Can a Quartz movement be repaired?

[Ray Singh]

I bought my wife a Mondaine ladies watch from ebay. Long story, but i have lost my job and wanted to buy her something nice for Valentines day. Anyway, the watch was sold as faulty, and my idea was to have it repaired prior to handing over on valentines day.

I took it to my local watch shop, who took a cursory look and advised that it was a low battery. £15 later and new battery was fitted.I tested the watch for a couple of days and noticed that the seconds hand would sometimes get stuck at around 51 seconds. A small knock (perhaps on the back of the hand) freed it up again and off it went...

I have taken it back to the watch shop today, and they tell me that it may have to have the quartz movement replaced.

Is this true? Is it sealed? Anyone care to guess how much it would cost to replace?

[Ray Singh]

Anyone?

[Ikemi]

I was always under the impression that if you send a quartz watch back to the manufacturer for a service, they'd bin the movement (within reason) and replace with a new one; It was cheaper to do this than actually service the movement!

What movement is in the Mondaine? It might be worth sourcing a new replacement movement on the Internet and finding a watchmaker to replace it for you. It's (probably!) a simple-ish job to do

[Spice_Weasel]

Cross reference the model you bought her here: http://www.mondaine.ch/mondaine-watches/display/11... as the spec for each model shows the reference of the movement which will help in pricing up repair/replacement.

You could also click on the After-Sales Service link and see if you get some answers there. I suspect that the movement may need to be replaced as cost of repair is likely to be prohibitive. For the most part, quartz movements are designed to be replaced rather than worked on.

ETA Ikemi has pretty much said the same whilst I was typing...

[GWC]

If it's the 26mm one I think they use a Ronda 763 movement which can be bought very cheaply.

[Ray Singh]

Yes its a 26mm ladies (Basic) watch.
I have just had a call from the Jeweller looking at the watch. They advised that they do need to send it back for a repair estimate. If i decide not to proceed with the repair, it will cost £15 to get the watch back to me...

Any ideas if i should go this route, or find the Rhonda movement myself?

[LukeBird]

Find it yourself and then send it off to someone that is actually going to do the work, rather than outsource it elsewhere and charge you for the privilege (which is what it sounds your watchmaker is doing).

[GWC]

I'd get the watch back, pop the back off and find out exactly what movement it is and buy one, depends how adept you are as to whether you replace it yourself or pay someone to do it.

Some Ronda movements here:

http://watchpart.co.uk/movements-quartz-ronda-watc...

[stevoknevo]

According to this it is a Ronda 763 movement http://www.bloomsburystore.com/jewellery_womens/wa...

£8 delivered from ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/QUARTZ-WATCH-MOVEMENT-ME...

[Blackpuddin]

Ray Singh said:

the Rhonda movement

Is it made in Bridgend? This thread got my attention as my missis's Mondaine also went phut after a shamefully short time. They used to be good watches I think but the marketing boys have got hold of the brand. Besides hugely proliferating the range I notice they have also been steadily increasing the prices. Got the OH a £20 Timex to replace it, just as simple and (usefully for a watch IMO) it works.