Battery life in Omega quartz movements?

[Amvee]

On 18 March 1999 my wife and I gave each other Seamaster Professional Diver
watches as anniversary presents.

My wife's watch is model no. 2382.2000. On Saturday, 31 July, we noticed the
second hand had begun jumping in 4-second increments, which is of course the
low battery indicator. Seven hours later the watch stopped completely. Since
she had checked the time within the previous half-hour and noticed nothing
wrong, this seems to indicate that once that signal begins there's not much
life left in the battery.

Presumably that battery had been in place, and the watch running, from the time
it left the factory.

So, my question to the forum is, what kind of battery life should one expect
with an OMEGA quartz movement? Even though I accept that batteries do run down,
frankly, it upsets me that my wife only got four months and two weeks of usage
out of this fine timepiece before the battery ran out, while a five-year-old
digital watch costing one-fortieth the price of the Seamaster is still humming
happily along on its original battery.

Now, the battery must be replaced and the seals verified to assure the water
resistance of the watch. While I realize that I'm probably going to have to
(over)pay for both services, I am not very happy about it.

Comments anyone?(feel free to email if you prefer)

Mike Vincitore
Senior Editor-at-large
Her Majesty's Secret Servant
http://www.hmss.com
"worry is a dividend paid to disaster before it is due"
(Ian Fleming's On Her Majesty's Secret Service,Ch 1)
delete 'nospam' from email address when replying

[Graham Fawcett]

It's hard to say how long your particular watch may have sat in the dealer's case.
You'd also have to factor that in, presumably. I was looking at the Constellation
Perpetual Calendar model and it ships with a lithium battery that is, supposedly,
good for 5 years when a 'normal' servicing should take place anyway. HTH

[Amvee]

In article <37A733CD...@sympatico.ca>, Graham Fawcett
<gradem...@sympatico.ca> writes:

>It's hard to say how long your particular watch may have sat in the dealer's
>case.
>You'd also have to factor that in, presumably.

I did try to take that into account. This is a relatively new Omega dealer.
When I emailed Omega a couple of months ago about my Seamaster automatic,
purchased the same date (his & hers anniversary presents :-) ), I was told it
had left the factory 10/23/98. I have inquired about the quartz.

Now I realize that's not necessarily a valid barometer, but until I hear
otherwise I'd assume it was manufactured at about the same time-I consider it
unlikely to be more than a year old, and I just refuse to accept that a
timepiece of this purported quality, and carrying this price tag, cannot be
equipped with a battery that lasts more than a year. If outfits like Casio and
Timex can put five-to-seven year batteries in their $40 timepieces, why the
hell can't Omega do that for a piece that lists for over two grand?

[The Baron]

In my observation, the lower end watch batteries do not last longer than the
high end (probably because they are the same batt.). The ''first''
battery can last up to 2 years but replacements from 10 mos. to 16 mos.
Some stores (retail) will warrant for a year if you keep the receipt. I do
not know what type of movement is in your watch but most average US$ 12.00
ea.
Amvee wrote in message <19990803181541...@ngol01.aol.com>...

[Raithe]

I have just returned my Omega Constellation ( bought in Nov 98) for a new
battery, it too was in 4 sec jump mode. Omega are replacing it and testing
seals etc for FREE under guarantee.
Presumably if your watch has gone back to Omega the same will happen for
you. I've been told 2 weeks until ready.