Good idea, practice, use of funds. Buying a practice movement before servicing the true movement?

[durant7]

Novice still.  I did my ST36 2 times.  Time grapher said good job.  Part two of my self teaching was Casio movement Caravelle watches.  Got a bit discouraged and stepped back for a few months.  Now looking at things again.  Wondered if I should focus on larger pocket watches?  I have a family Waltham Grade 1425 c. 1912.  I can pick up a running movement on eBay for $50.  Why not practice on  that and if I get enough confidence I can always attempt my family Pocket watch?  I do seem to loose parts as a novice from pings or sticking.  I must work in a cleaner work surface and improve other aspects.    

Truth is, I see this movement on eBay and wonder if I should pick it up.  Or...  Go back to the 11DP Caravelle.  Buy more and practice practice more.  Newbie looking for advice on how to re-engage after the Caravelle bucked me off the horse.  I also have a collection of Seiko 700X movements but they are date and automatic. Based on prior wisdom, those are later in my self training effort.

Edited October 26, 2024 by durant7
clean up sentences

[Malocchio]

Seiko 700x are pretty easy. No small springs and the automatic mechanism is simple thanks to the "magic lever". 

[spectre6000]

The issue I have with pocket watches as practice pieces is that they're really expensive if you're just going to destroy them, and parts are often not all that easy to come by. Check out the 404 Club. I have dozens of nice decent grade Swiss mechanical watches that I picked up for around $5 plus shipping. All the practice in the world for a song.

[mbwatch]

I recommend against vintage pocket watches. The parts are big and easy to handle, but it ends there. Invariably, even if they are sold as running, they require lots of specialty expertise and usually expensive vintage specialty tools to truly repair and make run well. They are a real minefield, and it is a challenge to work on them unless you really plan to focus on them in your hobby. That way it becomes less an issue to acquire all the necessary tools that wouldn't be needed if you were only working on modern movements.