Introduction

[rhythmtime]

Hello, I have had a passion for mechanical watches for many years, particularly automatics.  I have never taken one apart.  I am considering taking these courses.  I have a question for those who are way ahead of me.  Would courses 1-3 give me enough knowledge to fully service and clean a watch with a Soprod A-10 automatic movement?  The movement is in an esoteric watch from Australia called the OWC MS-9411 Snowflake.  I realize that it would be best to wait for level 4 but would the adventurous among you venture into the unknown territory of the automatic for a tear down, cleaning and reassembly anyway?  Cheers, and nice to meet you all!

[oldhippy]

Thank you for your introduction and welcome to this friendly forum.

We all look forward to your contributions and continued involvement. 

[rjenkinsgb]

Hi,

I learned almost entirely from the "Wristwatch revival" youtube videos - though I already had a long background in industrial machine engineering and model engineering, as well as microelectronics.

 

I can't comment on any courses as I've not seen them - but you do absolutely need some material to study how to work on watches and the various construction & assembly of the parts used in various types of movement, before attempting any actual work. The level that needs to go in to depends on your knowledge and experience.

 

I would strongly recommend you get some scrap watches from ebay and practice rebuilding those, before touching anything of importance! You are very likely to lose, or slip and damage, a part in your first attempts (from personal experience)!

eg. As one example, a lot of old Seiko automatic day-date movements are available very cheaply in batches, so good practice. (I got seven of one type for 11 euros).

Several identical ones should allow you to get some working by swapping damaged or missing parts, after stripping and cleaning them.

 

 

[watchweasol]

Hello and welcome to the forum.   File attached for your interest

TZIllustratedGlossary.pdf

[Waggy]

56 minutes ago, rjenkinsgb said:

I would strongly recommend you get some scrap watches from ebay

Another option that is becoming popular is to get new watches from Ali Express or other similar site, some for <$10 each (see examples below), they are often Chinese clones of popular Swiss movements, so you are learning useful movements, not some strange movement you will never see again. The primary advantage is that you are starting from a known starting point, ie the watch works, if you service it and it doesn't work or works less well, then you know you messed up (and vice versa). If you work on a scrap non-runner and it doesn't work after your service, was this your fault???Also if you buy 3 of the same type, if (when) you loose a part you can use one movement of the 3 as a donor and still have 2 working movements to practice with.

3 hours ago, rhythmtime said:

Would courses 1-3 give me enough knowledge to fully service and clean a watch

The short answer is yes, but you will have a lot more misses than hits when starting out, simple things like handling twee zers, knowing how much to torque on a screw, which springs will ping away..... this comes with practice, so use cheap movements before you take on anything of sentimental or monetary value.

 

Hope this helps

 

Here is a popular youtube watch repairer servicing an Ali Express/Temu/Amazon watches, and he echoes much of what I mentioned above:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 22 by Waggy
fixed/added links

[RichardHarris123]

Hello and welcome from Leeds, England. 

[rossjackson01]

I started 2 1/2 years ago. Watched Mike on Myretrowatches to learn about Seiko and tried Sekonda on my own. Mike and others, including Wristwatch revival who even this week, recommended Mark Lovick's course. 

I Obtained 1,2,and 3. Not looked back. See my posts. (6 month, 12 month, 18 month and 2 years) I still consider myself a novice but can do a basic service. Chronographs are still on my horizon.

The best thing I did was join Mark. It was after a short time of doing the course that  I joined this forum. I did not feel that I was good enough, or could converse well. I have dyslexia. This forum was the next best thing. Whilst I still do not feel able to to stand with the greats, they actually spend their time and speak to me, offer advise, very rarely criticise, and even then offer constructive comments without rancour. 

Oh! believe it or not, I am still on level 3. I have done level 2 a number of times and will do the same with level 3. I can now understand what level 3 means. 

Watchmaking. WatchFix. Good to go. Value for money. In my opinion. Yes. Will I do level 5? Yes, but I've given myself to the end of my self imposed apprenticeship of 5 years. Same as my engineering apprenticeship in 1964.

 

Edited April 22 by rossjackson01
Spelling, Grammar

[rhythmtime]

I appreciate all of your responses and plan to take your advice. Especially, the advice to practice on inexpensive models that don’t matter before attempting something special.  Over the years I have worked on cars, motorcycles and bicycles and I believe I have a feel for turning metal things lubricated with oil.  But, as for really small things, this could quite a new adventure!