Comments:
Cartier quartz movement help??
hi all,
I have a tricky question and hope some can help me with this.
My better half and I were thinking of gifting her 16yo daughter a Cartier (must de Cartier) watch. It has a quartz movement which I thought needed a battery change since it was not working and sitting around for years without being worn. Actually it looks new as I don't think she wore it at all as she has many others she prefers. One of them being my Chopard Sport 2000, LOL. 
Anyways, I took the watch to a friend who is a local watchsmith and he said that the movement was dead. Huh? I didn't understand how that could happen but ok I guess that is the situation. I asked if he could do anything and he said that he could not source a similar Cartier movement for replacement and I had to bring it to a Cartier boutique for them to replace the movement.
Does anyone know what the cost of replacing a quartz movement would be for a Must de Cartier watch or has anyone been in a similar situation? Reason why I ask is because if it would cost several hundred then I think I would prefer to purchase a new Seiko or Swatch for her as an alternative. Just thought the Cartier would be a nice gift and surprise as well as being something recycled in a sense.
I also was told that the Cartier 81 movement (ETA based and made for Cartier) has an equivalent ETA movement which could be used as replacement as well. My watchsmith did a replacement of a ladies Rado Coupole quartz movement with an equivalent ETA movement which he sourced. The benefit was the time it took which was 4 days compared to sending the watch to Rado and waiting months for it to come back. It also cost significantly less as well since the quartz movement cost $50 and all I really had to do was pay for an hour of his labor.
Sorry for the long post but I guess my question is 3 fold. First, has anyone had experience with a Cartier quartz movement replacement, its cost, and how long the service took? Second, is anyone familiar with Cartier's caliber 81 quartz movement and does it have an equivalent ETA quartz movement that could be used as a replacement? Finally, am I missing something or does anyone have any suggestions for me.
Thanks in advance for any help and advice.
PS - I know I could ask a Cartier boutique about servicing/replacing the quartz movement which I will probably do anyways, but I figured I would ask first and see if anyone else has had a similar experience for info. Also, I don't think they would know or advise on an equivalent ETA quartz replacement.
Some answers
I can't provide the exact cost of movement replacement at Cartier but I estimate it would be several hundred dollars.
I don't know if the Cartier 81 movement is interchangeable with an ETA calibre. If it is, then replacement would be much cheaper, but then swapping the movement is not officially sanctioned and Cartier will no longer service the watch afterwards as it would be a "franken" watch. Naturally the Cartier boutique would not advise on an ETA replacement.
But personally speaking since the watch is inexpensive in the first place, if you can get your watchmaker to swap the movement you'll have a working watch at low cost. I assume your daughter doesn't really care if the movement is original or not, as long as she has a working watch.
- SJX
Thanks for your insight...
I just found out the the Cartier caliber 81 was made by Ebel so I do not know if there would be an equivalent ETA replacement. As for my daughter-in-law, she has NO idea of movements or watches in general. Just something I thought would be nice and something I could share with her as watches are my thing. Hey, I even got my better half to get into watches as well by buying her some nice pieces. Now she even commandeers some of my pieces as well.