£2.95 and a couple of days wait, and I have in hand a correct Seiko-branded replacement. I know that the factory-fitted battery will have been a Seiko SR920SW and for no rational reason, I wanted to replace like with like, rather than just ordering a Renata battery from Cousins. The first step is to buy the correct battery.

And so of course I am going to perform this minor operation myself. Seiko UK will charge the thick end of £65 to £70 for a GS battery change but of course, the reality of such an undertaking, even on a watch as lovely as this, is that the fundamentals are no different from a battery change on any other quartz watch. A few weeks back, the seconds hand on my watch went into its two second jump routine, indicating that after three and a half years of ownership, the battery was finally in need of a change. In contrast to a high end mechanical movement, routine service costs should therefore be negligible but you do still need to factor in the need to change the battery every now and then. In addition to the phenomenal accuracy, the sealed body of the movement ensures that no additional lubrication is needed for up to fifty years (subject to one buying into the GS marketing hype). That watch is fitted with the Grand Seiko 9F82A movement, arguably the finest quartz movement ever made. Three and a half years ago, I bought a Grand Seiko SBGV009, part of the 50 th Anniversary Historic Collection released that year, and an homage to the Grand Seiko Self-Dater from 1964.

In the broader context of the somewhat intimidating business of tackling seemingly complex watch repair and restoration projects, it is funny how something as prosaic as changing a watch battery can assume a significance far greater than the task demands.

Seiko watch batteries