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Hi all, Newbie here as i find that my love for watches just isn't enough I task myself with repairs and refurbs side of it all Been doing this over a year now and started as advised, with pocket watches. All self taught through youtube and now have managed to make my way to sub second hand watches. Finding it difficult and relaxing at the same time. I have invested in the right equipment but left to purchase in some sort of cleaning device, timing device and oilers/oil. (The oiling process is a little overwhelming). If anyone has any good advice on the following topics i would greatly appreciate it 1) What are the best watches/movements to work on which do not cost an arm and a leg 2) If anyone has any useful tips on the re application of oil or any videos/instruction on what oil to use on which part this would be great. 3) Any product recommendations on cleaners and timing devices which again are not ridiculously expensive. Thank you all so much and i hope i can help out where i can. Morgan

Hi everyone, I would love to know your opinions on which movements and corresponding watches are suited for beginners. A lot of people recommend starting out on a Seagull ST36, but actually having a real watch to work on is where I would really love to start. I did a ton of research, scrolled through eBay and Catawiki a gazillion times but analysis paralysis got the best of me. Brought to my knees by the sheer amount of information I now turn my attention to you, hoping I can pry off some knowledge. What kind of watch was I thinking of? Time only Preferably 0 - 75 euros Manual wound Commonly found online Please share your opinions on this matter!

I've been following the standard array of Watch repair youtubers for a while now, getting interested and excited about this new hobby. I've collected some tools: Magnification sources, good quality screwdrivers, poor quality screwdrivers, some decent tweezers, etc. The basics -- no mainspring winders or any of the "big" tools like a press or anything. Finally, I've been trawling ebay, filtering out the plethora of frankenseikos and replica rolexes. I found a nice looking, likely candidate in a Benrus automatic. It's a bit beat up but nothing super serious. I don't hate a we bit of visible wear. Once I received it I found that the only way to get some activity on the dial was to give the machine a bit of a gentle spin to activate the Automatic works. Great news that it runs and I don't have to call the seller a liar, bad news is that the manual wind either doesn't work, or doesn't exist. I can pull the crown out and set the time though, and the day/date turn over at roughly the correct time. I decided to put the thing on a timegrapher to see how well it runs. I googled "Benrus Automatic Lift Angle, and the most recent thing I came across seemed to list all Benrus' as having 50º of lift. That's.... not amazing. While I'm no expert at reading this stuff, I think that gaining 30m a day, and having no detectable degrees of rotation on the balance wheel seems bad. I should note that I did try throwing in different bph and lift angles. This was the best it got. To make a short story long; I learned what a split crown meant, and got the movement out of the case after employing my crystal claw. And this is where I'm nervous! It looks like this movement has not seen the light of day since its original installation, the beautiful ranfft.de site seems to list all Benrus movements as some sort of ETA variant, and this does look very similar to the pictures that I saw on the site, but the reversing gears on the Auto works look different than all of the automatics that ranfft has listed for the benrus. Googling the Model "HH 1D1" doesn't seem to give me the kind of information that I know how to parse. I guess what I'm asking is for help determining the actual model of movement I have here. I'd like to read up on or find a service guide for it before I get too rammy! Please let me know what more information would be useful, I'm happy to provide.

Hello All. I'm a fellow watch enthusiast from the North-East of England. I hope everyone is keeping well. I recently bought myself a cheap watch repair kit, dusted off the old watch storage box and started to giving my watches the attention they required, it's been going quite well so far but do need some guidance with the correct steps of putting the workings and the case back on for my Accurist GMT Grand Complication, hopefully I will do a separate post on this with pics. Anyway hope everyone is having a decent Friday night.

Hello everyone, I'm in the process of becoming a new me and learning new skills. After a dreadful 7 months in hospital paralysed from the chest down, I've managed to get myself back on my feet (just) after being told I probably wouldn't walk again. I've always loved electronics engineering and "fixing stuff" and I've always had a real passion for mechanical watches - they fascinate me. When I got home from rehab hospital, I started off cleaning and restoring my own watch bracelets but this has evolved into doing that for all my family and friends' watches including changing batteries and repairing clasps etc. Now after diving in the deep end and taking a mechanical watch apart to "service", I've discovered I have much to learn, so I enrolled on the first 3 levels of Mark's course. Enjoying it so far but I know I'm going to have a million questions so here I am!

