I am writing this online guide to hand down the 20+ years of experience, fixing watches, to others who would like to find out the art of watch fixing. It is totally free for anybody to utilize although it is aimed at the battery fitter, jeweller or amateur watch repairer who has a percentage previous experience and wish to start healing watches. I am limiting my guide to Quartz views only as this is a topic that is not covered well somewhere else and yet they are most of watches you will be asked to repair. Fixing mechanical and automatic watches are covered in lots of locations and books (i learnt from this book 'Practical Watch Repairing' by Donald de Carle which is an old book however great) however to repair and fix these takes a lot more experience. This is why when fixing mechanical watches you can charge more money for repairing among these than you can charge for repairing the majority of quartz watches.
Regardless of this, there is decent cash to be made fixing quartz watches and it is easier to find out too as there is less variation. The easy reason that repairing a quartz watch is simpler is they have not altered much in the last 30 years while mechanical watches have been around for centuries while the first Quartz Watch was produced in 1969.
To be a Good Watch Repairer you require experience so it is a lifetimes finding out to end up being skilled mechanical watch maker (horologist), while you can quickly broaden your business into healing quartz watches with this online guide.
In this guide I assume you can open a watch back, adjust a bracelet and utilize basic tools properly. If not, then this guide may not be for you (if I get time in the future I will make a beginners assist too).
OBVIOUSLY you can't just begin turning screws ... there are a variety of things you will need to do (and get) in preparation. You will have better results, and a far more pleasurable experience if you take the time, effort, and expenditure to get the majority of the items noted below BEFORE starting. Remember that these are just the bare basics ... a major repair individual has hundreds of other specialized tools ... however we'll save that for another conversation. The bottom line is that preparation and having the best equipment is crucial to success of any repair task!.
Workspacerkspace with a clean, flat surface area. For a novice a kitchen table will do simply fine, however as you become more severe you may desire to think about a watchbench made specially for fixing watches and a good fluorescent light which is easier on the eyes. A watchbench has actually small integrated in drawers for all of the tools and parts you make sure to accumulate gradually.
The design is high, with a surface that (when sitting) is close to the face so the repair work person does not have to depression over when working. Some technicians will put cork or linoleum on the surface area. These soft materials stop parts from bouncing away, and aren't hard adequate to damage anything dropped on them. Some benches even have a slide out "parts catcher" that presses versus the stomach when sitting. Mine is a wood frame with a loose piece of canvas tacked to the bottom. When a part is dropped and goes "over the edge", this fantastic contraption captures it!
Most novices will (as mentioned above) start at a kitchen table. A great tip for operating at a table is to lay down a great piece of white fabric (like a plain used rolex for sale west palm beach white pillowcase or cheesecloth) to do your deal with. The main advantage for doing this is if you drop among the parts, it won't bounce away and end up being lost. I suggest white due to the fact that tiny screws (and so on) are easy to find. This practice will also conserve your table from scratches, and protect your watch from the tables difficult surface. To keep it from moving, you might want to think about taping it down with masking tape also.
Screw-driver set
You WILL require a great set of watchmakers screwdrivers. This is a MUST. The sets discovered at the outlet store for dealing with eyeglasses and so on will cause more difficulty than they deserve. They are not precision made and you will quickly damage or remove the highly refined screws discovered in many watches. The eager eye of a serious watch collector will select this up immediately; it interferes with the look of the watch therefore lowering value of your watch. Locate and buy a set of watchmakers screwdrivers. Even a newbies set will be much better than anything you can discover at the dollar-store.
The correct way to hold it (Right Listed Below) is to grip the screwdriver shaft between the thumb and middle finger, with the forefinger on the cupped end (which turns). Press down on the top of the screwdriver and swivel it in between your thumb and middle finger; turning the screw.