread, if I took them to get the batteries replaced at the weekend, am I going to discover that they all (5 of them) have had battery acid leaks and will be rendered unusable? I plan(ned) on selling them to make room for my birthday purchase next year, so will be a bit gutted if this is the case! 

Just wanted know if this was an inevitable ending or something that sometimes happens and sometimes doesn't. 

It's not inevitable, it may or may not have happened.
If they're screw backed cases, just get yourself a case opener like this
easy to open close.
If they have push fit backs, you can open them with a good blade (be careful!) but you will need a press to close them again which is a reasonably cheap tool but requires a small amount of skill to use without doing some damage, so may be best left to a shop if you don't feel comfortable with it.

Going to take them all in to local shop/watch repairer on Sunday and get them done. At £5 a piece, I'd rather someone who knows what they're doing sort it out! Especially as none of them are overly expensive watches - The best one is my Frederique Constant FC270 moonphase, so I'm hoping that one is ok at the very least. I'd like the others to be fine as well though as like I said, I hope to re-home them for very reasonable prices...so if anyone's looking for an entry level Swiss Quartz to add to their collection, give me a shout  

bertie

FX_Munkee said:

Rolex and Omega are as hand made as Seiko and Citizen. You are not paying all that extra cash for a better watch, you are paying for the name/badge.

so using the same logic   Korean made LP copies are every bit as good as USA made Gibsons, where you're not getting a better guitar, just paying for the badge ?

thermionic

I bought one of those case back openers, because I thought I could check for myself if the battery has leaked (if it hasn't, I could then decide to replace the battery myself or pay £50 for TAG to do it). It's a pretty crap tool, and my watch is so small I couldn't get any leverage on it. Looks like a £5 shop is a better bet.

boogieman

I just used a pair of needle nosed pliers when I opened the screw back on one of my watches. Worked fine. I used a Swiss Army knife to open the push fit type, no special tools really needed (unless its a mega expensive watch and you're worried about scratches I guess) As I said earlier, if you buy the batteries from Amazon you save a fortune on jeweller's prices. I've just bought a pack of 10 for £2.90 inc p&p.

Wolfetone

Just had one of these delivered for £5;

http://i1024.photobucket.com/albums/y302/Wolftone/_12_zps8ce305de.jpg

Batteries cost 20p. I figure that £8 per battery change, I have done quite well.

FX_Munkee

bertie said:

FX_Munkee said:

Rolex and Omega are as hand made as Seiko and Citizen. You are not paying all that extra cash for a better watch, you are paying for the name/badge.

so using the same logic   Korean made LP copies are every bit as good as USA made Gibsons, where you're not getting a better guitar, just paying for the badge ?

Try Tokai, Edwards, Navigator, and you might have a more realistic example. You also might have a slightly harder time convincing people of your argument though...