Where to find watches?

[stevieisballer]

Did a search and I don't think there were any on this, but I was curious where I can find a solid functioning watch and watch movement to work on? I have looked on eBay quite a bit, but I have heard many other people getting better deals. I find that you have to put up at least $30 to find anything decent. Is that a normal price? Also, would y'all recommend working on functioning movements as a beginner? I have thought that it would not make sense to work on broken watches because I would not know if I am doing everything right. I have heard that pocket watches are good to work on, but they seem quite costly too. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Watchtime]

Fleabay is a very good source, when you know what you want. Look at the rating given to the seller, it is a good indication.

I would certainly buy a working mvt and make a video of disassembling so you know where to put things back. Cheap pocketwatches are a good way to start as they learn you the basics and are more easier to work on as they are a bit bigger then normal wristwatches.

[oldhippy]

Car boot sales, auction houses and local papers. I used to get chaps come to me asking for old movements to practices on, so try other watch repairers.

[wls1971]

6 hours ago, stevieisballer said:

 

Did a search and I don't think there were any on this, but I was curious where I can find a solid functioning watch and watch movement to work on? I have looked on eBay quite a bit, but I have heard many other people getting better deals. I find that you have to put up at least $30 to find anything decent. Is that a normal price? Also, would y'all recommend working on functioning movements as a beginner? I have thought that it would not make sense to work on broken watches because I would not know if I am doing everything right. I have heard that pocket watches are good to work on, but they seem qui

 

Well depends on your definition of decent but you certainly dont have to spend $30.00 in the last couple of months I have bought a 1950's Gylcine automatic for £6.00 a 1930's westend watch co for 99 pence plus £ 3.00 postage advertised as non working on inspection the only thing wrong with it was a piece of luminous paint off the hour hand had lodged under the seconds hand and prevented it from running, ebays about luck buy it nows pop up like the Glycine its a no brainer just buy at worst you have a movement that can be used for parts, but as it happened the watch runs.

I've had a lot of non runners that just required cleaning to get running, plenty that just required mainsprings and a few that require balance staff replacement.

There are plenty of russian pocket watches or wrist watches that can be had fo a tenner on ebay a good starting point for anyone, limit your search to watches between $1.00 - $30.00 and you may be surprised what comes up.

Wayne

[WatchMaker]

I'm relatively new to this too!

I actually started out on watches rather than pocket watches as I thought I'd be more likely to wear the former. 

I'd certainly recommend working on something that will run in the end otherwise you'll just have something that sits in a drawer gathering dust. It's way more satisfying if you can get something ticking!

Ebay is a great source but most buyers will not explicitly state that something is running as it implies some form of guarantee of operation which would be foolhardy on something 40+ years old and be more likely they get a bad rating as a result. What's most important is that you get a complete movement and look for where the seller says the balance is swinging freely. Getting even a single replacement part for a watch can sometimes outweigh the price of an item won on ebay and the balance is usually the most fragile part!

Perhaps do a little ebay watching and seek out a movement manufacturer/type that goes for reasonable money. Then see if you can win two of these movements. This means if you mess something up or find a part is broken you have another identical movement to work on or get a part from. I've made the mistake of buying a movement I liked the look of; spent ages dismantling and cleaning it only to find it had a broken part but i) no-one could identify the movement manufacturer/type so ii) I had no hope of tracking down a replacement part or other sacrificial movement. It's so many pretty parts in a box now.

And of course indulge in the Watch Repair videos that Mark has on YouTube! They are superb ... and what brought me to this forum.

[WileyDave]

6 hours ago, stevieisballer said:

 

