Need a recommendation for a quality book on watch repair

Geez Al. You have access to arrows and cyanide…

We’re friends… right?

You made me go down a rabbit hole. I still say get a complete with case working watch to start. I have trays of watch movements. A naked movement may be 30 bucks, one with a case seems to be 150. So the case with crystal back bezels strap (possibly dial and hands) will set things back another 120.

I sometimes find that watches are cheaper by the dozen. Look for the bulk lots. Sometimes others see the cherry to pick. Other times not. Brands like Benrus, Helvetia, Gruen can have decent movements in them. Helbros or Croton can be across the board. Even the lowly EB-8800 or Rhronda single jewel pin lever watches can be instructional. Some of these have quite nice finishes on the movement.

One of my mentors would have me practice filing. And not back and forth sawing. Would tell the story of an instructor who required students to file a 1 CM cube. One student took the project home. Returned with a perfectly machined cube. The instructor said. OK now make 400 more just like that one.

I have not looked into the DIY watch kits. That might be an option if one wanted something newer in style. There has been some talk about the forum doing one of these as a group project.

Do not be tempted for the cheap online tools from the big websites. These things tend to fall apart quickly. Go with the Bergeon or Horotek when ever one can. Just because a tool exist it does not mean it is the correct tool.

Tweezers become a personal item. Get the best ones you can. I was taught that you need to pick a hair off a piece of glass and flip it over. Which is a lot harder than it sounds.

This is also a photography forum so here is a photograph of my bench. I have been experimenting with cutting movement holders/rings out of acrylic using a laser cutter. Note that I pile my watchmaking books up to make a back shelf for the bench lamp.

If you want advice from a newbie, I would highly recommend starting with servicing a movement that runs already. That way you will know that you messed up, if the watch doesn't run after you tinker with it. Most restoration videos on YouTube make it seem really easy to fix non-runners, but sometimes a watch has more than one issue. You can easily get discouraged if you lack the experience to spot those issues in a systematic way. You will fix the obvious one, and realize that it still doesn't run. Sometimes you get lucky if all that the watch needs is a service, or replacing a part that is obviously worn down / broken. That's when I call myself very lucky as a newbie, especially if I didn't pay too much for the watch due to it's non-running condition.

Some people recommend starting with pocket watches due to their size being larger than a wrist watch movement. I have two main issues with that. First, you have no idea how many watchmakers worked on a 100 year old watch and messed with it. Second, I had a hard time finding the right parts for the movements that I worked on. In most cases, you will need to cross reference a part, find a donor movement, and hope that it still has the part you are looking for. It could just be my lack of knowledge, but I can see any beginner being in the same position.

I started with the ST36 movement mentioned above, which is the Chinese clone of the ETA 6497. They are very cheap in the $30-$40 range, but I don't think they are built to be taken apart and put back together multiple times. I find Swiss movements easier to work with in terms of build quality and their tolerance to making stupid mistakes as a beginner.

Al's watchmaking tips series are very useful in terms of seeing how professionals do things compared to most YouTubers.

Again, I'm still a newbie and will be that way until I can dedicate more time on watchmaking and get proper training one day, so please take my advice with a grain of salt. I wish you the best with your journey.