Hi, until December last year, the only watch I had was my battered Granddads Medana pocket watch. Stopped wearing watches with the advent of mobile phones. (age giveaway there) That never stopped me window gazing in shops though. I've since bought 5 watches. The Medana had a plastic dial cover which was yellowing. I thought to myself, let's see if I can do anything to make it better. Bought a glass, (should have bought acrylic) used clear jewellery adhesive to secure it. Removed the balance wheel, bit of a half hearted clean. Bought a few tools, since esculated. Aliexpress, bought some old scrap / non working watches to practice with. Bought a non working Waltham pocket watch, again to practice on, awaiting delivery. Bought another Waltham pocket watch, which is running, looks dirty lost 20 minutes over 12 hours!! After practicing on the non working one, I shall give this a strip down and clean. Had a close look at it while at work, using a VMM ( visual measuring machine) Capable of 900 times magnification Jewels are dry and dirty. Anyway, that's my introduction. I'll probably be asking some dumb questions at some point.....

Hi All, I'm Matt from the UK, a father of four, and have always spent a lot of down time (toilet and waiting in queues) watching various horological videos on YouTube. Some of my favourites are ClickSpring, Master Watchmaker, Nekkid Watchmaker, Reuben Schoots, and RWSmithWatches. Scattered amongst all of these are a lot of hand & machine tool restoration and machining. It is clear where my passions lay. I'm an electrician but haven't worked in that field for more than a decade. I'm now tied to a desk as a programmer (which I love), but I miss working with my hands. The children are growing up rapidly and are now becoming quite independent, one in particular is close to flying the nest. This means I'm now have a bit more free time and why my fingers were getting itchy! My exact path on this hobby is not yet clear, but I do have it in my mind that one day I'd like to construct my own timepiece from stock. That would be many years off, so as it currently stands I'm purchasing old movements and practising taking them apart and putting them back together. In addition, I'm making my own simple tools. My next project is several pairs of hand levers in silver steel and brass. It is great to find this forum and community. Cheers, Matt.

Hello everyone, I have broken a bulova watch whilst attempting to replace the battery. I think I went too far and now I don't know how to put it back properly. If anyone can point me to some resources like manuals or exploded parts diagrams etc I think I can repair it but I could not find the documents myself. On the watch back I found these numbers, 98B236, C8691234, 17202526, none of these produced results. If these documents prove impossible to find perhaps I will post pictures and the knowledgeable amongst you can help me with visuals. Cheers

Hi all. I'm absolutely brand new to the world of mechanical watches, but have always been fascinated by the way they functioned. So, I took my first step into them, getting myself a cheap, crappy ebay mechanical watch with a chinese movement. I knew that by all accounts this would be a rubbish movement and mechanism, however I wanted something that I could take a look at without risking any sort of investment, gauge my interest in the hobby etc. However, after receiving it, one of my friends let me know that he had a near identical cheap watch that was broken, and offered me to have a look at it as practice. I agreed, and have spent the last few days doing research and taking it apart, before putting it back together again. I've managed to learn quite a lot from it, however I've found that when putting it back together again, the pole of the escape wheel that keeps it in place either end seems to be too short, as though something had broken off. This means the wheel is sat basically loose and wont reach the crystals at either side to keep it in place while it spins. I see no way to fix this, so i intended to get a new wheel to replace it with, however I can't find the name of this type of movement anywhere. It is the kind used in this: ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jechin-Skeleton-Hand-Wind-Leather-Mechanical/dp/B00VPRZC50/ref=asc_df_B00VPRZC50/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=290896788181&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13027367026987882679&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9047006&hvtargid=aud-545868369748:pla-468442151749&psc=1 ) . If I really wanted to I think I could just order one of the other watches that I've found that use this movement for £5-6, however I was hoping I might be able to keep to my strict student budget and get just the escape wheel somewhere. Does anyone know where I'd be able to find something like that? p.s. Apologies for the lack of knowledge on the subject, I know I'll come across a bit new to the whole thing, but trying to learn as I go

