# A few observations about the Curv during a battery change



## tmathes

Hi all,

I had to change the battery in my Bulova Curv this past weekend. I can't say if this movement gives a low-battery warning via the sweep second hand but I don't remember any funny ticking in the second hand in the 6 hr. position the last time I wore it 3 weeks ago. Manual never mentions such an indicator and best I can tell it does not have such an indicator.

The battery lasted a bit over 2 years, I bought the watch in November 2017 during a Black Friday sale on Amazon. I can't remember if the watch had the stem pulled when I received it nor did I use the chronograph more than 7-8 times total (for a couple of minutes at a time). Battery life seems a bi short to be honest, especially when compared to my Lunar Pilot with a similar movement. My L/P is nearly a year older and it's still on the OE battery and working just fine on that battery, from what I gather same batter is used (SR927W) in both movements.

Opening the caseback is not difficult at all. I have a Wiha 1.8mm flat-head screwdriver I use for removing/adding links in a few Omegas in the house. This screwdriver works perfectly for this job (you can find this screwdriver easily on Amazon). Ypu'll also need a set of tweezers for the screws and to pop out the movement/bezel assembly

If you don't know this, the Curv doesn't have a typical caseback like most watches. The baseplate on your wrist is a hefty piece of metal that holds the movement+bezel+crystal in place via 4 screws. The bezel is really a metal ring (with some depth and not just a typical bezel ring) and it has holes in it for the screws. Also, there was also some kind of thread-locking material on them. It was not difficult to remove the screws but there was some resistance indicating thread lock was used.

I swapped in place an Energizer 399/395, fit perfectly. To get the movement assembly out I had to poke my tweezers in the screw holes to push it out, what surprised me was there was no gasket of any kind behind this movement to the baseplate. The baseplate has a raised ring around it that seems to push the movement around it's perimeter firmly against the bezel/crystal part. the bezel ring fits in the slot formed by the baseplate itself and this inner raised ring on the baseplate. Seeing that there was no gasket I would not trust this watch in water at all, no wonder the caseback just says "water resistant" but no meters/bars spec'd. Small splashes from handwashing is all I'd trust this movement with near water.

Putting the case back is a cinch, just drop the assembly back into place, put in the 4 screws. I used a bit of thread lock (the lowest strength stuff) just to make sure nothing wiggles loose. After a battery swap you must also realign the sweep second hand per the manual instructions The zero position for the sweep second hand at the 6 hr. mark will be off, when you pop in the new battery it take it's stopped location before the change as it's "zero" position.

Bottom line: of all of my watches, this was the absolute easiest battery swap I've ever done. No struggling with getting a caseback off or on, no scratches left after the swap. Sorry I didn't take pictures, I completely forgot to snap a few while I had it apart.


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## Bruno28

Thanks for that. 
Well you got 2 years out of it. On the manual it says 1 year from what I recall. 

Also I didn't know about the second hand needing calibration. That's good to know. 

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk


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## tmathes

Bruno28 said:


> Thanks for that.
> Well you got 2 years out of it. On the manual it says 1 year from what I recall.
> 
> Also I didn't know about the second hand needing calibration. That's good to know.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk


It surprised me it was that short lived since my Lunar Pilot is a year older but it still on the OE battery. I would have expected similar life since I assumed the two movements are closely related. Maybe the curved movement for some reason requires more power? I don't have the equipment to measure the current draw in the two movements for comparison.

What also surprised me was this Curv movement has 11 jewels in it (movement was marked as such).


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## ReallyBored

Thanks for the report.

I'm really surprised about the lack of any gaskets, but I guess if it works it works.


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## FL410

tmathes said:


> What also surprised me was this Curv movement has 11 jewels in it (movement was marked as such).


And the Lunar Pilot has 0 jewels if I remember correctly. Interesting.


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## yankeexpress

From ABTW

















Mine


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## FL410

Looks familiar!


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## Bruno28

Here are mine. 
It looks worth more than what they cost. The titanium black with rose gold specially.

You can see winter vs summer skin colour too Hahah 









Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk


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## tmathes

FL410 said:


> And the Lunar Pilot has 0 jewels if I remember correctly. Interesting.


You'd think a jeweled movement would have less friction than a comparable non-jeweled movement, hence longer battery life but not here. It could also be that the battery wasn't 'up to snuff' when new. Still, my LP is well into it's 4th year on the identical cell, the Curv barely made it past the 2nd year mark. the other question is why the jeweled movement vs. non-jeweled for similar designs. My only guess is the curved movement must induce friction hence going the jeweled route helped battery life.

