Noob question, sorry!

[Danny1]

Hi There bit of a noobie question here!,
Like so many others on here my watch fasination has always been Divers watches! I like classic styles to something
a little different always on the lookout, I have a number of Seikos and Citizens kicking about amongst others
the problem is I have a load of quartz watches in need of batteries so heres the thing, I took one of my watches to a local
Jewelers/pawn broker/watch maker and had the battery replaced cost about £5? and they said that they couldn't garantee
that it would be waterproof anymore, that was fine with me I haven't dived for a number of years and the watch in question
is a beater anyway (Tauchmiester 1000m T0078), now some of my better watches none are particuarly expensive
do i chance having a cheap battery change and knackering it say snorkeling or swimming pool useage?, would you expect
it to be ok for this type of use?, I have 3 or 4 promasters/Aqualands and was quoted about £50 each for battery change and proofing
and sent away to Citizen, as for Marathon where the hell would I send that when it needs a battery?,
So what do you guys do with yours?http://www.tz-uk.com/forum/posting.php?mode=post&f=1#

Help much appreciated

Danny.

[Luka]

One drop of water can ruin your watch .

I do the battery changes myself. (ok, have to admit..I have a vacuum and pressuretester)
I am pretty picky in these items and have seen to often that gaskets are not placed accurately and the watch will fail a waterresistance test, not even a 1 meter test.
I am not sure about this but I guess the stores who do the quick battery replacements often don't know what they are doing. They don't perform any waterresistance tests.
A good watchmaker does know what he is doing and is worth the money in my opinion.

I never heard complains about the Citizen service centers, obviously as a lot of people use the promasters as real Dive watches.

You can take the risk with a 10 pound watch, but with expensive watches ..I wouldn't take the risk.

Something else with batteries, often overlooked..when a quartz watch runs out of the battery, replace it as soon as possible or take the battery out. Empty batteries can leak and damage the movement.

[Glamdring]

Most Watch Hut type emporia are able to pressure test to 100m. If you want the watches resealed properly then you can either do it yourself (gulp!) or send/take it to a proper watchmaker at appropriate cost (£50?).

[Backward point]

Have one watch done by a watchmaker and pressure tested. That's your diving/swimming watch.

Buy a case opener and do the rest yourself.

Simples. :wink:

[Danny1]

Cheers for the advice guys,
Had a quick search on the net and found a place
called watchdoctors, they do battery change reseal
and waterproof test for about £25 (awaiting email quote)
Has anyone used them can recommend?.

Regards,
Danny.