Hello all, Jon here, not a massive watch guy but I like fine things and machinery of all kinds and I repair/design electronics for a living. My daily driver is a "classic" casio solar powered ( I imagined that this is very pedestrian for the audience here). I stumbled across this forum in my search for help. My father gave me a Bulova watch that he had gotten from Costco after he switched to a smart watch (I suspect this is a pattern seen often here). It needed a new battery and I am quite handy so I opened it and attempted to replace it. From my end I am a seasoned electronics repairman and can solder fine pitch, surface mount components so how hard can it be? Long story short I think I made it worse. Onto the help forum! Cheers

Hi Guys Pen here, New member Cool site full of really good info Glad to join you

I grew up next to a clock maker and repair man who's business was the largest in Chicagoland area. Seeing the movements and tools and the time consuming precise work amazed me as a child, my love for clocks turned to watches in High School when after saving what seemed forever to buy an Oris TT1 Chronograph because it "looked cool" my horologist neighbor took the ETA/Valjoux 7750 movement out to clean and oil 6 years afterwards, showing me how things worked and that was it. Hooked. Funny how this watch is the least impressive brand wise, movement wise in my collection years later and yet there's not a timepiece on earth I'd trade it for, to me there isn't anything more interesting than time movements and the folks who enjoy viewing them or collecting them.

Just getting started with watch repair and am already hooked. I set aside a table in my house to keep my supplies in and use. Hopefully, I will learn some stuff here.

Just starting a watch collection. Mostly hand-me-downs at the moment. Looking for advice, repair help and parts. Cheers

Hello All My name is Paul and I have an illness, an addiction...watches! I started collecting last year really, but, this year I have started buying watches that are not working so I can fix them. I am looking forward to gaining knowledge and hopefully some 'watch buddies' along the way. Thanks for letting me join Mark. Regards Paul

Hi everybody. New to the fascinating world of horology and just bought my 1st semi decent watch. ....a seagull . An avid watcher of the YouTube watch channels and blown away by the skills in the creation of timepieces. Got here by following the links on Marks repair of a Breitling that was rusted and hope to learn more about watches in general. Just a new fan to this amazing theme of creation of mechanical movements and soak up all the history of it in general. Colin.

My name is Dave, Love collecting watches and am a avid hobbyist at watch repair. Love watching Mark's Videos and gaining all the info that i can.

Hello to all of you out there! So, the moderator asked me to do some intros to myself. Here they are. I'm just getting properly into watch repairs and slowly building my kit and various bags of to-be-fixed watches. So far, I'm sticking to quartz watches. Actually I have a few books on repairing mechanical watches, but it is scary stuff! Maybe I just need to explore more. I'm certainly NOT a pro, but a home-repairing amateur. I have fixed quite a few already, but also killed some watches in the process. Hey, that's part of learning - right? So, I guess that's all for now.

Just thought I'd say hi, Private watch collector in need of watch repairs in the UK

Hi All, I'm a watch technician at a local watch repair shop here in San Francisco. I look forward to seeing what this forum has to offer.

Hello all, I reside in Holland, but originate from London. Hit my mid 40's and became a watch-nut - go figure? I think the main reason is that, as hobbies go, Horology can be hidden nicely away from my wife's eye's. She currently thinks I am saving up for an Omega Seamaster - and doesn't realise it is already stashed safely away in my watch box! Happy days!!! Regards, Dutch.

