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New To Watch Repair

hgilson

By hgilson
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hgilson New Member

hgilson

Posted
Posted

Another noob here. 

In my teens (think 1970s), I was fascinated with technology and time travel stories.  Watches and timekeeping was the natural intersection of the two.  From the Omega clock that timed my swim laps to the Bond watches to my Dad's Hamilton (Pulsar?) LED watch to my grandfather's mechanical watches, I was interested in how watches worked and the many ways one could display time.  Once I got to college, my interest took me into a different technology, computers and software.  However, over the years that type of work left me very little time  and tired eyes; not the best combination for learning watch repair.   

About a year ago, I was looking for a gift for some of my team to thank them for their hard work that was completed under trying circumstances.  Work that was complex, intricate and time consuming.  I decided a mechanical watch was a perfect fit.  Researching the gift rekindled my interest in watches and led me to start  collecting watches and attempting to repair them.  I started with just replacing batteries on my old quartz watches.  Moved up to replacing "capacitors" and solving other issues with mecha-quartz (Seiko Kinetics) watches I purchased in the 90's.  Next, I tripped on the Seiko modding community which led me to "build" watches from scratch using parts that I ordered online.  All good fun.  Recently, I started disassembling/assembling some inexpensive seiko movements and am taking Mark L's online course.  So far, except for the stiff back and neck, the brief bouts of crying over the cost of Bergeon tools and spending an evening or two on my hands and knees with a flashlight and a magnet, it has been a blast.

As a noob, I expect I'll have more questions than answers.  Reading the threads has helped me select tools and solve a few of the "problems" that I have already run into.  Thanks for that.  I'm looking forward to being a part of this community.

H.     

Klassiker Distinguished Member

Klassiker

Posted
Posted

Welcome H! Thanks for the background information. It's always good to hear a bit about the person behind the username. Head over to the tools section and look up the posts on home-made timing machines if you want to apply your programming skills.

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Drew Watch Enthusiast

Drew

Posted
Posted

Welcome to the forum, H! Happy to have you here. This is a great place to get answers to your questions. Great group of people here. 

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LittleWatchShop Distinguished Member

LittleWatchShop

Posted
Posted

Welcome! We are approximately the same vintage. In the early 70s, I was doing clock repair for my Dad's business. He was my inspiration to return to watchmaking many! Years later.

This is a great forum with some brilliant horologists. Stick around and share your journey!

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