At least battery changes are easy with the Curv, sure beats having a PITA snapback case to struggle with. I also learned to NOT get this watch wet, the lack of gaskets was not reassuring in that respect. Looking at how the case is designed, unless there's a special gasket with holes in it for the screws I really do not see how you could use a gasket in there. A standard o-ring gasket you'll see in conventional designs just will not work with the Curv cases.


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## TraserH3

before I clicked in, I thought this was going to be how you need to find a curved battery...


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## tmathes

TraserH3 said:


> before I clicked in, I thought this was going to be how you need to find a curved battery...


You figured it out!! No wonder the OE battery didn't last as long as I expected, it was dribbling electrons out of the curved ends. :-d


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## Altamashsyed

tmathes said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I had to change the battery in my Bulova Curv this past weekend....
> 
> ....Bottom line: of all of my watches, this was the absolute easiest battery swap I've ever done. No struggling with getting a caseback off or on, no scratches left after the swap. Sorry I didn't take pictures, I completely forgot to snap a few while I had it apart.


Thanks for explaining this is detail.. I'm expecting a steel Curv soon, and had no idea its not as water resistant as regular watches.. Will take care..!!


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## jazzii

tmathes said:


> You'd think a jeweled movement would have less friction than a comparable non-jeweled movement, hence longer battery life but not here. It could also be that the battery wasn't 'up to snuff' when new. Still, my LP is well into it's 4th year on the identical cell, the Curv barely made it past the 2nd year mark. the other question is why the jeweled movement vs. non-jeweled for similar designs. My only guess is the curved movement must induce friction hence going the jeweled route helped battery life.
> 
> At least battery changes are easy with the Curv, sure beats having a PITA snapback case to struggle with. I also learned to NOT get this watch wet, the lack of gaskets was not reassuring in that respect. Looking at how the case is designed, unless there's a special gasket with holes in it for the screws I really do not see how you could use a gasket in there. A standard o-ring gasket you'll see in conventional designs just will not work with the Curv cases.


Just changed the battery again. Apaled to see no gasket indeed, i guess i forgot about that, dont wear the watch that often, i love it, not as much as my L,P but it is virtually unreadable, but still... Why on earth would they have a water resist statement on the back? it should say "not water resist". i got it used for 160, but if i had paid 400 or whatever list is and went swimming, oops. they could have put a gasket on the bottom of the bezel and around the screw holes like a crown gasket. anyways, not going swimming with it. the finer leather straps are always a deterrent... would never wear in the shower because of the strap but pool, you have too many drink and there you go. Anyways, besides the lack of complications, i can only read it if i tilt to reflct light on the hands. the other problem is the hands extend too far and dont help either. still like it though, as with lp and other bulovas, pretty unique for the money. LP i paid 275 new for mine with metal bracelet on a black friday deal. incredible bargain i think. i have another high frequency model with the completely smooth seconds hand looks like an electric clock. Would have been cool on the LP, because all the vk chronos tick like the lp, like an automatic seconds hand. I looked at getting a big bulky precisionist last year, but it looked dated with the hex screw look.

Also a shame they don't have a large running chrono hand like LP, but i suppose it wold be less dressy...


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## Timetimetimeonlytime

I've had Curv watch for a number of years. I wore it in the shower every day. It certainly got VERY wet and inundated with water. Never had a problem. Nada, zip, zilch. The design works. Now, I wouldn't take it diving, but it's not a diving watch anyway.


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## jack gelber

tmathes said:


