Years ago, my grandmother gave me a watch for Christmas, or my birthday I can't remember.

Anyways, I saw this Instructable that said that you could replace a watch battery with scissors and a safety pin. So I decided to give it a shot.

Step 1: First Attempt

The scissors would be used to grip the indents in the watch's back to turn it and loosen it to reveal the battery compartment.

The safety pin would be used to remove the battery be levering it out.

I haven't used or cleaned this watch in a few years, and this didn't work. I tried my hand at using a small screw driver and a hammer to unstick the back plate.

That didn't work either.

I looked up how to remove back plates from watches on Google and the names of fancy tools I had never heard of came up. Looked them up on Amazon, and found "watch repair kits" with a bunch of tools in one pouch that would help me in my endeavour.

The project is on pause until I get the tools...

Step 2: Using Specialty Tools

I got the tools a week or so later, rustled through them and figured out how to use them. Of course there are instructions available online, but where's the fun in that?!

I will be honest, I was a little disappointed in the quality of the tool kit, but for 35$ whatever.

Let's get to it!

I started by placing the watch in the case holder and clamping it down with the wing nut.

Then in the pouch there is a case of pins that fit into the slots in the back plate. I had to find 3 of the same kind and place them in the "three-pin case opener". This tool has 2 vices that adjust the distancing between the pins and once the correct settings are found, you can place it on the back plate and twist it open.

Tools:

A watch repair pouch - the one mentioned previously

Q-tips

Cheese cloth

A shallow container

Jewelry cleaning liquid

Material:

A new battery

Step 3: Revealing the Battery

These pictures reveal the insides of my watch.

There is a plastic cover that protects the insides and covers up the battery.

I could use the safety pin from the beginning to remove the plastic cover and the battery.

I had to go to the store to find the correct battery and replace it.

Seeing as I hadn't cleaned the watch in a while, I took advantage of this repair to clean the bracelet and everything.

Step 4: Cleaning the Bracelet and Back

There was dust everywhere!

In every nook and cranny it was horrendous to look at.

So I got some Q-tips, jewelry cleaner and some cheese-cloth.

I drowned the bracelet in the jewelry cleaner for 5 minutes and rinsed it off in some clean water. After which I took cheese cloth,, double layered it, and passed it through each link of the bracelet to get in between those tight spots.

Then I proceeded to use Q-tips, and Goo-Gone to remove the crusts of whatever grew and solidified on the bracelet.