How To Open A Screw-Back Watch Case - Gear Patrol

Opening a screw-back watch case is fairly a straightforward operation and allows you to change the battery on a quartz watch (so long as that watch has a screw-back case) or diagnose some common issues on a mechanical watch (so long as you know what you’re looking for, but that’s a subject for another post).

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Understand that this procedure takes some finesse and patience (and that if you’re not careful, you can scratch your watch case back), but that once you learn how to do it, it’s fairly easy to do, and can help save you a big tab at your local watchmaker – just try not to leave the case back off the watch for too long, as you’re only inviting the ingress of dust, hair, and all sorts of other gunk into a very delicate mechanical system.

1. Acquire The Appropriate Tools. While you don’t need to invest hundreds of dollars in the grade of tools that the pros use, there are a few things that are essential if you want to open your own case back (see the Buying Guide below). At minimum, a friction ball, case back wrench, case holder and common shop vice will make your life easier (you could conceivably do without the case holder and vice, but if you want to drastically reduce the likelihood of scratching a case back, we highly recommend them. Besides, you should have a shop vice lying around already – what kind of man doesn’t have a shop vice?)

2. Use the friction ball. If the case back hasn’t been tightened down to the watch case all the way, you can use that handy, inexpensive friction ball to open it. In this case, simply flip the watch over, grip it in one hand by the watch strap, and hold the friction ball against the case back with your other hand. Apply some pressure and rotate the ball counter-clockwise – if the case back is loose enough, it should unscrew fairly easily.