CHECK THE WATCH BATTERY FIRST

A women comes into our jewelry store yesterday with a couple of brand new wrist watches she bought elsewhere.

She got them at a department store dirt cheap (like $9.99 each).

The problem was…

They weren’t working. All of the batteries were dead.

Now, we could replace these batteries easily, but we charge $8+ tax per battery (some stores charge $5, some stores charge $20, it all depends on where you go, and the type of battery needed).

This means that her great watch battery deal just doubled.

The batteries are almost as much as the watches.

So this brings up a really great point…

Check the batteries first!

Make sure the watches are running before you buy them. And this is true for any watch, anywhere you buy it. You don’t know how long that watch has been sitting in the showcase. You don’t know how old that battery is (most batteries usually last around 1-5 years). The fact is; batteries die. And if the watch has multi-functions, like date, alarm, stopwatch, second hand, music, then it will eat up the juice even faster.

So before you walk out that door, stop and make sure the watch is ticking.

Now, this isn’t always possible…

Some watches have the stem pulled out purposefully (to keep the battery from wearing down), and other watches have a plastic covering to hide the face. So in some cases, you just won’t know until you buy it (just make sure they have a return policy).

If the watch does come with a battery (it will usually say so on the packaging), perfect, enjoy! But if not, expect to either pay someone (usually a jewelry store) to change your battery…

Or, expect to do it yourself… That’s if you have the proper tools, openers, watch kit, watch press (to reseal the watch)…

Not to mention the actual battery itself (and many are Chinese and will need a translation or battery conversion chart)… You can also purchase cheap watch batteries on Amazon here).

So if the watch isn’t running, or doesn’t come with a battery, expect to pay more ($2.00 – $20.00). It’s something you’ll have to weight with your purchase. And also note if you buy a Casio Calculator Watch or a Musical Watch, some of those actually have TWO batteries inside the watch! That can get really costly.

That’s the benefit to jewelry stores…

If you buy your watch from a jewelry store, you don’t have to worry. Jewelers will make sure the watch is running, set properly, and will even fit the watch to your wrist at no extra charge (unlike Walmart, Kohls, Macys who won’t even touch their watches…)

Because if it costs you double the money, it may not be worth it.

Cheers! :)