Rip Curl, Oceantide, 2003

Not much to see from this Hong Kong Caliber
and the looks did not really invite to "dig" deeper and remove the iron shield and the black "plate". The battery holder spring was identical to a Casio, that I found interesting. Of course I also glanced under the sticker once the battery was removed, but there was not enough to see from the circuit board to find any other indications of the origin of manufacturing. A standard Hong Kong OEM product in my eyes, manufactured North of Hong Kong in Mainland China most likely. Watch that little gold colored spring when changing the battery. If you lose it, the alarm is most likely not going to work anymore, since that spring connects to alarm buzzer on the inside of the case back (not in picture). But if you have children or grand children, you will be most likely able to find such a small spring in one of their toys. If the toy does not work anymore, go to the watch parts shop. They carry those springs for sure. As usual, bring the watch along. You do not want a too big spring.

Also, be patient, and you will be able to remove the white battery sticker without tearing it into pieces. Lift it slowly with a pair of plastic tweezers or another non-conductive flat tool. After about 3 minutes of forensic-like work, you should have pulled the sticker off the back of the CR2016. If you tore the sticker, cut out a round sticker from sticky paper. I replaced the battery maybe 3 years after the watch left the factory. I could imagine that this kind of sticker could not be removed after 5 years of having used the watch in Downunder's Summer.