Hello everyone!

[Andrew1]

Hello everyone, my name is Andrei (it’s easier to just call me Andrew) from Transylvania, Romania. I joined the forums as I intend to try out watchmaking as a hobby. I’ve been collecting vintage pieces for a while now but this whole thing with watchmaking started after I “kind of” repaired my mother’s old watch to celebrate a recent family event.

So the long story short is that my mum bought herself a watch sometimes in the 1970s communist Romania. This was the only watch she ever bought herself and was quite an important expenditure. Being single at a time when the pronatalist policy of Nicolae Ceaușescu was in full effect in the country, she did not benefit of many of the social policies implemented by the communist regime (for example, she had to pay for her flat) and had to also take care of some of her family members. Everything was ok until she broke it by running it over with a baby stroller when I was 1 or 2 years old. Transition period in Romania hit many working class families hard and wrist watches were the least of their concerns. Even today they consider it a dubious way to spend your hard earned money as one may never know when the economy will take a turn for the worse.

As I was collecting time pieces, I offered her to pick whichever she linked but she insisted that she liked best the one that broke several decades ago, and could unfortunately not be repaired (according to one watchmaker at the time). So after a trip to my grandparents’ house, there it was, all broken and messed up, a quartz Orex (Romanian producer) from the 1970s. Now, I know that this might sound awful to some of you, the case and crystal could be restored, but I could not find a replacement movement anywhere. Being pressed for time, I just retrofitted a modern movement in there, meaning I had to also replace the watch hands with some that fit and I had laying around. Good news is that I can undo „the butchering” when I find the right movement. Even better, my mum really did not seem to care about these small matters (for her), what mattered was the gesture and that she enjoys the watch greatly.

So, back to collecting. I guess I collect both watches and, when possible, the stories that accompany them. So no outstanding pieces from a horological point of view but simple, affordable pieces worn by  “run of the mill” working class people from Eastern Europe. Since these watches have no particularly complicated movements, I figured I should be able to eventually service them myself, if it turns out I will have enough patience and skill. For that I plan to start the watch repair course. In the meantime, I will mostly have questions regarding the tools I need to start with in this hobby. Thanks to whoever read this wall of text and I’m looking forward to meet you all. Ps. apologies for any grammatical errors as I am not a native speaker.

[watchweasol]

Hello Anderw and welcome to the forum, I am old enough to remember the era and the down fall of the communist government, pretty austere years.  Herer is a bit of reading and information for you

1612608791_ToolsfortheHobbyist.pdf TZIllustratedGlossary.pdf Witschi Training Course.pdf

[oldhippy]

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

 

[Gra]

Salut Andrei și bine ai venit pe forum.  Povestea mamei tale este foarte emoționantă și sunt sigură că va fi foarte fericită doar dacă va avea ceasul să funcționeze din nou.  După ce m-am uitat pe web, văd că Orel a folosit o mișcare cuarț Miyota în primele zile, multe dintre acestea sunt încă disponibile dacă, după cum spuneți, doriți să o readuceți la specificațiile originale.  În Marea Britanie, o companie numită Cousins stoc Miyota cuarț mișcări de la 3-11 GBP plus livrare, totuși este posibil să vă puteți înlocui de undeva mult mai aproape de casă.  Uită-te la vechea mișcare a numărului de model și ar trebui să poți găsi ceea ce ai nevoie.  Noroc și amabilități Graham

[Andrew1]

Dear Watchweasol, Oldhippy, Gra, thank you very much for the warm welcome! 

[Nucejoe]

Hi andrei; 

Andrei is a beautiful and world renowned name. Andrie Gromyko is how I first learned how to pronounce the name correct. I,d like to call you by your real name.

Welcome to the forum ANDREI .

 

 

 

[Michael1962]

Well I was able to understand everything that you wrote. I have met quite a few people for who English is their first language and you speak/type it better than them.

Welcome to the forum Andrei.

[PastorChris]

Welcome to the forum Andrei.

I'm from America, where we pronounce everyone's name wrong, but I can still type it correctly.

Edited February 11, 2021 by PastorChris