Rado Jubile Battery Replacement, and Why….

Rado Jubile Battery Replacement, and  why battery replacements matter… Or rather how they are executed matters. This is especially relevant on a valuable watch, whether it be from a cost or sentimental point of view, to allow the owner years of reliable service.

This Rado Jubile quartz watch required a battery replacement. This is a simple procedure, but this example is the perfect illustration of the consequences of it not being executed correctly.

I start by opening the case back. This reveals the 7 jewels ETA 956.412 movement, with a signed Rado Integrated Circuit. It is a good quality quartz movement. Unfortunately it is not looking very good: the gasket has clearly not been changed for a very long time. This is what eventually happens when it is not renewed at regular intervals (every battery change is good practice).

The gasket has completely perished, and turned into a crumbly and stickly mess. There are two issues with this:

• It is no longer doing its job sealing the watch, leaving it vulnerable to humidity, water ingress or dust ingress.
• The loose gasket particles can find their way into the movement, and could clog up pivot holes or the wheels of the movement, eventually causing the watch to stop.

Both issues would eventually lead to a more costly intervention (full service or movement replacement).

I give the watch case and case back a very thorough clean, using pegwood and rodico.

 

 

Before…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And after.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This made a right mess of my bench!

 

 

 

Eventually, the case is clean, and a new battery is fitted.  I confirm with the manufacturer’s technical manual that this movement is designed for a battery ref. 362.

 

 

 

Last but not least, I source a new caseback gasket and lubricate it with silicone grease.

 

 

 

 

 

 I fit it to the caseback, and the watch is ready to be re-sealed.

 

 

So this is it, a pretty straighforward procedure, but a good illustration of why it has to be executed correctly to ensure longevity of the watch. The work needs to be carried out in a dust free environment. The correct tools should be used when opening the watch case to avoid marking the caseback. At no point should any of the parts inside the watch be handled with fingers, as this would leave moisture and cause corrosion on the long term. A high quality battery should be used to reduce the risk of leakage, and it should be handled with plastic tweezers to avoid short circuit. And of course the watch should be resealed correctly. On waterproof watches, this can be verified with a pressure test.  This was not carried out on this watch as it is only water resistant and not designed to withstand high pressure, but you can see an example of a test as part of the full service of this Longines watch LINK