Project watches

Insman1515 · Mon. 12:17pm

I've been teaching myself watchmaking over the past several months. I started with inexpensive practice movements, then moved on to Seiko projects, and I'm now interested in stepping up to higher-quality vintage watches such as Omega, Tissot, Hamilton, and similar brands.

What I'm trying to find are watches that are largely complete and original but need routine watchmaker work, service, crystal replacement, cleaning, perhaps some minor repairs, rather than watches that are missing major components or require extensive parts hunting.

I've searched eBay quite a bit, but there doesn't seem to be a large selection of suitable project watches. For those of you who restore vintage watches, where do you typically source these types of projects? Are there particular forums, auction sites, dealers, or other avenues that tend to be good sources?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

ukchrono · Mon. 2:49pm

Type of luck!

ebay is a good place to find but good projects wont be available for a long time
I used gumtree ( UK ) local adverts also

Insman1515 · Mon. 8:10pm

thanks. I'll check it out.

ukchrono
Type of luck!

ebay is a good place to find but good projects wont be available for a long time
I used gumtree ( UK ) local adver

dsio · Mon. 8:13pm

I am a project watch pervert, I can't help myself, there's an entire graveyard here in various boxes.

Keep an eye on the Ebay Vintage Recommended thread as I often post watches that are aesthetically great but not running and in need of a full service -> https://omegaforums.net/vintage

Insman1515 · Mon. 8:16pm

dsio
I am a project watch pervert, I can't help myself, there's an entire graveyard here in various boxes.

Keep an eye on the Ebay Vintage Recommended thread as I often post watches that are aesthetically great but not running and in need of a full service -> https://omegaforums.net/vintage

Exactly what I'm looking for. Will check them out now. Thanks!

redpcar · Mon. 9:55pm

Research watches where parts are available. I focus on ETA / AS movements. Project Omega's and Tissot's can get out of hand.

lenndon · Tues. 1:56am

You could start with an Omega Cal. 601 and get a non runner / or one that hasn't been serviced on ebay for a couple hundred. That should be a rather inexpensive start into the Omega world.
I would advise you to go for ETA 2824 movements tho. They are very high quality and long lasting. And very easy to get by parts.
And now a little tip from my side: You can sometimes get them for very cheap (~25€) if you got an eye for it. Just search for "Automatic watch" without any brand name and with an upper limit of 30€. With a bit of experience you will see which watches have ETA movements in them. This way you will also obtain knowledge about brands that feature them (like zentra etc.). Over the years I go some really nice watches for around 20-30€ with chronometer spec running movements, which I find pretty cool.

Insman1515 · Tues. 6:42am

lenndon
You could start with an Omega Cal. 601 and get a non runner / or one that hasn't been serviced on ebay for a couple hundred. That should be a rather inexpensive start into the Omega world.
I would advise you to go for ETA 2824 movements tho. They are very high quality and long lasting. And very easy to get by parts.
And now a little tip from my side: You can sometimes get them for very cheap (~25€) if you got an eye for it. Just search for "Automatic watch" without any brand name and with an upper limit of 30€. With a bit of experience you will see which watches have ETA movements in them. This way you will also obtain knowledge about brands that feature them (like zentra etc.). Over the years I go some really nice watches for around 20-30€ with chronometer spec running movements, which I find pretty cool.

Great advice. Thanks a lot!

Project watches

Insman1515

ukchrono

Insman1515

dsio

Insman1515

redpcar

lenndon

Insman1515

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