Engineer discovering a new hobby

[anda3243]

Some months ago I stumbled upon a youtube video of repairing a watch. A mechanical watch was brought back from ruin and restored to a near mint condition. Fascinating. Now I am here and looking for some used watches on Ebay. Also, how hard can it be to design a brand new movement? 

Many questions to come.

[tomh207]

Welcome, for having a look at making a movement have a look for the openmovement website. This is a bunch of Swiss watchmakers putting together designs for open source royalty free movements. Also look at Dean DK YouTube channel he has a few videos about making an ETA/Unitas 6497 movement.

 

Tom

[oldhippy]

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.
We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement.  
 

[anda3243]

Thank you for the tips! I think the openmovement site can be a goldmine of knowledge, will check it out. The youtube channel as well, I think I have seen some of his videos, but there is obviously more. 

[RichardHarris123]

Hello and welcome. 

[anda3243]

Thank you everyone 

[Nucejoe]

Hello, Welcome to the forum.

Oh please, I need one thousand hairspring and one thousand setting lever jumper.

 

 

 

[Endeavor]

3 hours ago, anda3243 said:

A mechanical watch was brought back from ruin and restored to a near mint condition. Fascinating. Now I am here and looking for some used watches on Ebay

Don't be fooled by "how to restore a watch in three easy lessons". There are fake video's on YT; people find a totally beaten up expensive watch (Rolex or so) on the scrapheap and within no time the thing is as new. There are also genuine watch restore to high-quality video's, but it takes years of experience and lots of tools to achieve those levels.

As with everything else, start humble and work your way up. Start with simple good working watches. If the watch doesn't work as good after you're done with it, you know who's the culprit. Buying non-working watches can kill your new enthusiasm very quickly.

It's indeed a fascinating hobby

BTW, it would be handy for members to know where you are roughly situated.

 

Edited February 25, 2023 by Endeavor

[anda3243]

For sure, often things are made to look easy on video. Especially for tiktok and similar. This is one of the videos that got me hooked. Sure some parts were left out so the video is not too long. But most of it looks legitimate I think? 

 

[VWatchie]

1 hour ago, Endeavor said:

Don't be fooled by "how to restore a watch in three easy lessons". There are fake video's on YT; people find a totally beaten up expensive watch (Rolex or so) on the scrapheap and within no time the thing is as new. There are also genuine watch restore to high-quality video's, but it takes years of experience and lots of tools to achieve those levels.

As with everything else, start humble and work your way up. Start with simple good working watches. If the watch doesn't work as good after you're done with it, you know who's the culprit. Buying non-working watches can kill your new enthusiasm very quickly.

It's indeed a fascinating hobby

BTW, it would be handy for members to know where you are roughly situated.

 

Great advice! I agree 100 per cent!

[Endeavor]

1 hour ago, anda3243 said:

But most of it looks legitimate I think? 

Yes, it does. There are many ways to Rome on how to go about a total restoration, but as you can see, he has quite some ($$$) tools and clearly it's not his first watch either

 

Edited February 25, 2023 by Endeavor

[oldhippy]

Back in the 70's I started my apprenticeship which was 7 years which includes 2 years as an improver. I can tell you there is always something new. In the years I have been a member of this site I learn something new nearly every day to do with horology. I take most of those videos on youtube with a pinch of salt. 

Here are two that I follow because they are the real thing.

Chronoglide Watchmakers

Steffen Erich Pahlow

 

[anda3243]

12 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Back in the 70's I started my apprenticeship which was 7 years which includes 2 years as an improver. I can tell you there is always something new. In the years I have been a member of this site I learn something new nearly every day to do with horology. I take most of those videos on youtube with a pinch of salt. 

Here are two that I follow because they are the real thing.

Chronoglide Watchmakers

Steffen Erich Pahlow

 

For sure, I will have alot to learn. For now, in the beginning, everything seems quite simple.

I will have a look at those youtube chanels. Thank you for the tip.