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Wittnauer Futurama 1000. Been looking for one for quite some time, so pretty excited for this one to arrive!

I would say that the OP introduced himself very well, much better of many others actually. The only thing we don't know if he started practical repairing on his own already, if not he should readily do that. Which requires exams in-presence in the UK for at least 5 of the very many course units if you want to be certified. Other units may be sit elsewhere, but reading through their website which is full of long formalities I didn't managed to understand where, when and for how much. Anyway, my message to the OP is that he should now be able to perceive the elitist and almost secretive world of professional watchmaking. Schooling it is not done to popularize the knowledge but to prepare few future top-grade professionals, formed with the mindset of 100 years ago, while earning a good buck. I also think that these schools cater to people starting maybe a couple years or more older than him, and that have already have some experience and skills, as it's inevitable when there's a driving passion. My opinion is that since this is 2022 not 1922 one should take full advantage of that. As mentioned, high quality, practical, results-targeted training is available from our Host Mark Lovick at watchfix.com. An average person can learn well how to service, diagnose and fix (by parts swapping) a watch in 6 months, working everyday from home. Tools are easily ordered online and not terribly expensive when the goal is to learn how to use them not collecting big brands - do we remember that gladiators trained with weapons heavier than the ones they used in combat? Out there service offering is so thin that owners are desperately searching someone that maintains and repair their watches, from heirlooms of modest value "for sentimental reasons", to crystal replacing on fashion watches, to popular mechanical Seikos, all they way up to multi-thousands dollar watches for which the manufacturer wants big money to service them. Reputable watchmakers have years long waiting lists, I think that a young man able to show he's good at hit should have no difficulty in finding work with one of these, before being ready to open up his own shop. Then later on if he has the funds and disposition may consider enrolling a big name school far from home, but again IMHO isn't necessary to preserve the trade and make and honest income from it.

Comtoise clocks were made in the Jura region, mountains on the French–Swiss border. Many are in very nice cases while some just hang on the wall with out a case. Many have very elaborate pendulums again some are plain. I would say with all those bells it not only strikes the hours but the quarters as well plus it has an alarm. Don't be too disappointed it is missing the weights and pendulum. I see many of these clocks on ebay.

Bought a lot for 16.00, looks to have a vintage bulova, a small accutron and one that looks to be a vintage mido multifort with a rectangle case. Should be here Thursday, can't wait.

One of them that I thought was not working is. Now showing all of the pure "Electric" versions. I have some Q quartz ones but have not opened them up.

I’m currently a 17 yo senior, turning 18 in April, and I’m interested in becoming a watchmaker as a career. Since I’m not quite ready to leave home yet I’m looking for a school that I can commute to, and since I live in Fairfield County I’m able to go directly to Grand Central by train in the morning. The school I’m currently looking at is the Patek-Philippe Horology Program of New York, which is a free two year course that can also land you a job at a company after graduation. However, they don’t have a website so most of what I know comes from a few articles that I found and I’m planning on emailing them eventually once I get things sorted out. What worries me most is that one article mentions that out of 380 people that applied the year it opened, only 6 were accepted and they had to go through a rigorous entrance exam, so I fear that the Patek-Philippe school might be a bit out of my league. Also Google maps shows a place called Swiss precision watchmaking in Lower Manhattan, but I could find even less about their training program so I think it might be a store and repair center that got listed on Google Maps as a school by accident. The other closest school outside of the school is called the Jewelry & Watch Repair School of New England near Hartford CT but I don’t think that I’d be able to drive that far every day. If I can’t find anything soon I’ve been considering just getting a bachelor's degree at a community college (which my mom wants me to do) and after that I could either move to Pennsylvania to attend one the schools there or just find a cheap place in Hartford to go to the Jewelry & Watch Repair School of New England once I get my license and become more experienced in life to the point where I feel comfortable living on my own.

Have you some piccys of the bench you made. cheers

I just made myself a table-top mounting work surface, because it was simpler and cheaper than routeing a table top and suspending the armrests, but the dimensions will be the same. I took them from a professional desk. 1 = 280mm 2 = 120mm (the width of your armrests) B = 300mm (the length of your armrests) If you want some photos showing how the armrests are mounted on a pro set-up, let me know

Hi A.D.Mougin Paris with brocot escapement adjustment , The case ilooks as if its a marriage between clock and case. both of around the same time . You usually find these movements in marble or slate clock cases and the straps with the screws in hold the front part of the clock Bezel etc to the rear door assembly They are nice movements but the only drawback is the pivots are glass hard and will not tolerate rough treat ment (too easy to break) Mainspring looks as though the hole has torn at some point and been re filed. There is quite considerable force in the spring so consider changing it. Laverstoke Mill Hampshire was a paper Mill from the 1700;s owned bythe Portal family now a dislittery producung Portal Gin. The clock probably datea mid 19th cent. service date of 1903? on the door.