> Hi all, I had to change the battery in my Bulova Curv this past weekend. I can't say if this movement gives a low-battery warning via the sweep second hand but I don't remember any funny ticking in the second hand in the 6 hr. position the last time I wore it 3 weeks ago. Manual never mentions such an indicator and best I can tell it does not have such an indicator. The battery lasted a bit over 2 years, I bought the watch in November 2017 during a Black Friday sale on Amazon. I can't remember if the watch had the stem pulled when I received it nor did I use the chronograph more than 7-8 times total (for a couple of minutes at a time). Battery life seems a bi short to be honest, especially when compared to my Lunar Pilot with a similar movement. My L/P is nearly a year older and it's still on the OE battery and working just fine on that battery, from what I gather same batter is used (SR927W) in both movements. Opening the caseback is not difficult at all. I have a Wiha 1.8mm flat-head screwdriver I use for removing/adding links in a few Omegas in the house. This screwdriver works perfectly for this job (you can find this screwdriver easily on Amazon). Ypu'll also need a set of tweezers for the screws and to pop out the movement/bezel assembly If you don't know this, the Curv doesn't have a typical caseback like most watches. The baseplate on your wrist is a hefty piece of metal that holds the movement+bezel+crystal in place via 4 screws. The bezel is really a metal ring (with some depth and not just a typical bezel ring) and it has holes in it for the screws. Also, there was also some kind of thread-locking material on them. It was not difficult to remove the screws but there was some resistance indicating thread lock was used. I swapped in place an Energizer 399/395, fit perfectly. To get the movement assembly out I had to poke my tweezers in the screw holes to push it out, what surprised me was there was no gasket of any kind behind this movement to the baseplate. The baseplate has a raised ring around it that seems to push the movement around it's perimeter firmly against the bezel/crystal part. the bezel ring fits in the slot formed by the baseplate itself and this inner raised ring on the baseplate. Seeing that there was no gasket I would not trust this watch in water at all, no wonder the caseback just says "water resistant" but no meters/bars spec'd. Small splashes from handwashing is all I'd trust this movement with near water. Putting the case back is a cinch, just drop the assembly back into place, put in the 4 screws. I used a bit of thread lock (the lowest strength stuff) just to make sure nothing wiggles loose. After a battery swap you must also realign the sweep second hand per the manual instructions The zero position for the sweep second hand at the 6 hr. mark will be off, when you pop in the new battery it take it's stopped location before the change as it's "zero" position. Bottom line: of all of my watches, this was the absolute easiest battery swap I've ever done. No struggling with getting a caseback off or on, no scratches left after the swap. Sorry I didn't take pictures, I completely forgot to snap a few while I had it apart.





tmathes said:


> Hi all, I had to change the battery in my Bulova Curv this past weekend. I can't say if this movement gives a low-battery warning via the sweep second hand but I don't remember any funny ticking in the second hand in the 6 hr. position the last time I wore it 3 weeks ago. Manual never mentions such an indicator and best I can tell it does not have such an indicator. The battery lasted a bit over 2 years, I bought the watch in November 2017 during a Black Friday sale on Amazon. I can't remember if the watch had the stem pulled when I received it nor did I use the chronograph more than 7-8 times total (for a couple of minutes at a time). Battery life seems a bi short to be honest, especially when compared to my Lunar Pilot with a similar movement. My L/P is nearly a year older and it's still on the OE battery and working just fine on that battery, from what I gather same batter is used (SR927W) in both movements. Opening the caseback is not difficult at all. I have a Wiha 1.8mm flat-head screwdriver I use for removing/adding links in a few Omegas in the house. This screwdriver works perfectly for this job (you can find this screwdriver easily on Amazon). Ypu'll also need a set of tweezers for the screws and to pop out the movement/bezel assembly If you don't know this, the Curv doesn't have a typical caseback like most watches. The baseplate on your wrist is a hefty piece of metal that holds the movement+bezel+crystal in place via 4 screws. The bezel is really a metal ring (with some depth and not just a typical bezel ring) and it has holes in it for the screws. Also, there was also some kind of thread-locking material on them. It was not difficult to remove the screws but there was some resistance indicating thread lock was used. I swapped in place an Energizer 399/395, fit perfectly. To get the movement assembly out I had to poke my tweezers in the screw holes to push it out, what surprised me was there was no gasket of any kind behind this movement to the baseplate. The baseplate has a raised ring around it that seems to push the movement around it's perimeter firmly against the bezel/crystal part. the bezel ring fits in the slot formed by the baseplate itself and this inner raised ring on the baseplate. Seeing that there was no gasket I would not trust this watch in water at all, no wonder the caseback just says "water resistant" but no meters/bars spec'd. Small splashes from handwashing is all I'd trust this movement with near water. Putting the case back is a cinch, just drop the assembly back into place, put in the 4 screws. I used a bit of thread lock (the lowest strength stuff) just to make sure nothing wiggles loose. After a battery swap you must also realign the sweep second hand per the manual instructions The zero position for the sweep second hand at the 6 hr. mark will be off, when you pop in the new battery it take it's stopped location before the change as it's "zero" position. Bottom line: of all of my watches, this was the absolute easiest battery swap I've ever done. No struggling with getting a caseback off or on, no scratches left after the swap. Sorry I didn't take pictures, I completely forgot to snap a few while I had it apart.


 To be sure, if all I want to do is change the battery, just remove the 4 screws, swap the battery carefully and put the back back? Any other suggestions? Thanks


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## tmathes

jack gelber said:


> To be sure, if all I want to do is change the battery, just remove the 4 screws, swap the battery carefully and put the back back? Any other suggestions? Thanks


Correct. Just take the usual precautions (be careful with the screwdriver, put them in a container where they won't get lost, etc.). It was one the easiest battery swaps I've ever done since there was no fuss or hassle of removing the caseback (er, case itself is the caseback) since the screws came out easily and putting it together was easy too.


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