Watch band pin replacement

December 20, 2013 6:50 PM

One of the cotter pins in the stainless steel band of my Citizen watch has come loose to the point that it slides out on its own rather easily, separating the links of the watch band. The watch is still under warranty, but I'd rather not deal with shipping it away and waiting for such a minor repair. Are local jewelry shops likely to have a replacement pin, or

The pin looks kind of like this. An Amazon search for "cotter pins" only comes up with some kits of various lengths (e.g. this one, but I don't know if the width is right, and I really don't feel like spending that much for a bunch of pins that I'll probably only need one of. Ideally, I'd go to a jewelry shop, they'd pop a pin in, and I'd give them a couple of bucks for their time. Is this a common thing to carry in stock, or will they want to send it away?

posted by tonycpsu to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

Any jewelry shop can do this. Most Walmarts can probably. I've done this several times in the past when I wore a watch and half the time they don't even charge you.
posted by sanka at 6:55 PM on December 20, 2013

Yes, they can fix for you. Easy peasy. No sending it away required.

I love my own Eco Drive and would hate to be separated from it.
posted by bearwife at 6:56 PM on December 20, 2013

If you bring it to a jeweler, they will replace it and probably shine the watch for free most likely.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:58 PM on December 20, 2013

OK, great! Thanks, all.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:01 PM on December 20, 2013

As mentioned, any jewellery shop will be able to do this, but you can buy huge sets of these pins in mixed sizes on ebay for a few dollars delivered. For example this, although there are plenty of others selling the same or similar sets for even less.
posted by markr at 9:57 PM on December 20, 2013

Take it to a jewelry store. With some brands of watches, the jewelers won't or can't replace the band or pins. Even in that case, you needn't send it away. You call the manufacturer, they sell you the replacement and when it arrives in the mail, you take it to the jeweler and they replace it for you, often for free.
posted by Morrigan at 3:55 PM on December 21, 2013

"Official" Citizen watch bands are nutty-expensive (like sixty bucks), but I bought a lovely leather band from Amazon (maybe $22), along with a set of steel watch spring pins (like $4 or $5).

Replacing the pins -- or the pins & band -- really isn't difficult, as long as you keep track of where the pin goes when you drop it. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 5:06 AM on December 22, 2013