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I'm trying to replace the battery of my watch, but I can't work out how to take off the back cover, to get to the battery? (see photo)
I've Googled on how to remove the back cover of watches, but it seems to be the back covers vary quite significantly, and all the ones I've found tutorials for seem to have either screws or some notch on the back, yet mine has neither!
As you can see from the photo, my watch has a smooth metal plate on the back, with no obvious means of removing it.
Any help?
That back cover on your watch is a press fit into the main frame of the watch body.
The typical way these are removed is to place a sharp blade along the side groove where the cover meets the body. Most times the cover actually hangs over the body some toward the outside and placing pressure on the sharp blade will start to make the cover pull up from the body a small amount. Continued work around the perimeter will eventually get enough of a space between the cover and the body that you can get a small flat blade screw driver in the space to twist and get the cover fully free.
Reassembly is a process of just pressing the cover back in place. You want to make sure to squeeze it into place evenly all the way around so it goes in straight. If the cover is cocked off at an angle it could bind in the body and not seat all the way in.
Three cheap tools from a well-known online retailer named after a river.
The middle one I found to be almost useless. It is the style used by some professionals but they probably use much better quality versions and have more skill than I do.
The right hand one is excellent, works for all but one of my watches with press-fit backs (not that I have many).
I bought the left hand one for a troublesome Tissot. It worked perfectly.
Press-fit backs generally have, somewhere around the perimeter, an area with a slightly larger gap (or a gap rather than none). Sometimes barely perceptible. You insert the sharp hard edge of your tool there and lever the back off.
For refitting the back, I find a watch press useful:
Though any soft-faced vice would probably work if you are careful. The advantage of the above item is that it doesn't exert pressure on the glass/crystal front of the watch and so doesn't risk cracking it.
There will be a gasket. Make sure it is in the right place or it will be impossible to refit the back. On my Tissot the gasket was left in the case when removing the back but to replace the back I had to first fit the gasket to the back, not to the case. Other watches will vary considerably.
Although some of these tools cost less a cup of coffee at a coffee shop, they might seem expensive compared to the cost of a Yazole, so you'll have to make a choice based on how many battery changes you expect to do in future.
