Help needed regarding a vintage Heurer diver.

[Rick Hussey]

Hi Folks


A friend of mind recently found an old Heurer Quartz dive watch which he's long forgotten he had. Unfortunately at some time in the past the battery leaked and was subsequently removed.


I've advised him that the watch is definitely worth looking into getting working rather than just scrapping it but neither of us knows what is the correct battery for it. I have advised him that it's important that he gets precisely the correct battery for it rather than an 'equivalent' just in case there's a microscopic difference in thickness which could potentially result in significant physical damage to the 'motherboard'. Certainly for the price of a replacement battery, it's definitely worth checking out if the watch still works.


Any assistance in identifying the correct battery would be greatly appreciated - plus any additional information anyone has about the watch would also be appreciated. I've enclosed a couple of pics which will hopefully help with this. Many thanks guys - looking forward to hearing from you.

[walkerwek1958]

Impossible to condemn the movement as a write- off based on this photo.

The movement will certainly need stripping, cleaning and rebuilding. The big question is whether the circuitry has been damaged by the leak, I don’t have the test equipment to ascertain this so I have to rely on other techniques, sometimes I’ll rebuild the movement then find out whether it’ll run. I work on a no win no fee basis......suffice to say I don’t take many of these jobs on because they can be a real pain to sort out!

God loves a trier, if you look closely you’ll find an ETA number stamped into the mainplate close to where the battery fits. This will allow you to trace the correct battery, but I think that’s the least of your problems with this one.

The owner has to be realistic regarding cost, but the watch is probably worth restoring.

[walkerwek1958]

That's why I said 'At first glance'... To give you room to disagree with me...Which I knew you would.

?????...........you’re a strange one!

[ed335d]

It's a 536.121 movement and takes a 344 battery. Replacement movements are scarce and expensive if you can find them.

These movements are very susceptible to issues caused by very little dirt ingress but are easily stripped and serviced.

[ed335d]

I'd also add that if a new battery is inserted but the second hand doesn't tick, take a very close look at it.

If it moves or 'stutters' ever so slightly, it's a likely sign that the board isn't knackered and it just needs a service.

I'd certainly recommend Oli for this:

https://onatelier.co.uk/cwc-g10-1980...36-121-service

[walkerwek1958]

Agree with the previous comments, if the seconds hand can be seen to be twitching slightly (but not managing to move) that’s usually an indication that the electronic circuitry is still sound. Dirt and dried up lubricant increases the friction in the train wheels and the the seconds hand doesn’t step forward as it should. A good analogy is pushing a round stone to the top of a hill but not quite getting to the top, instead of rolling down the other side it rolls back.

Quartz watches are very sensitive to ingress of dirt, care must be taken when changing batteries and its always wise to clean the case before taking the caseback off.