(sunny it is, even in February, though its a bit chilly this AM, just under 0 centigrade...) Hi, I am Tom, and I live in South Carolina, USA, and after years of dabbling about with watches, the bug has finally bit in earnest. By background, I have been many things...I worked in the printing industry to start with, then went back and got degrees in business education, then I taught US History at the high school level for a few years, and have worked mostly as an IT person since then. Now, I run my own little IT consulting business and do work mostly for private non-profit organizations here in the state capitol, Columbia. Interspersed with all of that, I also worked as a licensed gunsmith specializing in centerfire long range target rifles and was a competitive shooter, and became a pretty fair machinist, doing a lot of custom barrel and chambering work. I will probably be cranking that operation back up fairly soon... The watch thing started with two watches I inherited from my uncle via my father...the first was his Bulova A-11 that was issued to him back in World War 2, when he flew B-17s out of England. I got this one perhaps 25 years ago and had it professionally serviced at the time. I will probably go into it for another service sometimes soon when I get better at this stuff. Then, just this year, from my fathers estate I received my uncles 1940s vintage Longens, a simply beautiful old watch. I also have my father's Bulova Accutron Railroad Approved (he was a railroad man for 36 years) that is due for a major overhaul...alas, his Hamilton 992B was stolen by a disreputable coworker on the job, which lead to his buying the Accutron in the early '70s... So, now I want to learn to work on these things, and being fairly methodical about this sort of operation, decided to standardise on just a few movements at first, ones that I can get plenty of cheap parts and donors to go with. Owning and liking several of the Vostok Amphibias and Kommanderskes, and spying that I can get a seemingly limitless supply of parts and scrap movements out of Russia and the Ukraine on eBay, I bought up a basic set of tools, some fifty 2409, 2416, 2209 and 2214 movements out of Kiev for about $1.50 each, and started buying up Vostok watches in various states of disrepair to match. I am not much of a watchmaker at this point, but I am having fun! Thanks; -Tom

Hi all, Thought I'd introduce myself, I've been watching Mark's video's for a few weeks now and it's given me the confidence to have a go myself at repairing mine. It's a bit of a long story really, but basically I bought a used Omega Seamaster off ebay, went to The Watchlab as it wasn't running right, they told me it needed servicing, they then said it was very rusty inside and they couldn't get the parts needed... I then sent it to a watch repairer online, who apparently serviced it... The next one was a jewellers in Chester, he also apparently serviced it and charged me twice for a new crystal... The next one was another local jeweller in Wallasey, who boasted of being on the business since 1957, eureka I thought, as he told me it was the original crystal, despite being charged for new one's... He fitted a genuine crystal alright, but forgot to service it, oh and while he was there he lost my Rotary watch that was given to me for my 21st birthday; he denies me ever bringing it in now (a court case awaits...) The last one was The Watch Guy, Christian, who is very honest and trustworthy, he's told me a few things about my Omega and I'm going to try and learn as much as I can and repair it myself. And here I am :D

Hi Everyone! Newbie here. My name is Ross and I live in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. My experience with watches extends to changing the batteries in my and my families watches, shortening up watch bands and that's about it. I've ordered and received a bunch of starter tools to begin my exploration of watch repair and I look forward to being able to tap this huge resource that everyone is kind enough to share. It's wonderful that people choose to share their knowledge with us newbies and I wish I could reciprocate. I'm an electronics technician, some forty years at that, currently working in industrial wire marker printer repair. Thanks to everyone for sharing! Rossco

Hi all, Im number98 (Number is not my actual name...lol). I started repairing watch movement at last year. Mainly on china movement like st6d, zsh and dg2813. Repair ETA 2836 once. Occupation as a student. Watch repairing is my hobby, i do it when im free. Interested in repairing watch movement last year when i owned a submariner homage which consist of the dg2813 movement and the movement is spoilt. If im not wrong because i drop it. And when i wind it, the second hand spins freely(because the pallet fork pivot broke). So i teardown but i dont know how to reassemble back. And when i do, i broke several gear pivot. So from that on i start to learn and to be more careful. So up to date, i can assemble a dg2813 without breaking any pivot and it works. Beside repairing watches, I do repair computer as well like soldering, fixing the GPU by using hot air and etc. Look forward to learn more on watch repairing! Your video on youtube is interesting. I look forward for more. Thanks :)