So I was doing some cleaning and found an old Accutron Astronaut from the 60’s that I inherited. I kind of got an urge to get it running again. I know the batteries are a lot different, being one of the first battery watches made. Just checking online there are easily findable batteries for it now, which there weren’t back when I inherited it.
Just curious if there is anything I need to be careful of, before assuming it is as simple as buying a battery and popping it in there? Any chance I would wreck it in some way?
I have a Swiss watch (which is to say, bought in Switzerland), and it runs on a battery. It’s fortunate that a battery lasts several years, because for the longest time, I could not open it. A watch dealer finally told me it requires a special tool. So I bought my own. Not expensive-- but I wouldn’t have known about it otherwise. I might have tried to force it with a screwdriver or utility blade, and broken it.
You might try finding an Accutron aficionados’ message board or other social media group; that’s what I did when I wanted info about an Omega watch I inherited. It wasn’t pretty (it was a message board where eating newbies alive was clearly a pastime) but I did get the info I needed.
While I don’t know about watch batteries, lots of other batteries leak over time and corrode their surroundings. So you might check for this before putting the new battery in.
The above page should help you. There’s even a link to a page about battery replacement.
Be careful about handling your watch! I’ve read somewhere (sorry, no cite) that once the oil drys up, it is possible to damage the irreplaceable “index wheel” by just trying to reset the hands to the correct time. Moral of the story is keep your mitts off of an old tuning-fork Accutron until a watchmaker has had a chance to examine it.
Snotty attitudes are why I essentially gave up years ago on “aficionado” groups in favor of contacting the company for support. Accutron still is in business and has a website, so it might be worth checking with them.
As the question has been mostly answered, I’d like to address this point. How very sad that a website designed to share information discourages newbies. A pox on them all!
A while back, I was given a Time Ball Special pocket watch that had a long family story which included mystery and perhaps forbidden love.* Mom told me it was a fake, but I still liked having it. Wanting more information, I went online to a different discussion board where I was gently told that my watch was a fake. Once I agreed that it was a fake, but I knew that the fakes had a history, I was flooded with information. It was a lot of fun!
*When Mom was a child, her grandmother had the watch in her jewelry box and said that she was keeping it for someone who had promised to return. GGrandma was a farm woman in the Depression, it was common for a drifter to beg a loan of cash and leave something of huge sentimental value as collateral. Of course, the item was valueless and the drifter never came back. We don’t know if that was the case, because GGrandma would never say. GGrandpa never knew. When GGrandma died, she left the watch to Mom in her will, but never said why this broken watch was so important. Mom kept it because that’s what you do with things your grandparents leave you, then gave it to me because I’m the oldest. We have no idea why we are keeping it, but think there must have been some romance somewhere in its history.
I have a number of vintage Accutrons. You’ll likely want to get your serviced, 60’s Astronauts in decent condition are worth a fair bit of money.
Expensive to service in the states. I send mine to an Aussie ex-pat specialist in Thailand. Very reasonable and outstanding service. DM me and I’ll send you his info.
Rob is very reasonable, most likely you’ll get away with well under $200 (not an irrelevant amount but cheap when it comes to these things) and it will be money well spent compared to the value of the watch.
There used to be a great watch guy in southern Indiana-- “certified horologist.” My father had gotten a beautiful gold pocket watch for his bar mitzvah that had to be wound, and he used it as his regular timepiece his whole life, except when he traveled (didn’t want to lose it-- had a Timex for traveling). I got the watch after my father died, and had it serviced by the guy in Indiana once (he also worked on my Swiss watch a couple of times). It ran a good ten years after that servicing-- the guy even sold me oil and showed me how to apply it.
It stopped working a few years ago, though, and the horologist is long-retired. I can’t find anyone to service it.
Try the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors site (nawcc.org).
The members should be able to recommend several reputable watch repairers near your.