This meant that it needed a special case opener wrench. You can see from the image below that the watch had notches on the back of its case. So, being an adventurer and inveterate fixer, I decided to do it myself. The local jewelery repair shop had a similar assessment. I talked with the jeweler where I bought it and they told me that they would have to send it away for repair and thought it might cost $65 or more to replace the battery. I never had taken the watch apart and looking at the back of it, I didn’t think it would simply pop off like my previous watches that had user-replaceable batteries. I started reading a few of the websites that talked about replacing the battery as a DIY project, but wasn’t sure if I was up to the task or had the necessary tools. I hated the thought of replacing it, especially because I felt it had many more years of service. But once you become attached to a watch, and this one is water proof so I hardly ever take it off, it sort of becomes a part of you. In our disposable society, I’m sure this issue could have been an excuse to go shopping for a new watch. However, I found that it could be purchased from vendors on Ebay or other on-line websites like for around $20. The problem with changing it is that the Seiko Kinetic battery is not one of those standard watch batteries that you buy in a store and easily change by yourself.

All rechargeable batteries eventually lose their ability to hold a charge and after 8 years, this one had simply worn out.

After a web search, I found out that the watch does have a battery, which is sometimes referred to as a capacitor, but it is indeed a battery.

I figured there was something wrong with the energy storage system, possibly a dead battery or bad capacitor.

Seiko watch batteries