Did a search and I don't think there were any on this, but I was curious where I can find a solid functioning watch and watch movement to work on? I have looked on eBay quite a bit, but I have heard many other people getting better deals. I find that you have to put up at least $30 to find anything decent. Is that a normal price? Also, would y'all recommend working on functioning movements as a beginner? I have thought that it would not make sense to work on broken watches because I would not know if I am doing everything right. I have heard that pocket watches are good to work on, but they seem quite costly too. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Welcome, from one who does a lot of fishin on the bay, from my experience have found many good whole watches in "lots" that contain some pretty junky trash, the downside is you are left over with copious amounts of usually quartzers that are not worth any effort to fix. Also, some sellers are totally unaware of value, so that's a plus, other sellers try to strategically place an Accutron or other mid to high end watch in a pile of junk. (just to sell the lot), again if priced right in your budget you can have success. The one thing I watch out for is 'running' statements, I have seen sellers list watches as running, but they stop after short time, usually indicates an automatic, I have seen non-running auto's in need of battery! Still even other watches are out of category on the bay, so generic searches on manufacture/brand name, then check sub categories for more detail. If you do your homework and research the brand you want to work with you may find buying a bit more rewarding and yes a functioning watch is better to work on to start with then trying to diagnose and repair a broken one.

 

1 hour ago, oldhippy said:

Car boot sales, auction houses and local papers. I used to get chaps come to me asking for old movements to practices on, so try other watch repairers.

Agree with oldhippy on this, I have been to estate sales and picked up Accutrons for as little as $25. I bought a 21j pocketwatch from seller on Clist for under $100. But look for complete watches, case, dial, hands, crystal, movement, bracelet/strap, once you get to working on them, less time and $$$ will be spent on parts. Condition is everything! so dials or hands that have rust will probably mean scrap. Good luck!

[stevieisballer]

Are there any particular movements y'all would recomend to look for on Ebay?

Thanks!

[Hamish]

Hi,

Seiko are good value. Search 'watch parts' or 'watch parts lot'. They are common and you can get the oiling schedules easy enough from the internet although you may also need to research Seiko oil/grease equivelants.. Once serviced cases are also easy to find on Ebay. If you think these are too small, you get into the swing with using tweezers and screwdrivers etc and consider some of the pocket watch movements on ebay. You can pick up old Fusee's for around $15-$20

[wls1971]

On 12/6/2016 at 3:53 AM, stevieisballer said:

 

" I find that you have to put up at least $30 to find anything decent. Is that a normal price?"

 

I thought I'd prove you wrong and give you an example of a 99 pence watch, and what that can buy you ( not quite true £3.00 postage and packing as well )

This is a West End Watch Co Sowar, this watch was listed for a week on a 99p start auction, listed as a non runner, I have not yet serviced the watch but on arrival the reason it didnt run was obvious the picture below shows the hour hand, a piece of the luminous paint from it had come loose and lodged itself under the small minute hand and stopped the watch,

The watch is pre war water proof Borgel cased watch, in stainless steel with inner dust cover,

Its all original and is fully stamped,

The movement is a 15 jewel with shock protection,

And on close inspection is very clean with little dirt any where,

There is very slighty rust on the crown wheel,

The watch is bone dry and crying out for a service which I will be doing shortly.

My advice is dont get bogged down on what to buy or wether its a runner or not this would be a ideal watch to start on it's a simple 15 jewel movement even if you bought something like this and it did need more than a service, just practicing taking it a part and getting a feel for using screwdrivers and tweezers and getting used to where things go and how they fit would make the £3.99 a sound buy.

A list of some of my last years purchases,

Rado purple horse (runner) needed new crystal £17.90

Perona automatic  (runner) £7.99 free postage

Nivada Aquamatic (runner) £8.55

Kienzle combitime (non runner) £3.53 now working frame from date aperture had come off and was wedged under seconds hand glued back in place

Luxor automatic (runner) £15.00  nice watch adjusted 6 posistions look out for these usually have very good adjusted movements in.

Take inspiration and keep your eyes open it dosnt have to be an expensive hobby,

Wayne

[dadistic]

Another option is a Chinese mechanical watch. I've seen them brand new for about $15.

Do a search on the bay or amazon for "Winner".

Have fun!

 

[canthus]

I got my first movements FOC from a local watch repairer (none of them was fully functional) that enabled me to practice dis-assembly/assembly techniques.  I then purchased some fully working movements from the link below.  They sometimes have sets of 2 or 3 NOS which are great for learning as you have a reference and also some spare parts for those bits that fly to oblivion!!!

http://stores.ebay.com/Global-Watch-Straps/MOVEMENT-collection-/_i.html?_fsub=4787771016