The normal battery life is about 1-3 years and the power consumption of present quartz watch IC circuit is very low(about 1 microamp), all this improved the battery life of the quartz watch a lot. For the watches that equipped with three hands, we can pull out the crown when we don't use the watch to make the motor stop working, which is so-called power-saving performance. We should pull out the crown if we don't need to use the watch in the short-term.
But if we haven't used the watch for a long time, which means its beyond the validity of the battery, then we need to notice some points. The batteries of quartz watch are basically silver oxide cell, like other typies of batteries, the silver oxide cell will discharge even in the condition of not working, and the self-discharge rate is highly related to the T&H of the place where it was placed, the higher temperature, the higher slf-discharge rate.
Some silver oxide cell have leaking problems, especially those battery without good quality and good sealing. This problem often happens when the battery is about to out of power or after the battery has already no power, this quite like the ordinary dry-cell batteries. The silver oxide batteries are filled with alkaline electrolyte, which usually is sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, these are strongly corrosive material and it will cause great damage to the watch once the electrolyte leak out. Firstly, it will rust the contact between the spring and watch circuit; secondly, it will rust the plate, even the watch dial.
There are plenty of examples about the damage of the battery, not only the watch. Such as the dry-cell of the flshlight, if the cell hasn't been used for a long time, it will bloat. So i recommend that if you have to store your quartz watch for long time, especially the high-end watches, you 'd better send your watch to the repair shop to take out the battery first. And if you want to replace the battery, choose the famous brand batteies and change the bettery regularly, because quite a proportion of the quartz watch malfunctions are blamed on the battery.
