Some of us enjoy working with random parts. I like to call these rat-watches. Similar things happen in other collection communities. I think the term comes from people in automotive what made hot-rods, and rat-rods from obsolete parts. I think rattyness and rust is an important factor.
Others call them fantasy watches.
Downside is such thing can be seductive. One thinks they are getting a deal with a 35 buck parts movement. Of course it has been stripped of parts. Some thirty years ago I got a bunch of chronographs. Mostly Landeron. Set these aside for 18 years as I lost interest in watches.
When I started working on watches again, I started sourcing parts. What began as 4 or 5 landeron partial plates has now grown to 14 or 15. With hardly a complete cased watch amoung them. Then there are the more expensive Valjoux chronos.
Cases can be a real issue. Many what were solid gold were melted down. Others plated metal literally have fallen apart when the plating falls off. In the case of chronographs, the metal is often really thin. These are popular in large sizes. It does not take much polishing to cut through the side of the case.
Thirty years ago, it was also preferable to repaint the dial. There were half a dozen or more companies that specialized in this. It was a standard part of service. I spent years learning how to fire glass into metal and other jewelry techniques. One thing I do recommend is taking such night and weekend classes. Especially when one is still young. I was also lucky enough to learn about BHI and WOSTEP when I was young. They would not accept me as a student. I was told I old, and I worked for Apple computer at the time. So they did not want to train 'Hobbyist.' Still I got to visit the places, and talk with the people, some of who are now legendary.
Dial printing on the other hand is similar to the way currency is produces with a form of printing called gravier. There have also been large shifts in Intellectual property. The surviving makers, like Omega, Rollex Tag etc spend large sums defending trademarks.
In the days of independand jewlers, Watches were imported as raw movements. Distributors would then case them domestically then distribute them to the independant retailers. Why Zales sold Baylor brand watches with movements made by Tag. Some US teritories in the Caribbean had quite a few watch 'factories.' what assembled such movements.
Some companies like Omega did contract with other companies like Ross or Dennison, to make cases similar to the catalog designs. To many people the case presentation is the watch.
When quartz watches took hold. The model went to extremums. With old trusted names printed on dials with no regards to quality. Companies existed just to buy trademarks.
Thanks to people like Hayek companies like Omega survived. Using Swatch to spin off the cheaper stuff.
One of my favorites was a company called A Schild. This no longer exists. Many of the watches were cased in movements 'Made in Hong Kong.' Still I think some Rolex/Tudor watches may have been made by such companies. It must be understood that billions of watches exist. One or more for every person on the planet. Of course some are limited editions. A small run of which might be 10 or 20 thousand. Surprisingly one off watches can have less value than short runs of watches.
To prevent this sort of thing, the modern consolidated manufactures restrict parts. Ironically, thousands of parts were put into the repair networks. So some parts like A Schild can be had cheap. There were only 4 main chronograph manufactures. Landeron, Venus, Valjoux and Lemania. Of these only Lemania still exists, now owned by the Swatch group. Most companies tend to use in house movements.
Valjoux may sort of exist. That is a bit off subject here. More that what was once dozens, if not hundreds of independant companies are now consolidated. Of these only Omega has a 150 or more years of in house movement consistency. Rollex to a lesser degree. Although that is a brand name, rather than a movement reference.
It then becomes about perception. Many feel 'collectable' watches need to be pristine, and often increase in value over time.
Where franken watches are problematic, is when they are passed off as something they are not. There is nothing wrong with them as long as their is full disclosure. They do make for nice learning projects, although if too worn, the issues can lead to more frustration than not. Most often in is the winding works what are worn out.
It takes about 3 to 4 hours of highly skilled labor to do a basic service on a watch. This now works out to 2 to 4 hundred in local currency units. Back in the day it was 20 to 40 currency units. One of my mentors would say modern people wanted a 100K a year and a 10 cent candy bar.
Since I like to self repair, I would love having a watch like the one the OP presents. At the moment I have limited income, so could not go out and acquire a bunch of similar watches which are selling for the cost of a repair. 200 to 400 currency units. I still like nickel candy bars or watches that sell for the price of a meal (35 to 65 currency units.) Still if one adds up how often one eats, it turns out that the cheaper watches can be much more expensive.
Still watch parts in the mail are way more exciting than watches in the drawer which one has had for decades. A lot of it becomes about the hunt and the chase.
Then there are the watches with the mangled hairsprings ...
