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For the beginner (like me) I think that it's a good thing to try to repair them. Not for money, of course, but for skill in working with tweezers and also learning something about watch trains. The advantage for the beginner is that you get these skills but you don't have to time the watch, which is very difficult for most of us newbies. Also they're usually pretty inexpensive. Naturally, one doens't want to remain there and eventually one has to tackle the escapement but as a training ground for working at the microlevel they're great.

It would be correct to remove the plastic gear in order to clean the mainplate properly. Basically anything which can be removed should be removed. Plastic gears need no lubrication but how do you know if the previous guy didn't oil it? You also need to check the gears, not only the teeth but the 'hole' and the area it rubs on the mainplate. Plastic gears should not be cleaned in cleaning solutions. Rodico will usually clean it right up. Anil

It's a good discussion which is fine. Quartz watches were in the early stages when I was a watch/clock maker. Working on a 200 year old clock and one who appreciates a craftsman's work, then looking at a piece of plastic to me there was no contest antique for me was the way to go. The demand for a good craftsman where I lived far outnumbered quartz watches. It was quite common for me to have 4 longcase clocks in my workshop at a time plus all the other repairs. It was so easy to get spares for the mechanical watches. So quartz took off but I understand mechanical watches have made a comeback. I made the right move because I made a really good living, my only regret is I wish I could have gone on longer but health took the better of me. Things I would make I even find it hard to see the ruddy piece.

Yes stroppy, they had reputation as cheap and nasty, but some of them just kept on going, funny thing I recently bought a batch of 8 watches because it contained 3 with quality Swiss movements of the other 5 two had Baumgartner 866's, two had MAM 3467 movements, all four of them are up and running - the three "quality" movements are all in the parts bin as all had broken parts, too expensive to justify fixing in relation to end value. I am constantly surprised by cheap movements, even quartz, always seem to get stuck with a heap of quartz when you buy bulk lots, mostly cheap Chinese/Hong Kong make with Seiko PC21 ot the equivalent cheap Citizen movements, pull out the old battery clean out the crud and install a new battery and they fire up, the good quality movements when the battery leak it seem to invade all the electronics and destroy the circuit. Before I will buy any quality brand quartz watch that "just needs a new battery" I check to see if a replacement movement or equivalent is available, been burnt a couple of times, unfortunately even good brand quartz watches don't seem to hold their value well enough to justify spending $100 + on a replacement movement to restore them. Max

I like the look of 2 Bob watches probably because its what my grandad would let and take to bits clean and reassemble in the 70's when I was but a nipper. Was your dad english or do you have Bob's ( a shilling or 5 decimal pence ) in the grand old land of Oz.

I don't think Stroppy was harsh. Pretty much on the ball. Don't forget Omega don't produce quartz watches now and their mechanical movements are now "In House " and you try getting replacement parts from them. Hopefully some enterprising company will start making generic replacements, to keep the independents going. The general trends I think, seems to be in house and everything has to come back to us. Could be wrong, hopefully I am. As regards the "Quartz " Even a no jewel movement has the potential to be as accurate as a well regulated mechanical, by a master regulator. Tony Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Unless the watch is of sentimental value to the customer - in that case, any watch is worth doing despite its value unless it's an impossible task. I remember stripping and cleaning Miyota 2032 movements all the time. That was when we were charging £15 to service and the movement cost £6.50 or so to buy new. So it was worth the hour it took to strip and clean them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I never bothered with quartz watch repairs apart from fitting batteries couldn't stand them. If the cost of the repair is going to be more then the cost of the watch, that is a good enough reason not to repair it.

Where DOES Ramon get them from? !?Bottom of the sea? [emoji1]

Once, when we were recently married, my wife and I wandered into a thrift store. I look up on an odd shelf and spot a familar shape and logo. Without hesitation, I grabbed it from the shelf and went to the front of the store and sat it before the guy at the counter. It had no price on it so I ask how much. He pauses and says $20, and half a picosecond later, he has a $20 bill in his hand and into the register. Its all I can do not to chortle. My wife them walks up and asked how much I had spent. When I told her $20, she looked shocked and complained to the guy that $20 was our *entire* thrift shopping budget for the day and if he would *please* give us $5 back so we could go on to another thrift store or two. He dutifully reaches into the register, pulls out $5 and gives it to her. I was amazed, but knew to keep quiet. If you knew my wife, you would understand how she could get away with this...I let HER do all the negotiating. :-) Oh, and what was it? A Nikon stereo microscope, in excellent condition but missing one eyepiece. We flipped it on eBay for $825, enough to catch us up on our mortgage. :-) Ah, the good old days...

This is my staking set, I bought it for £50 in the market. Though I'm not too sure how good it is, I've only had to use it a couple of times, and only ever used it once to repair a broken balance staff.