so much for good inentions

[cellio]

Last night my watchband broke (one of those metal expanding/stretch ones, my preferred style). It looked like it might be fixable with the right tools and know-how, which I lack.

There are three watch-repair places in my neighborhood, opening no earlier than 10AM and closing no later than 5PM. There are none near where I work, though I tried the lone jewelry store (no luck).

So after work I went to a local store to buy a replacement band. They refused to put it onto the watch for me for liability reasons (!), and would not accept my offer to sign a waiver. I declined to buy it without that demonstration that it was in fact the right size (hard to really tell in the packaging), and I can't really see well enough to do that myself. (I could have taken it home to Dani, but then I'd have to go back if it didn't fit, and...bah.)

Watches (in this class) are not much more expensive than the band. I just mail-ordered a watch from Amazon.

Sorry, planet. I tried to do if not the right thing then at least the less-wrong thing.

If anybody local wants a scratched-up but functional watch, let me know. Getting it to stay on your arm is your problem.

Comments

[scaharp.livejournal.com]

I used to work in a department store at the jewelry counter. Granted, we weren't given the training or the tools that watchmakers or jewelers have, but we dealt with changing bands, resizing, etc.

Metal expanding bands were a real pain to deal with. We pretty much didn't even try to repair them. I did a couple of times, experimenting, and it was just about impossible to get the repaired part to look perfect with the rest of the band. I suppose a jeweler would do better.

Depending on the watch, even replacing the band could be problematic. Very fiddly job. We dreaded when someone pulled out an expanding metal-band wristwatch.

Don't feel bad about replacing the watch. It sounds like you've had a frustrating time!