Recommended Pocket Watch Starter Tools

[LukeShoe]

Hello!  I am a noob and this is my first time posting on this forum.

 

I have been watching Wristwatch Revival on YouTube for quite a while now and have found the videos quite fascinating.  As a result, I have decided to try my hand at disassembling and cleaning a mechanical movement.  In one of the videos, it was recommended to start on pocket watches since things are a little larger to work with but represent the same idea and process for cleaning and repair.

 

I will start with a cheap China pocket watch from Amazon to disassemble & reassemble a few times to get my feet wet and hone my hand-eye coordination but after that, I want to move to cleaning one I got on eBay (see below).  It's in decent shape, so I would eventually like to use that one for my Sunday morning attire at church and the occasional wedding.

 

With all of that said, what size screwdrivers do I need?  I assume they can have larger tips than a wristwatch size but what does that translate to?  I am on a bit of a budget and so I don't want to buy a $200+ set to see if I enjoy doing this.  I have noticed that a lot of people are saying that Bergeon is the best but is there a cheaper brand with a hardened tip set or even just 2 (?) sizes (for now) of screwdriver that would do the job?  Also, tweezers.  Any top two recommendations with pocket watch size parts in mind?

 

Does a movement manual, if there is such a thing, have a list of tool sizes needed?

 

*I do have some very basic tool kit that my daughter got me from Amazon for Christmas to nudge me into giving this a try so I realize that screwdrivers and tweezers are not the only tools needed but these are the ones I don't have.

 

Has anyone ever worked with this movement before?

 

Is there a pocket watch forum/channel/store you recommend?

 

THANK YOU for your time and any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

 

My pocket watch looks very close to this one (dial text is slightly different).  Turn your volume down, the video has loud music in the background.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-S_wym7jYFk

 

From what I can tell, (I opened the back cover to look) this is the Molnija 3602 Movement

https://17jewels.info/movements/m/molnija/molnija-3602/

[tomh207]

This is a good place to start for what is needed to service watches 

 

https://www.watchfix.com/2019/09/30/essential-day-1-tools/

 

Tom

[rjenkinsgb]

You can get a Bergeon 30081-p05 screwdriver set for around £40 new if you search suppliers; that's the one I got and I'd highly recommend it! It's far better that the cheaper ones I tried before.

It has six sizes, from 0.8 to 1.6mm & should cover most normal watches as well as pocket watches.

I've also added a 0.6mm from the same series, for some very small wristwatch movements.

 

[Bonefixer]

As a relative newbie myself I’d recommend this:

Decent tweezers - as soon as I upgraded my £10 set of 7 tweezers for a single pair of Dumont’s my parts stopped pinging, and I was suddenly able to do everything much more effectively. 
 

Screwdrivers - my first set were a midrange set from Amazon - 0.8 - 2.5mm. They were fine, about £50. 
 

You can keep spending and spending on more tools. But don’t skimp on the basics. 

[RichardHarris123]

Hello and welcome.  Good advice already, once brought screwdriver blades can be dressed or replaced cheaply.  Good tweezers are a must.  

[LukeShoe]

Thank you all for the advice.  I will look into your suggestions and hopefully report back that I have a new hobby. 

[VWatchie]

22 hours ago, LukeShoe said:

I will start with a cheap China pocket watch from Amazon

If you can link to it we could have a look and give you our opinions!

EDIT:

Sorry, missed the link. I'd recommend a Unitas 6497 or a Chinese clone Seagull TY3600. When you start out you want Incabloc anti-shock springs as they are the easiest to handle. Quite often you can find genuine Unitas movements for not much money on eBay in pocket watches. For example: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2332490.m570.l1313&_nkw=196326170759&_sacat=0 

Also, if you later want to design your own watch around a Unitas 6497 you find tons of options, cases, hands, dials, on eBay.

Edited April 4 by VWatchie