Two For Tuesday – 59
I mentioned in last weeks Spring Forward, Fall Back post that California Girl’s watch was broken and needed service; and that it seemed strange seeing her without it. Many people think that it is odd that we leave our watches on in the bedroom but it is something that we have done for a long time. The replacement battery came yesterday and I found the instructions to reset its perpetual calendar on the internetand we match once again. Being coordinated is no big deal to most people but its one of the small things that characterizes our relationship. Anyway, we decided that our theme for today is “his and hers”. The pictures just have us, our wrist watches and of course our wedding/anniversary/engagement bands. We hope you like us with some of our matching stuff.
Trivia Question: Does anyone know why replacing watch battery is so problematical? Hint: There are two things that make it a PIA.
I love the intimacy in your pics and it must be wonderful for CG to have her watch working again. I know I am lost without mine.
Ms SD
You already implied & mentioned two things that make replacing the battery a pain — A) you obviously had to order it so it’s unusual AND B) setting the calendar is apparently non-intuitive. SO… either you want to see if anyone is reading
or there are two OTHER PIAs about it.
I’m not a big watch person, but here are two additional guesses:
1) the back of the case is water-tight, so you need one of those special wrenches to unscrew it and screw it back on. You can make the tool (as I have), improvise with pliers (as I have) or buy a “proper” one that is less likely to scratch the case.
2) The clip that holds the battery is held down with an infinitesimally small screw. Very easy to drop, and hard to find a Phillips (aka “cross-point”) screwdriver the right size.
P.S.: I can’t believe I’m posting a comment about your watches… but I guess that just proves I’m a geek.
Ms SD: It just an inanimate object that can be easily replaced; but having it fixed makes us feel better anyway.
Tommy: You were dead solid perfect. In fact you pointed out the third thing (the special wrench) that made it the pain. Even though I bought the battery myself, I still had to take it someplace to have the back tightened the last quarter turn. And since were discussing watches, to set it, you have to progressively short out multiple contacts inside the case with the battery, first to zero it; then to set year, month and day.
When I was young and tinkering with discarded watches for fun, I took a block of wood and drove several nails in at the right points to match the slots in the back. I cut the nails to stick up only about 1/4 inch. Then it was easy to press the back of the case case down on the nail shafts and twist the top to open the back.
If you have a pair of angled needlenose pliers with about the right size spread, you can use those, but WHEN it slips it WILL scratch the case.
I have seen the proper wrenches for sale… A Google search for “watch wrench” turns up several places, but I don’t know that I would pay $50 to $100… I knew I saw one at our local Harbor Freight so here’s proof you can get a cheapo one for $9.
it probably goes without saying … the cheapo $9 wrench is probably as likely to scratch the case as pliers would. Since you care about them it’s probably better to continue at the jeweler’s.
Tommy: This is the second set of watches that we have had with screw-on style case backs and I have often considered getting a wrench for them but could never find one locally. It would probably be a worthwhile investment since we have multiple watches and generally keep them for a long time. You’re probably right about scratching the case so. I wouldn’t do the cheapo one; but one in the $40 to $50 range would be good to have; especially since it’s a big pain to go to the jeweler to have them turn it a quarter turn. Maybe that’s something I should put on my Christmas list.
BTW: With everything else that goes on around here I find it somewhat amusing that we are talking about wrist watches.