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I have been trying to learn mechanical watch repair for a long time. I had never once successfully taken a non-working item and got it back to working condition. Its depressing. I have this old watch its like 80 years old. It didnt run, so I thought I would service it and see if I could get it to work. So yesterday thats what I did, and it all went very well. It was a design I didnt know, it didnt even have a pallet, I have never seen one like this before, instead it had a cutout in the balance staff that allowed the escape wheel to pass. It took me about 4 hours, but I did actually get it working, it ran for 4 hours. I was in a really good mood, as this was the first time I had ever gotten a previously non-working item to run. I felt like I had taken a first step to something. So 4 hours, good, but still, it did stop. The balance seemed to be the sticking point. It just wouldnt turn smoothly. It seemed to run fine until the balance cock was screwed down tight, then it stuck. I thought the balance staff might be too long. Long story short, on perhaps my 20th attempt to seat the balance the hairspring became tangled. My attempts to fix the hairspring destroyed it. It feels so bad after so much effort, to all come to nothing. And I cant find a replacement as I have no idea of the make or model number. The only good news of the whole thing is that once the POS hairspring was out the way, I was able to see the top balance staff pivot was slightly bent. So at least I was able to find the problem after all. Just feels crap to work so hard for nothing. And, really it makes me worry that if a hairspring can tangle so easily, it feels like it can happen at any time, I mean what are we supposed to do if we cant get replacements? Do we only work on watches where replacement parts are readily available? With all the parts restrictions it feels like working on anything is a big risk.