Fixing (replacing) a watch

Factual Questions
1

So I have this Mickey Mouse watch that I bought maybe 8 years ago at some discount store where I worked. Cost me $30. I have always loved it because it’s just the right size, and I can wear it with business casual clothes. I’ve kept it up by replacing the batteries and the band occasionally.

I went on some crazy boat ride over the summer and the thing got waterlogged. Lots of water between the glass and the face (and inside the important parts). Needless to say, it stopped working.

I have looked all over for a replacement but you can’t just buy a PLAIN Mickey watch anymore - you know, Mickey on the face with his arms spinning around. So I asked my mom to have it fixed for Christmas.

She took it to a jewler and they tried just replacing the battery with no luck. So they told her it’d cost $112 to replace the guts!! She said it’s not worth it for a $30 watch, and I agree.

But I love this watch and I am thinking I might have it fixed anyway, but I was hoping there might be a cheaper solution.

Are there any “make your own watch” kits that I could use (like there are “make your own clock” kits) and just use my existing watch face and hands (the band is new)? Or has anyone ever seen a watch like this and maybe I am looking in the wrong places? What about someplace cheaper than a jewler that might be able to fix it?

It would make me very happy to know there is some hope for poor Mickey. I love my watch to pieces (perhaps I have loved it too much. sniffle)

2

Well, I found a Make Your Own Swiss Watch kit, but it’s $$$.

http://www.niftycool.com/makyourownsw.html

My advice would be to take Mickey to a different jeweler and explain that all you want is new innards, and cheap ones, too. It’s possible that the jeweler who quoted you the steep price was assuming that you’d want nothing but the best for The Mouse.

Also, investigate the possibility of getting a lower price from the jeweler by bringing him the new innards of your choice–don’t buy them from him, buy them at Wal-Mart in the form of another watch, and ask him to swap them for you. This is like when you have the plumber come to install the new sink that you bought–it’s cheaper if you supply him with all the fittings that you bought at Menards, rather than having him get them out of the back of his van.

3

Before you buy a $30 dollar watch for it’s innards, be sure to carefully measure the size of the face. You may end up having to replace the hands and face of that watch with mickey, rather than fitting the new mechanism into your old case.

4

In practical terms repairs are sort of pointless for a waterlogged $ 30.00 watch. Even if it is serviced it is unlikely that it would be reliable in the long run. There are tons of plain mickey mouse watches out there for reasonable prices. I will post some watch site links later where you can get one. In the meantime try Ebay.

5

Or Froogle.

http://www.froogle.google.com/froogle?q=mickey+mouse+watch

$6.99 at Target.
$19.99 at Walgreens.