How much should replacing a watch battery cost?

Honestly you’re very unlikely to get a battery fitted correctly in either of those places, regardless of the cost. Try a proper watch repairer next time. I wouldn’t take a watch for a battery to a retail jewellers (for the most part) or a cobblers any more than I would take my car to a florist for new tyres.

That’s not true mate. Timpson’s is a cobblers so it stands to reason that they won’t be particularly capable and for the life of me I can’t understand why people consider them for watch repairs when there are plenty of specialists about. Any decent watch repairer can do that with ease. Just try a watch repairer instead of a jack of all trades.

You seem more concerned with price than quality of work. It strikes me that of the two places you’ve suggested neither are particularly competent. You’re complaining about the price of a cobblers and suggesting you’ll take it to a place that regularly ruins watches instead? Why wouldn’t you just try a proper watch repairer?

Thank goodness for cobblers and the local market they break them and then I fix them, from missing gaskets to damaged movements removing scratches and fixing bracelet links/components they shore keep me busy.

I had a customer a few years ago that tried to save some money by taking his solid gold, prestige watch to a cobbler for a battery. They battery cost him a fiver. The service and repairs required due to the coil they scratched cost him £1,200. It’s 2022 now and some people still think they’re clever by getting the job done as cheaply as possible.

The customer I mentioned above just uses us now. He learned the hard way but at least he learned.

Ritva — It’s a question of how much you think it is worth to spend on making a good watch go again. Working on high quality watches will never be cheap.

Have you looked on-line for watch repairers in your local area?

Yes. Try a reputable watch repairer rather than a cobblers or retail jewellers. I’m not sure why anyone would buy an expensive watch and take it to the market for a battery. If you aren’t willing to pay for the proper maintenance of a good watch then you should probably get something cheaper to maintain. Cheaper watches are easier to work on therefore cheaper to repair.

Cheap repairs are false economy. Cheap does not equal good. Whilst I agree that £60 is a bit pricey by my reckoning it’s still around half the amount Longines would charge so in actual fact it’s reasonable value. A far more logical choice than letting a market trader potentially cause hundreds of pounds worth of damage so you can save £50. I charge £24.99 to seal most Longines watches properly. Find somewhere that charges about the same for the same quality of work. Honestly, you’re going to struggle.

Yes, this is a sad state of affairs and only increases the amount of ‘junk’ in landfill but you can’t be blamed for not wanting to waste money. It is a consequence of cheap products made abroad having to be repaired at the ‘high’ prices charged here which are based on our higher shop rents, higher wages etc. so you can’t blame the businesses. Having said that, you should probably have tried a few more places. That watch would probably have been £4.99 to have a battery fitted at my place and we are a specialist watch repairers, not a cobblers or jewellers.

G-Shock watches are a PITA to replace batteries in compared to most watches. However, we charge between £19.99 and £29.99 depending on the model for a battery and seal done on the day. I think that’s very reasonable and you should be looking to pay something similar. If you don’t you’ll probably end up having your watch stuffed by a novice