Cal 552 accuracy - wow!

Most of those videos are clickbait. Still they are entertaining. And can be somewhat inspiring in a warped sort of way.

I have probably been guilty of most of those practices. Apart from the oil. I was taught if one could see it oil was probably too much. Lifting bridges with screwdrivers is probably more common than not. There are those little slots there after all. The little plastic spludgers were not so common in the older days. I have taken to using pegwood which can be sharpened to fit into these little spaces. I do not know if this is frowned upon or not.

The order of bridge placement is an interesting one. Most instruction has the train installed before the escapement. I think the idea is to make sure the train is not binding. I found this can sometime cause problems when the balance slips putting sliding under the center wheel kinking the hairspring. What happened with my Val-72. In the cheaper watches balance wheels seem to be built with the train going in last. Most likely these were assembled with jigs and automation. This is probably another case where one really needs to have in person instruction.

I have taken to working on the watch in sections. With many repeated assembly steps. I have no deadline so I may assemble something like the escapement first where I can see it clearly. If this does not work, then the watch will not. A lot of instructional vids show the balance being cleaned mounted onto the plate with it's bridge.

I like to check the train as standalone. Such requires many steps of assembly and disassembly. Even more than one cleaning/oiling cycle. I have taken to assembling the barrel first, then the escapement, then the train.

For chronographs, I have taken to setting up the chronograph without the timeworks. Just the minimal wheels. This way I can see what may be binding. I like watch puzzles, so the parts may not be all from the same watch. Or I got a replacement part online, which may be cast off from something else. A problem when such are restricted.

Rodico was seen as a panacea. I always thought Rodico was my friend. Now I see how re using it can collect contaminates.

I suspect many of these practices date from when every shop had a watchmaker and many had service departments. The idea being to get through as many as one could in a day.

I have also noticed that watchmakers are highly competitive. Somewhat secretive and quick to dis the competition. And fiercely territorial. Even when the competition is not local. Such probably made sense in small communities as a survival skill.

Now we have the net, which can show us the good as well as the bad. I think it great @Archer is willing to take the time and point out these foibles.

30 years ago I was told I was too old for WOSTEP. I did get to visit and even attend some sample lectures. Even buy some textbooks. I was working in high tech at the time. I suspect had I done the that program I would have eventually found my way into training others. I did however take to getting things like USB microscopes, and CAD programs for creating virtual models of parts. Henry wanted me to make a Cad Model of a Tourbilon. He died and then there was no need to do so. I did however make models of things like the Antikeythera mechanism, Babbage's computer, and the Jaquet-Droz pipe organ playing doll that inspired all this. I also used the CAD program to model pipe organs.

It is easy to drift about using such things. A repeater watch missing parts and I got lost in the world of computer vision, 3D modeling and photogrameritry. (Some of what I used on the doll.)

I think I am really addicted to information overload. So am glad there are quazi instructional videos out there for inspiration.

Now if Clickspring would just post more progress on the Antikeythera ...

+1 on these replies. I learned this here and it can not be said often enough.

We are so fortunate to have a forum like this where such things can be discussed out in the open and not part of an insular group.

Some of the ideas i got about the territorial nature of watchmakers (and manufactures.) comes from reading the 'letters column' in the old trade magazines. These were probably culled to be the most entertaining. The you tube videos seem to take this and amplify it. One just has to look and see how many followers they have. Or how many are wanting to send in their watch for a cheap service.

We live in a society where criticism is frowned upon. A cerebral world of doing nothing but being entertained. Sadly this has lead to mistakes like the guy who built the sub out of the wrong materials and it imploded. Teachers are not allowed to discipline misbehaving students. Craft work has been regulated to the idea anyone can be an artist (Tell that to Leonardo or Vermeer. or the guys and gals what built frescoes and statues.) The philosophical jobs like law and banking what involve no physicality are rewarded. Curiously doctors throughout most history were philosophers who never touched the body. Even now doctors deal more with the non physical (insurance paperwork.) and statistical expert systems. Surgeons on the other hand ...

The old system of apprenticeship was not perfect. Dickens liked to exemplify the worst of it. The idle master, the lazy apprentice. Where the apprentice was simply cheap drudge labor. Who would then marry the daughter and repeat the abuse. If the apprentice did surpass the master the work was destroyed as being 'bad work.' So the calling out of bad practice has become seen more as a form of bullying to keep people in their place. Perhaps this is done in good faith. The ignorant for the most part are not aware of their ignorance.

Most of my frustration is the inability to get quality parts and consumables at reasonable cost. To many abused this to cut corners, or to botch something for quick profit, yet it also promotes the use of parts which may not be the best and can lead to issues down the line. Good watches are scrapped as parts movements. Sellers online get greedy and split assortments into single units or simply sell garbage. I guess these are market corrections. None of this is new. Watchmaking has always been a territorial cutthroat business. Restricting parts to the 'elite.' does not endear one to the trade. Nor do the obsolete tariffs between countries. Or the idea that one person is better than another. This of course does not apply to those who do share their expertise. So I do hope anyone reading this does not see such as any sort of a personal attack. It is just the way the industry evolved to be self sufficient.

On the other hand I probably have more watches than I can work on in a lifetime. Yet i am constantly on the lookout for the next one. So I am not making judgements on others. More that I would like to see others feel confident about the nature of watches. I want there to be a way to encourage others to this passion.

My personal experience has been most are willing to help me as much as they can. Often though they are busy.

I would not be here if it were otherwise.

I am referring to the old articles. Nothing to do with you or my direct experience. I look forward to your wonderful incites.

I was taught by mentors nearly 30 years ago. They passed on 20 or so years back. So yeah I am stuck in the past. On the other hand I have learned a lot in the last year.

Most everyone has been helpful. And I got to meet some of the best watchmakers there were 25 or so year ago. Have dinner with them, visit their workshops etc. There were a few older collectors what gave me push back. They are mostly all dead now.

I guess my complaint is the lack of easy access to affordable replacement parts. Some of the parts I got online recently are pure garbage.

The last paragraph in your reply sums up what I think I was trying to get at.

As I said I have more personal watch projects than I can do in a lifetime.