How Long Do Watch Batteries Last? Extend Its Lifespan

Find out how long the batteries in your watch can last and what you can do to increase their life.

Various factors affect how long a watch battery lasts. A typical watch’s battery will last for about two years on average. It might be time to have your watch serviced if you need to change the battery more frequently than once a year.

Learn more about the reasons below if your battery doesn’t last this long.

How Long Do Watch Batteries Last?

The type, capacity, and voltage of a watch battery, along with the features and age of your watch, all affect how long it lasts. Typically, a quartz watch’s first battery will last 3-5 years. Any additional battery replacements will typically only last 1-3 years.

In contrast to solar and kinetic watches, automatic and mechanical timepieces typically do not have batteries. Kinetic watch batteries and capacitors do eventually need to be replaced, but not as frequently as other watch battery types. Typically, a kinetic watch capacitor’s battery can last up to 10 years, and its capacitor longer.

Solar watch batteries can last even more time — up to 50 years, in some cases. But to maintain their charge, kinetic and solar watch batteries need a lot of motion, winding, or sunlight. The battery may lose power and need to be replaced sooner if it isn’t used, wound, or kept in the sun.

How Do I Know When It’s Time to Replace a Watch Battery?

Not sure if it’s necessary to change the battery in your watch? In contrast to other electronics, many common watches lack a battery indicator. If you’re unsure, there are a few telltale signs that your watch battery needs to be changed or is running low.

Typically:

• Your analog quartz watch’s second-hand jumps or freezes, or it fails to maintain the correct time.
• If the watch is digital, the display might flicker and the response time to commands might seem slow.
• Even after wearing a kinetic watch nonstop, you might discover that it no longer functions.
• Even after spending a lot of time charging in the sun, solar watches sometimes fail to operate.
• Watches can malfunction both mechanically and automatically. But since neither typically has a battery, the issue might actually be something else.

Any of these symptoms are a clear indication that your watch needs a new battery. Please take note that leaving an old battery in a watch for an extended period of time can cause serious damage to the watch itself due to acid leakage.

What Factors Affect How Long a Watch Battery Lasts?

The lifespan of a watch battery is influenced by a variety of factors. Quartz watches’ battery life can vary significantly, just like that of an electric car. The key factors that affect how long a watch battery lasts include:

Watch Type

Quartz, mechanical, kinetic, automatic, and solar is the five main types of watches. Both mechanical and automatic watches are powered by winding and natural movement rather than batteries. While kinetic batteries use the wearer’s movement (kinetic energy) to recharge, solar watch batteries use sunlight.

Analog Or Digital?

The least power-hungry watches are analog ones; all that is needed to display the time is the movement of the watch’s hands. On the other hand, digital watches frequently require a lot more power, especially those with extra features. As a result, multiple, stronger, or larger-capacity batteries are frequently found in digital watches.

Additional Features

Does your watch have any cutting-edge features, such as an alarm, LED screen, fitness tracker, GPS, or compass? If so, expect the battery to last less time than that of a basic analog or digital watch. The battery life of this device is also influenced by how frequently you use its features.

Watch Age

A watch’s internal components and lubrication deteriorate and dry out over time. The parts may require more energy to move in older watches. As a result, these watches often require more power to work.

Accordingly, each new battery has a shorter lifespan than the one it replaces. You might think about having a complete service performed on older heirloom timepieces to increase their energy efficiency and accuracy.

Ambient Temperature

Believe it or not, climate and temperature can also have an effect on how long a battery lasts. Wearing your watch may help to offset the effects of extremely cold weather on battery life. It will be much warmer on your wrist, along with its batteries.

In extremely cold temperatures (0°C/32°F or below), lithium, silver-ion, and alkaline batteries all perform poorly. In contrast, warmer (30°C/86°F+) temperatures can increase battery capacity and lifespan (as long as they are not too hot to prevent rupture).

Battery Type

The type of battery in your watch has an impact on how long it lasts as well. Many modern watches and smart watches feature permanent rechargeable batteries, which you don’t need to replace.

Buttons or coins of the button or coin type are still used to power the majority of older and more basic watch models. Silver-oxide, alkaline, and lithium batteries are the three most popular types of coin or button watch batteries.

Battery Capacity

There are numerous different battery models in addition to a wide variety of battery types. Therefore, it’s crucial to determine exactly which batteries your watch uses in order to estimate how long it might last. Voltage, capacity, and active components all have an impact on a battery.

The higher a battery’s capacity, the longer it will last, also depending on your watch’s energy demands. The chemical and elemental makeup of a battery is also an important consideration.

Typically:

• Alkaline batteries are the most affordable but least powerful, generally being around 1.5V and 15-17 mAh in capacity.
• With a typical 1.55V and 25–27 mAh capacity, silver-oxide batteries are a little bit more potent.
• Lithium batteries are the longest-lasting, being either 2.8V or 3V and featuring a capacity of between 30 and 225 mAh.

How to Extend the Lifespan of Your Watch Battery?

You can increase your watch’s battery life in a number of ways.

To extend the lifespan of a watch’s battery:

• In winter or cold climates (below 0°C/32°F), keep it warm by wearing it or storing it someplace warm.
• Avoid exposing it to temperatures above 50°C (122°F), which can cause the watch’s seals to break and the batteries to rupture.
• If there are any broken or rattling parts, send them in for service.
• Unless a watch is listed as water-resistant or water-proof, avoid getting it wet.
• If your watch isn’t rated for submersion depths of at least 100 meters, avoid diving with it on.
• As salt water can corrode metallic watch parts, keep metal watches away from the ocean.
• Make sure the replacement batteries you use are of high caliber.
• To make sure they are operating effectively, have any older timepieces regularly serviced.

How Long Will My Replacement Battery Last?

Your replacement battery should last up to 18 months, depending on the quality of the battery used. The life expectancy of the battery is significantly impacted by the brand of battery used and how long it was stored before installation.

If the battery in your watch lasts less than a year, you should probably think about having the movement serviced.

Lithium Ion batteries are made to last a lot longer than a regular batteries. These are frequently found in watches with multiple functions or glowing backlights; due to their intricate design, they have a remarkable life expectancy of 5 years or more.

How Much Does It Cost to Replace a Watch Battery?

You have the option of changing your watch battery yourself or having a reputable watchmaker do it for you. If you have the right tools and the right battery, replacing the watch battery is a simple, inexpensive fix that you can complete at home.

When purchased in bulk, watch batteries can be had for as little as a few dollars, if not even less.

You must first remove the case back if you choose to replace the battery in your watch yourself. Case back openers will be useful in accomplishing this. Your watch will determine the kind of case back opener you require.

You must first remove the outdated battery. It is recommended to use tweezers for this in order to avoid damaging or contaminating the movement. All that is left to do is install the new battery and close the back once the old battery has been removed.

The battery can be changed by a watchmaker if you don’t want to do it yourself. They will usually charge between 5 and 20 dollars depending on who does it. And they can usually complete it in a matter of minutes.

The advantage of having a watchmaker do it is that you can be sure it is done correctly and that the battery will typically be covered by a warranty.

Conclusion: Extend the Lifespan of Your Watch Battery

Watch battery life and charge are issues, just like with any electronics. Batteries for watches typically last between two and five years.

You can be ready now that you are aware of the potential lifespan of watch batteries and when to replace them. The best advice we can give is to purchase a watch that is both energy-efficient and compatible with more powerful batteries.