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 want to begin repairing watches. I am restricting my guide to Quartz sees only as this is a subject that is not covered well in other places and yet they are the bulk of watches you will be asked to fix. Mending mechanical and automated watches are covered in numerous places and books (i gained from this book 'Practical Watch Repairing' by Donald de Carle which is an old book but excellent) but 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 healing the bulk 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 that fixing a quartz watch is 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 qualified mechanical watch maker (horologist), while you can rapidly expand 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 may not be for you (if I get time in the future I will make a newbies 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 many of the products listed below BEFORE beginning. Bear in mind that these are simply the 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 job!.
Workspacerkspace with a clean, flat surface area. For a beginner a cooking area table will do just great, but as you end up being more major you may wish to consider a watchbench made specifically for repairing watches and an excellent fluorescent lamp which is much easier on the eyes. A watchbench has actually small integrated in drawers for all of the tools and parts you are sure to collect in time.
The style is tall, with a surface area that (when sitting) is close to the face so the repair individual doesn't need to downturn 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 sufficient to damage anything dropped on them. Some benches even have a slide out "parts catcher" that presses versus the belly 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 brilliant gizmo catches it!
The majority of beginners will (as pointed out above) begin at a cooking area table. A great pointer for working at a table is to set a fine piece of white material (like a plain white pillowcase or cheesecloth) to do your work on. The primary advantage for doing this is if you drop among the View website parts, it won't bounce away and end up being lost. I recommend white since small screws (etc.) are simple to locate. This practice will likewise save your table from scratches, and secure your watch from the tables hard surface area. To keep it from shifting, you may want to consider taping it down with masking tape too.
Screw-driver set
You WILL need an excellent set of watchmakers screwdrivers. This is a MUST. The sets found at the outlet store for working on spectacles etc. will trigger more trouble than they deserve. They are not accuracy made and you will easily harm or strip the extremely polished screws discovered in most watches. The keen eye of a severe watch collector will choose this up right away; it detracts from the appearance of the watch thus minimizing value of your watch. Find and purchase a set of watchmakers screwdrivers. Even a beginners set will be better than anything you can find at the dollar-store.
The appropriate way to hold it (Right Below) is to grip the screwdriver shaft in between the thumb and middle finger, with the index finger on the cupped end (which turns). Press down on the top of the screwdriver and swivel it between your thumb and middle finger; turning the screw.