Hi, I'm new here

[JonTee]

Hey all, I'd like to introduce myself!  My name is Jon, and I've been interested in watches and how they function ever since I received my grandfather's 1915-ish Hampden pocket watch after he passed away back in the 90s.  He wasn't the original owner of that watch (it having been made about a decade before he was born), but it slotted in nicely with my mechanical interests.

Lately I've decided that watch repair would be a fun hobby, partly because I love these things, and partly because it's time for my "daily driver" Seiko SNK809 to have a bit of maintenance.  Seiko wants, frankly, more than the watch is worth (excluding sentimentality - my wife got this for me for my first ever father's day, and even had the rear crystal laser-engraved, which I'm told is rather unique) to service this, and after reading a TON and watching a lot of instructional videos on YouTube (shout out to Wristwatch Revival), I've realized that - if you proceed methodically and logically with a good set of screwdrivers and tweezers - these things aren't nearly as scary as they first seem.  I mean, until you try and figure out lubricants, that is.

To that end, I picked up a few "practice" movements off eBay (a size 12 Locust, a size 10 New York Standard, and an absolutely tiny 16/0 or 7 3/4 linges Peseux 80 ladies wristwatch movement which I'm going to use as my sort of "final exam").  Amazingly, they all work, for varying definitions of "work".  The Locust has a broken balance shaft which I'm neither skilled nor equipped to repair, the New York appears to have been recently cleaned and serviced, but the balance spring is disconnected from the balance bridge, and while I haven't taken the Peseux down yet, it looks like it really just needs lubrication.

At any rate, I've rambled on long enough.  Looking forward to the community here; there's a ton of information out here that have answered some questions I had already.

[watchweasol]

Hello Jon and welcome to the forum

 

[Michael1962]

Welcome to the forum Jon. Enjoy.