Anyone seen this before? Initially thought it may be the battery on the way out, but it has kept time fine since I noticed it 5 days ago. Completely consistent, second hand moves every 4 seconds ahead 4 seconds. ~3.5yo C60, not sure which mech. What is the turn around on repairs these days with CW?

That's an End of Life indicator on some quartz movements... "When your watch's battery is approaching the end of its life, the seconds hand will tick once every four seconds instead of once per second. This feature conserves battery power and alerts you that it is time to change the battery."

Interesting, did initially think battery but it has kept time fine so far. Checked the manual, seems its a Ronda 515 calibre, just looked and the spec sheet I can find on it states a battery life of 45 months, seems it is actually 47 months old right now.

2 others in the fleet require batteries right now, will email CW and get all 3 done together.

Not sure I’d send them back to CW. I have a ‘in time’ concession near me. They have sorted my Omega for the last 15 years.

£50 for a new battery and pressure test. Battery and water resistance are both guaranteed. So unless you need to preserve the warranty, that’s the way I’d go. (To be honest even if it’s within warranty I’d probably risk it!)

Incidentally my Omega keeps perfect time for months with the 4 second sweep!

The watch is only engaging the stepper motor 1/4th of the time now which saves power. I am only guessing here as I haven't dug into any of the design specs but engineers are usually pretty conservative so I would think that the batter is probably at 30% or so. It would likely run a very long time in this state without losing any time. It will probably keep good time until there isn't enough current left in the batter to get the motor to run and the watch will stop. You want to change the battery well before this point because batteries are actually just tiny chemical reactors. Gases can build up in the case and they can rupture and the electrolytic fluid leaks out. That stuff is highly corrosive.

I use a watch guy on our local market to change batteries. He's much cheaper than jewellery shops, and knows what he's doing.

My Tag does this very same thing when the battery is nearing end of life. Still keeps perfect time though.

Unless you’re concerned for the warranty, check with a local shop. My jeweler can swap batteries while I wait, or at most within an hour. Cost is $10-20.

scrw wrote: ↑Thu Jun 09, 2022 11:48 pm Interesting, did initially think battery but it has kept time fine so far. Checked the manual, seems its a Ronda 515 calibre, just looked and the spec sheet I can find on it states a battery life of 45 months, seems it is actually 47 months old right now.

And I think you'll find that until the battery is virtually dead that's how it is. Just this week I had two C6 Kingfishers doing the 4-second sweep and, yes, the time shown on both remained on track.

I accept that there's wisdom in letting CW crack the watch open, give it at least a visual once over and, I would hope, renew the case back sealing ring but I do think that I'd encourage anyone to consider replacing their own batteries at home: a few simple tools, batteries from the online marketplace and a little confidence.

tikkathree wrote: ↑Sat Jun 11, 2022 8:47 am I accept that there's wisdom in letting CW crack the watch open, give it at least a visual once over and, I would hope, renew the case back sealing ring but I do think that I'd encourage anyone to consider replacing their own batteries at home: a few simple tools, batteries from the online marketplace and a little confidence.

I've done all my battery changes myself for about a year or so or more and as well as the cost saving there is the personal satisfaction of doing it yourself which I really love.

I've done all my battery changes myself for about a year or so or more and as well as the cost saving there is the personal satisfaction of doing it yourself which I really love.

... and of course the convenience of not waiting. Unless you really want a pressure test - and I accept some people do, I don't know why you would wait weeks for such a simple job.

rkovars wrote:The watch is only engaging the stepper motor 1/4th of the time now which saves power. I am only guessing here as I haven't dug into any of the design specs but engineers are usually pretty conservative so I would think that the batter is probably at 30% or so. It would likely run a very long time in this state without losing any time.

My Kingfishers will only run for a couple of weeks like that before stopping altogether. Once the 4 second end of life indication cuts in, the batteries seem to be pretty flat…