Replacing a Watch Battery

You can change the battery quite simply

Just make sure that you have the proper tools. These would include:

A small sharp knife or needle-nose pliers. Which one you need will depend on what kind of watch you have.
A small screwdriver – the kind that you get out of an eyeglass kit.
Tweezers.

Many of these are household tools. You can also purchase a watch repair kit with tools designed specifically for watch repair.

To replace the battery, begin by checking the back of the watch. If there are six notches in the back, then the needle-nose pliers will be required. This kind of back needs to be removed by unscrewing it.

If the back is too tight, you may want to take it to a watch maker.

Most watches (most common watches, anyway) have a pry-off back. There will be a lip or notch under which you can slip the knife edge. If you have a more suitable tool you think will fit under the back of your watch then by all means try it. However, you don’t want to scratch the back, so you want to be very careful in experimenting with tools. If you are like most first-time fixers, you will scratch the watch’s back.

Inside the Watch

Once you have removed the back, you will find the little round battery. The watch battery will be held in place by a cell strap. This is where the small screwdriver comes into play: use it to remove the cell strap screws then use the tweezers to remove the battery.

The battery will have numbers on it – these are the key! These numbers will tell you what kind of battery you will need to replace it with. Your best bet is to take the battery with you when you go down to your local pharmacy or watch repair shop, then you will have the exact battery that you need to replace it with. Put the new battery in, replace the cell straps and the watch back, and you are finished.