I am composing this online guide to pass on the 20+ years of experience, repairing watches, to others who wish to discover the art of watch repairing. It is entirely totally free for anyone to use although it is focused on the battery fitter, jeweller or amateur watch repairer who has a percentage previous experience and wish to start mending watches. I am limiting my guide to Quartz enjoys only as this is a topic that is not covered well in other places and yet they are the majority of watches you will be asked to fix. Healing mechanical and automated watches are covered in many locations and books (i gained from this book 'Practical Watch Repairing' by Donald de Carle which is an old book however extremely great) however to fix and fix these takes a lot more experience. This is why when repairing mechanical watches you can charge more cash for repairing one of these than you can charge for fixing most of quartz watches.
Despite this, there is good money to be made repairing quartz watches and it is much easier to discover too as there is less variation. The simple reason fixing a quartz watch is much easier is they have actually not changed much in the last thirty years while mechanical watches have actually been around for hundreds of years while the very first Quartz Watch was produced in 1969.
To be a Great Watch Repairer you need experience so it is a life times discovering to become proficient mechanical watch maker (horologist), while you can rapidly broaden your service into repairing quartz watches with this online guide.
In this guide I presume you can open a watch back, change a bracelet and use standard tools correctly. If not, then this guide might not be for you (if I get time in the future I will make a novices guide too).
OBVIOUSLY you can't simply start turning screws ... there are a number of things you will require to do (and get) in preparation. You will have much better outcomes, and a a lot more enjoyable experience if you put in the time, effort, and cost to get most of the products listed below BEFORE beginning. Bear in mind that these are simply the Take a look at the site here bare fundamentals ... a serious repair work person has numerous other specialized tools ... but we'll save that for another conversation. The bottom line is that preparation and having the right devices is important to success of any repair work task!.
Workspacerkspace with a clean, flat surface area. For a beginner a cooking area table will do just great, but as you become more major you may wish to consider a watchbench made specifically for repairing watches and an excellent fluorescent lamp which is easier on the eyes. A watchbench has actually small constructed in drawers for all of the tools and parts you are sure to collect in time.
The style is tall, 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 repairmen 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 tummy when sitting. Mine is a wood frame with a loose piece of canvas added to the bottom. When a part is dropped and goes "over the edge", this fantastic gizmo catches 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 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 wish to consider 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 department store for dealing with eyeglasses and so on will cause more difficulty than they are worth. They are not accuracy made and you will quickly damage or remove the highly sleek screws found in a lot of watches. The keen eye of a major watch collector will select this up instantly; it diminishes the look of the watch hence reducing worth of your watch. Track down and purchase a set of watchmakers screwdrivers. Even a newbies set will be far better than anything you can discover at the dollar-store.
The proper method to hold it (Right Below) is to grip the screwdriver shaft between the thumb and middle finger, with the forefinger on the cupped end (which rotates). Press down on the top of the screwdriver and rotate it between your thumb and middle finger; turning the screw.