Search Terms....dare to share??

[Swan]

Fully expecting this might be one of those cases where no one wants to give away the secret sauce, but thought I'd ask!

 

I've been trawling eBay to try and find the next project piece...but honestly not able to find something very inspring. Whever I search 'mechanical watch for repiar' 'watch for spares/repairs' etc...I don't find much that gets me too interested or look to be a fun project piece. Just wondered if anyone could share some inside-lingo I might be missing, or can recommend other sources or tips to find my next project piece? How do others go about the hunt for a project? Do you really seek out something specific or cast a net and see what's there?

[Bearman]

Ok I'll bite..... But I'm not going to tell you my secret strategy for ebay.

All depends on what part of the world you're in.

There's too many on here who stalk ebay, and I don't like bidding up the prices or being bid up. Things have got a little more expensive in recent times, but there are still bargains to be had. If you know where/how to look......

In terms of inspiration is there a challenge you want to tackle, a particular watch/movement or complications you want to have a crack at? Perhaps a watch of certain style/date you'd wear proudly knowing you fixed it or one to add to the collection?

[Swan]

Thanks for dipping a toe, totally understand the keeping the strategy close to the chest! Not so much after the game plan to win an auction, just to even see some pieces I would find interesting. 

I like dive  and field watches (I guess like a lot of people) and would be interested to have a crack at a day-date next as I've not tackled any kind of additional comlication yet. Just to know what might be an interesting and with a 'service friendly' movement would be a good start. But I often find when looking at models that I think could be interesting, I only really find running examples with the price to match.

I guess what I mean when I don't find anything too inspiring is that a lot of the watches my results turn up are very 'meh' gold-y dress style pieces that I know I would never wear. For part of the world, I'm living in Germany right now (UK expat), but searching in German delivers worse reults 

Appreciate any guidance!

[Bearman]

I like dive and field watches too, but I don't own anything of note. I can only dream....

In my short time of watch tinkering I find the more expensive the watch, the parts and spares can be just as expensive/elusive. If it's something with a day date you're after look for something that's fairly common or perhaps just that little bit different from the norm nowadays or you'd perhaps wear. Something from a different era, can be a talking point for sure. Go wild!

Trust me there's loads of well loved/used abused examples out there. It's all part of the fun hunting them down, making a working example out of perhaps two. It doesn't stop at one.....

As you're in Germany there must be some good examples from those well known brands over there that don't pop up as often as they should here.