My wife has inherited a ladies Tissot dress watch from her late mother and wants to get a new battery for it. However, some jewellers/shops refuse to touch it as they don’t stock Tissot, others say it has to be sent off to their head office, or to Tissot, as they’ll renew the waterproof seal etc. and it will cost £50+

Is this true? Do you really have to return the unit or is it they just can’t be arsed with replacing the battery.
If it wasn’t her mum’s watch she’d probably forget about it.

If all the jeweller’s you have asked say it has to be sent back then I would wager it has to be sent back.

Try In Time in Debenhams

A dress watch with a waterproof seal? Between myself and Mrs Dhd we have three Tissot watches all done at the local jewellers, he did say he couldn’t guarantee the waterproofness but they have been fine. Mine is supposed to be 100 mtr depth rated and has been fine snorkelling. They do sell Tissot though, so maybe try a jewellers that sell them.

thanks, I’ll try a few more jewellers

My Tissot got sent back to the factory for its first battery (£120!) The 2nd time I’d looked into it a bit more and my local watch shop did it for £30, it’s been fine 🙂

A mate is a goldsmith and the shop he works in often get watches brought in for batteries to be replaced, the only ones they have real problems with are Rolex, as they require a special tool to fit the back.
They can’t guarantee a totally waterproof seal, but they always clean all the contact surfaces and any ‘O’-rings, then regrease before putting back together, and can do a limited pressure test, and never had any real issues.
I’ve had the back off my Seiko SPORK, which is 200m water resistant, carefully re-greased the ‘O’-ring with silicon grease, and done it back up nice and tight, and so far I’ve never had any condensation issues after a shower…
I think high street jewellers and watch dealers are sometimes watching (ha!) their backs a bit, and are a bit reluctant to mess about opening watches, as they don’t have enough specialist staff to be confident doing such work.

My partners Tissot watch is similar – high street jewelers either won’t touch it, or will reluctantly change the battery for £30-£40, but not guarantee the waterproofing. The battery then only lasted a year…

This time I bought a 4 pack of cells from Amazon for about £6, and I changed it myself. Took me 5 mins with a sharp steel pick to pop the back off. Greased the o-ring and waterproofing seems fine.

Don’t believe any that waterproof seal rubbish. Most watches just have a simple o ring to keep the water out. Unless your going to go deep sea diving then don’t worry about it. Its just a money spinner for them

Last year a jeweler broke my G-shock when attempting to replace the battery. It was a mess, dial not lined up in case, 2 buttons not working, the hands telling a different time to the digital clock. I pulled it apart and got it working again with some patience and care.

I wouldn’t hesitate to replace that battery myself. You can buy watch tools for buttons on Amazon. Unscrew the back with the correct tool, get the battery code, and buy one on ebay and pop it in. As others have said, clean and ever-so-lightly oil the o-ring, then screw the back on again.

My local jewelers replace the battery in my Tissot watches (that I bought from them) but will not guarantee the waterproofness (if that’s a real word).

To have it waterproof it needs to be sent to Tissot.

As I don’t get them wet, and if I did, a soggy watch would be the least of my worries, I’m not bothered about the guarantee.

Tissot’s – from my experience with three – appear to have a vacuum seal for the back. The battery cover simply won’t stay on if there is not negative vacuum pressure inside the watch.

This is my appreciation of the situation, anyways… the last one I bought off eBay – the battery had probably been replaced ‘at home’. The battery cover kept falling off. Perspiration would make the face glass steam up and I wouldn’t dare get it anywhere near water. In the end I tried ‘sealing’ the battery cover by pushing hard on it with some mole grips. The inevitable happened.

Glass everywhere.. 😳

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend trying the home brew option, unless you aren’t too bothered about the watch.

That said, my third Tissot has been sitting at home waiting for a new battery for about the last year – cos I can’t face the £40 or so charge to get a new battery vacuum fitted.

Hey ho..

Don’t buy the watch tool – buy the sticky/friction ball instead.

Fits any back and cannot scratch the caseback.

I was shocked at the price for a proper battery change/seal on my Tissot so went to the battery man on the market. Two years later I took it in as the second hand was doing its “i’m broken” thing and the insides are full of rust, the cost of service is more than the cost of the watch… I’ll admit to keeping it on in the bath but obviously the seal wasn’t maintained at all.

Most batteries I can be myself, but those I can’t I go to an independent specialist that will change the battery, replace the seal and test for watertightness.