Hi guys,
A passion is always determined by appreciating and getting to know it better, day by day. Finding the pros and cons, and giving it time and space to grow to a wonderful hobby or just getting to know yourself better.
Since I was a kid I always enjoyed messing around with my toys and mechanisms. Sometimes I fixed them by pure luck or by really addressing the problem, sometimes I just destroyed perfect working gifts and things.
I am always tempted to open things to see how they work and I have already done it with many of my watches but only in aspects of “open, observe and close” by now. Of course I used cheap Chinese mechanical watches bought for this reason.
In the past I have experienced many troubles and worries with my watchmakers. I could not even describe the problem correctly and didn’t have any ideas where the problem came from, so I decided to start reading. For starters I bought this lovely book which I hope will introduce my self to the wonderful world of watchmaking and teach me at least how the parts are called and maybe how the mechanisms work.
What do guy think about it and what recommendations would you give for entry self studying watchmaking?:

 

I'd say having some good background in general mechanics (not horology itself) would really help you to have a good and broad understanding of what is going on in a watch. Afterwards a small but more focused book to understand the basics of horology. Then for the practical and specific skills involved, they aren't found in a book... you'd have to practice under the watch of a pro imho.

Beginning with a practical repair book does not strike me as a good introduction, but YMMV...

 

Thank you for replying!!
Is there a book or another way you would recommend?

 

I am a novice (infact a baby) in this area and would be really interested in the recommendation. Coincidence that this thread was started by the person who will most probably be the first person i buy a vintage from,

 

Hey man . Thanks for participating in this thread!

 

What path to take depends entirely on what your goals are, so without knowing those, it's difficult to give much advice.

If you just want a better understanding, in order to communicate with your watchmaker, then reading a few books, learning the nomenclature, etc. will be enough.

If you want to tinker as a hobby, then there might be better ways of getting started.

If you want to repair watches for others, then that's a different thing entirely.

 

In my case - first better understanding - then tinker as a hobby.

 

Hey man. I would not repair other watches than mine. What book would you recommend as a start for communicating with the watchmaker? Please recommend only one. Also one to tinker as a hobby

 

Start here:

https://watchprint.com/en/technical-insights/356-the-theory-of-horology.html

This is the standard textbook used in watchmaking schools. It is NOT a watch repair book, but just as the title suggests, talks about theory and how the various parts of a watch work.

Cheers, Al

 

Thanks man!! The price however is a no for a guy that just wants to entertain himself and not make a profession out of it . Any chance of a pdf version?

 

No one said it would be easy, or cheap...

I know this is an age where everyone expects to get an education for free, but if you are not that committed, then I'm not sure what to tell you.

 

This book contains lots of explanations, pictures, exercises, etc... in a word, a lot of work went into it. All technical books cost a lot for a reason, you won't find good knowledge for free.

 

Depending on how far you want to pursue this watchmaking urge, you might just choke when you find how much you might have to spend to get into the craft. In my view, you should stay away from vintage or antique watches that you are wanting to preserve. When you have an “accident”, you might just end up with a parts watch you can’t repair. Stick with Chinese stuff. It won’t matter if you destroy one.

 

Write your initials on a grain of rice and see how you go with the little stuff. Because there is a lot of little shit in a watch ( take my hat off to the watchmakers out there )

Fishing reels are as small as I go with pulling things apart and getting them back together.

 

Just look at the watch repair channel step-by-step videos... how hard can it be ?

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Will do that of course for the first few watches..

 

Hahaha great advice !!

 

I am already subscribed to this . It’s one of the reasons I wanted sth in a book and a more “general” view of repairing...

 

This is a resource I do not recommend generally...he shows many poor watchmaking practices in his videos.

 

I'm truly amazed people might even consider starting to " repair or maintain " a wrist watch by viewing a video...