I have noticed this on auction sites such as eBay high end watches being sold for staggering prices way above their actual RRP,s. In this months BHI mag there is an article that maybe reveals what is happening. The reasons for this is complex and deserve their own discussion, but one can include pandemic-induced Swiss manpower and materials shortages, a steep rise in the number of buyers with excess discretionary income, and the self-reinforcing effect of strong prices. So as always, these watches are consistently proving to be reliable stores of value and incredibly good investments. Two particular brands being Patek Philippe and Rolex who are now subject to these mega-price increases. Watches by Rolex now command phenomenal prices in the peer-to-peer market. For example the Rolex GMT-Master I easily commands £20,000-odd, against its RRP of £8,600. The stainless steel Cosmograph Daytona commanded some £20,000 (double the RRP) before the pandemic, but now cannot be had for much under £30,000, and every variant of the green bezel will set you back between around £20,000 and £ 40,000, against pre-pandemic figures of roughly half that. This should be good news for watch owners, and good publicity for horology generally. However it also presents a problem though for manufacturers. With prices buoyant, many people who purchase watches from ADs (Authorised Dealers)find the onward-prices tempting, and so elect to sell them straight away, called ‘Flipping’. One peculiar side-effect has been that some ADs have been attempting to stem the flow of watches from their clients wrists onto the open market. One strategy is by withholding of the Warranty Certificates by refusing to release warranty documents to buyers of certain Rolex and Patek Philippe models, instead issuing a promise to hand them over after one year if the customer would relent to allow his property to be examined at that time to ensure he had not sold it. A watch without its original certificate is worth less than one with. However, this seems to be having little lasting effect, because people are simply waiting the year before selling. If I had a spare £10k/£20k I could be tempted to take a chance.

Hi attached is the decode for the timex numbers according to the numbers its a Mod 40 dated 1969. so I have added that manual as well all the best Timex_Code_Numbers.pdf 812677755_40(1).pdf

That is not that old. I think you can still buy them in a kit and assemble it yourself. Here is a Comtoise clock with its ornate pendulum. Looks big and heavy but they are very light in weight.

Well it all depends on your attitude and skill level and the old adage " If its not broke dont fix it" If as you say its running well enough as is it may well be a case of leave it alone , or if it annoys you take it off and try to fix it. Being a pocket watch its large enough to have a go at and personaly if very carefull can be done. You have the tools for the job and done as said carefully the impulse pin should survive(removal of the pin depends on how you feel). Once off warm the shellac and remove the pin straighten the table and re fit the pin sounds easy, right good luck,

Hi Check out the attached . Is there a number on the dial under the 6 position , if so can you post it as this will define the model and date cheers 303136456_50(1).pdf

I think jdm summed it up pretty well and out lined the options. If it was me I should go for thr course offerd by Mark Lovick and get some training on my own account , thay way you can prove to youself its what you want to do. After completing the course you will be able to converse with any prospective employer/customer kowledgebly and have a thorough grounding in watch servicing and repair. A spring board to further your chosn carrer/

Welcome to the forum @LeaderOfTheBunch. You should also duck over to the Introductions area and say hi in there. The other guys on here would appreciate it. Have you tried to get in touch with the NAWCC over in the USA? I am not sure of what they would be able to tell you, but they might be a great place to start. Here in Australia, there is nothing at all. About my only way to get any sort of qualification would be by the BHI in the UK. There is also the watch repair course that Mark Lovick (owner of this forum) runs online.

A little bit of a restoration. Not perfect. I probably should have done the whole outside, but I am not sure that the glue I have or the paper I have are ideal for the job, well the glue certainly not and the project also would greatly benefit a little bit of more experience doing this job.

Maybe a picture would help If you look carefully at the pictures on the eBay site especially the side view does that really look like a pocket watch case? Yes casually from the front it looks like a pocket watch but from the side it's not a pocket watch. Look at the description it's big and heavy that's a peculiar description for pocket watch isn't it? I snipped out a few things for you I still think it's a Waltham eight day clock as they call it. I have some pictures of the movement. The parts list for the supplemental spot indicator as they call it. I even highlighted the disc itself.Then they list this is a 37 size movement which would make it big and heavy. Then the eight-day clock was found in all kinds of things. Car clock like the image I have attached. Aircraft clocks just Google Waltham eight day clock and see what you find online found a lot of things. Including apparently something that looks like a pocket watch. Seeing as how currently 19 bids and it's up to $66 not goes they it 20 and it's definitely going over hundred dollars for an interesting very large pocket watch.

And I found this video, which better explains a lot of what I encountered when I was dismantling. I had a hunch about how it did what it did, and taking pictures helped quite a bit, but there's nothing like watching one of these in motion to appreciate the utterly simple yet effective way they came with an electric drive.

Welcome to the forum Julian. I could quite easily have fallen into the trap that @jdm described. Rather large ability vs expectation gap. Lol. Sounds like you are doing things their right way. Kudos.

Not just my personal suggestion. It was my master who told be about it and he was a top watchmaker, in fact most of my knowledge in horology comes from him.

Not yet a complete ban perhaps, but it's striclty regulated because of its toxicity - please note I am just stating a regulations fact, not saying that one gets harmed by occasionally using it. I have attached a document with a summary of these regulations starting page 7. I do not agree with these blanket statements. Ebay is just a website, not the seller, which you can effectively evaluate independently. And as with other online purchases you're actually well because the right of return, and the PayPal "not as described" powerful claim policy. Worth always to remind casual readers that this is just your personal suggestion, Lighter fluid it's not an horological product, it's not recommended by any maker, school or book, and cost 4 - 5 time per quantity as opposes to petroleoum ether of guaranteed purity. CINET_European Legislation PERC.pdf

Get yourself a can of Ronsonol to clean hairsprings or the complete balance it is safe with shellac. You will need a a small pot with a screw lid as it evaporates very quick, you can leave parts in it for days and no harm will come to them. I used it for years and never had any problems with it. I will now wait for jdm to criticise Ronsonol as he always does.