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Watch Repair As A Second Career ?

deanloveswatches
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deanloveswatches Watch Enthusiast

deanloveswatches

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Hi all

I'm a novice tinkering with old watch movements for fun and enjoyment .

However, I'm getting old and don't want to be dragging myself up to London in 10 years time doing what I do now, so I was wondering about the feasibility of making a living as an old geezer repairing watches in my local area?

Do you need to do a 10 years apprenticeship before you can open shop (in which case it's a NO!) or do you just need to gain a lot of experience as a hobbyist in order to confidently open other people's watches ?

Also, what part of the business is most likely to give you an opportunity to make a living ? Restoring old timepieces, or fixing modern chronographs ? If it's the former then I would need to focus on playing with old movements - if it's the latter then maybe I should find a used (but current) eta movement and start my education there .

What do other members think.

If you tell me to forget about making money and just enjoy it as a hobby then that is good advice too [emoji3]

Thanks

Dean

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clockboy Distinguished Member

clockboy

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I make a bit of pocket money from clocks but not a living wage. With watches if you can service high end watches Rolex,Omega etc then if enough clientele then I would have thought yes if you have the correct tools. Are you confident to repair a customers watch thats worth £5k only yourself can judge that. I know when I recently serviced my sons Brietling & my Rolex it was squeaky bum time.  I  personally would need a lot more experience to consider such a move.

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deanloveswatches Watch Enthusiast

deanloveswatches

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Yeah clockboy - I've got a nice Roley my ex bought for me - part of me wants to man-up and take it apart (plus it reminds me of my ex so who cares if it gets broke) - but on the other hand it's a really lovely watch and way too expensive to get screwed by an amateur - so you are right - it'll take a looooong time before I'll prise open the Rolex of a paying customer [emoji3]

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jnash Super WRT Addict

jnash

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Yeah clockboy - I've got a nice Roley my ex bought for me - part of me wants to man-up and take it apart (plus it reminds me of my ex so who cares if it gets broke) - but on the other hand it's a really lovely watch and way too expensive to get screwed by an amateur - so you are right - it'll take a looooong time before I'll prise open the Rolex of a paying customer [emoji3]

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It must be dreadful to wear if it was from your ex, I must insist you give it to me! [emoji12]
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deanloveswatches Watch Enthusiast

deanloveswatches

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Well - my ex never got off her fat a**se to go to work - so in the end I guess I paid for it [emoji20] - add to that the recent £1500 bill when a drop of water got into it - makes it a hugely expensive bauble - gonna have to keep it lol

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