Cheap Case Opener

Kintarō Hattori

I had a look but didn't see an off topic thread. One of my watches needs a new battery and rather than bringing it to a jewellers to pay €10 per battery I've decided to give it a go myself. I know I'll get the battery cheap as chips but I needed to get the back open without doing any damage.

I had a look on eBay and spotted the tool below being sold by lots of people. I reckon just under €5 delivered might be the cheapest on eBay. Just thought I'd share it with you in case anyone had been thinking about getting something like this but didn't know where to look.



http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Watch-Back-Case-Opener-Wrench-Screw-Remover-Tool-Set-/330524269064?pt=UK_Jewellery_Watches_WatchAccessories_SpareParts_SM&hash=item4cf4c81a08

Kintarō Hattori

I had seen one of those but I wasn't sure how effective it would be. I'm guessing it would have been ok?

peasant

The ball works fine for me with the advantage that there is no danger of scratching anything.

However ...it's no good on my old russians with the separate screw ring so I might yet buy t'other yoke

Kintarō Hattori

Well fup that for a game of soldiers. The Timex I'm trying to open has no notches (similar to the image above) so no way for the tool to do its magic. It looks like it would 'pry' open but I'm sure that's not the way it's designed to open.

So folks, a case with no notches, how's it supposed to be opened?

peasant

That does indeed look like a snap-on caseback ...strange though that it gives a WR rating of 50 m ...that's a bit optimistic for a snap-on.

So, unless there are some sekrit notches in the back to apply some sekrit Timex case opening tool, it does indeed "pry off"

Best tool for doing so is a Stanley knife / carpet knife. Slide the sharp side of the blade under the back and twist/lift, turn the watch a few degrees and repeat until the case pops.

Be careful not to apply too much inward pressure because otherwise, once the case pops, your blade will slide across the movement uncontrollably and potentially do damage (plus you might also cut yourself )

Gently does it then ...

Longford Leader

and then the best of luck getting it back on!!

Wibbs

peasant wrote: »

That does indeed look like a snap-on caseback ...strange though that it gives a WR rating of 50 m ...that's a bit optimistic for a snap-on.

Just a little P, though I have a US military issued watch with a snapback rated to 10 metres and I'd well believe it. The American mil standards lads tested them to destruction and got close to 20 metres before failure and it's a very cheap ass construction. That said...

... this part

Longford Leader wrote: »

and then the best of luck getting it back on!!

is sooooo true. :eek: :mad:

andy2die4

thats a snap on alright, one small tip, if you can mark both the caseback and the watch so when you're trying to put it back on, it might fit better.