TAG Kirium Watch Service
Discussion
Hope the PH Watch lovers can help me on this.
My watch has just gone in for a new battery and they have now called and said it needs a service. They have replaced it and is still not working properly.
Bought the watch is 1999 and has never been in for a service before and has worked perfect all this time.
Whats the normal service timelines for TAG's or am I being taken for a ride ?
Price quoted for a service and battery is £125.
My watch has just gone in for a new battery and they have now called and said it needs a service. They have replaced it and is still not working properly.
Bought the watch is 1999 and has never been in for a service before and has worked perfect all this time.
Whats the normal service timelines for TAG's or am I being taken for a ride ?
Price quoted for a service and battery is £125.
Assuming its the quartz model this seems a little pricey, there was a thread here not so long ago where it was stated the whole movement could be changed for just north of £75.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by kazste on Wednesday 4th February 13:16
ETA 955.112 movement, fitted, pressure tested and 12 month guarantee for £85 inc post. Or £75 inc post to service the current one if it's not damaged.
So, yes, £125 is a little steep for "service".
One question though - was it running when it went in (on low battery warning) or stopped completely? If it was running at all then there's a chance they damaged it (the favourite is damage to the coil by slipping with tweezers).
So, yes, £125 is a little steep for "service".
One question though - was it running when it went in (on low battery warning) or stopped completely? If it was running at all then there's a chance they damaged it (the favourite is damage to the coil by slipping with tweezers).
Was hoping you would come on the thread and hope your okay with me (alomst) quoting your prices.
As an aside how often would you recommend a service on these or is just leave until battery dies? I have one pf the anologue digital kiriums which is a holiday watch so spends about five weeks a year in the sea but i will also wear it a few times a week in my pool and would like it to stay water proof.
As an aside how often would you recommend a service on these or is just leave until battery dies? I have one pf the anologue digital kiriums which is a holiday watch so spends about five weeks a year in the sea but i will also wear it a few times a week in my pool and would like it to stay water proof.
As a general rule with quartz movements, for full servicing leave them until they die.
Unlike a mechanical movement there's no strong, steady pressure on anything from a mainspring - the stepper motor fires once a second for a few thousandths of a second, and the rest of the time all the wheels and pivots are just sitting there with no load on them apart from their own weight. Also, because the motor has such little torque available, they'll stop as the lubrication degrades rather than grinding on regardless and damaging themselves. That means that a properly jewelled quartz movement will suffer virtually zero mechanical wear. Even many of the cheaper ones, with plastic wheels, pivots and plates, will run for decades without problems.
Water resistance is a little different. Seals will degrade but even a degraded seal will tend to keep water out until it's disturbed somehow.
Glass seals (usually hard nylon) are relatively immune to ageing and don't get disturbed anyway. Back seals (usually rubber, sometimes nylon) may age but they're only usually disturbed during battery changes and it's very rare indeed for one to fail in between those. Crown (and chrono pusher) seals are rubber and by far the most likely point for a leak to "spontaneously" develop because they'll wear, harden with age, and also get disturbed every time you operate the crown or chrono.
For a quartz watch, the only time most people operate the crown is at the end of February, April, June, September and November to move the date on and March and October when the clocks change. That's very little wear. Most people don't use a stopwatch that often either!
So, for the vast majority of owners, having the seals checked / replaced as needed when the battery's done every couple of years is plenty. For things like dive watches, where you might be trusting your life to them, having a pressure test done every year at the start of the season is a sensible precaution.
Some of the sports divers I've known have the battery changed yearly anyway - it's relatively low cost, becomes routine (so is less likely to be overlooked), and gives that little extra reassurance. But that's more to do with not wanting to drown or get the bends than keeping the watch safe
Unlike a mechanical movement there's no strong, steady pressure on anything from a mainspring - the stepper motor fires once a second for a few thousandths of a second, and the rest of the time all the wheels and pivots are just sitting there with no load on them apart from their own weight. Also, because the motor has such little torque available, they'll stop as the lubrication degrades rather than grinding on regardless and damaging themselves. That means that a properly jewelled quartz movement will suffer virtually zero mechanical wear. Even many of the cheaper ones, with plastic wheels, pivots and plates, will run for decades without problems.
Water resistance is a little different. Seals will degrade but even a degraded seal will tend to keep water out until it's disturbed somehow.
Glass seals (usually hard nylon) are relatively immune to ageing and don't get disturbed anyway. Back seals (usually rubber, sometimes nylon) may age but they're only usually disturbed during battery changes and it's very rare indeed for one to fail in between those. Crown (and chrono pusher) seals are rubber and by far the most likely point for a leak to "spontaneously" develop because they'll wear, harden with age, and also get disturbed every time you operate the crown or chrono.
For a quartz watch, the only time most people operate the crown is at the end of February, April, June, September and November to move the date on and March and October when the clocks change. That's very little wear. Most people don't use a stopwatch that often either!
So, for the vast majority of owners, having the seals checked / replaced as needed when the battery's done every couple of years is plenty. For things like dive watches, where you might be trusting your life to them, having a pressure test done every year at the start of the season is a sensible precaution.
Some of the sports divers I've known have the battery changed yearly anyway - it's relatively low cost, becomes routine (so is less likely to be overlooked), and gives that little extra reassurance. But that's more to do with not wanting to drown or get the bends than keeping the watch safe
Thanks for the response might settle for every two years then as the crown changes the chronograph digital functions on my watch so gets twiddled (the technical term i believe) quite a bit.
Good to know of a pher that can do this sort of thing and will save this in bookmarks for when service time is due as have a few decent quartz watches.
Good to know of a pher that can do this sort of thing and will save this in bookmarks for when service time is due as have a few decent quartz watches.
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