I am writing this online guide to hand down the 20+ years of experience, repairing watches, to others who wish to find out the art of watch repairing. It is totally totally free for anyone to utilize although it is focused on the battery fitter, jeweller or amateur watch repairer who has a little amount previous experience and wish to begin mending watches. I am limiting my guide to Quartz sees only as this is a subject that is not covered well in other places and yet they are the majority of watches you will be asked to repair. Fixing mechanical and automatic 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 but 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 fixing among these than you can charge for repairing most of quartz watches.
Regardless of this, there is decent money to be made fixing quartz watches and it is simpler to learn too as there is less variation. The basic reason repairing a quartz watch is simpler is they have not altered much in the last thirty 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 learning to end up being skilled mechanical watch maker (horologist), while you can quickly broaden your company into healing quartz watches with this online guide.
In this guide I presume you can open a watch back, adjust a bracelet and utilize fundamental tools properly. If not, then this guide might not be for you (if I get time in the future I will make a beginners assist too).
OBVIOUSLY you can't just start turning screws ... there are a variety of things you will need to do (and get) in preparation. You will have better results, and a much more satisfying experience if you make the effort, effort, and expense bal harbor rolex repairs to get many of the items noted below BEFORE starting. Remember that these are simply the bare essentials ... a severe repair individual has hundreds of other specialized tools ... however we'll conserve that for another discussion. The bottom line is that preparation and having the ideal equipment is essential to success of any repair job!.
Workspacerkspace with a tidy, flat surface. For a newbie a kitchen area table will do just great, but as you end up being more serious you might wish to think about a watchbench made specially for fixing watches and a great fluorescent lamp which is simpler on the eyes. A watchbench has little built in drawers for all of the tools and parts you make certain to build up with 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 slump over when working. Some service technicians will put cork or linoleum on the surface. These soft materials stop parts from bouncing away, and aren't hard enough 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!
The majority of novices will (as mentioned above) begin 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 work on. The primary 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 tough 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 good set of watchmakers screwdrivers. This is a MUST. The sets discovered at the department store for dealing with spectacles etc. will trigger more difficulty than they deserve. They are not precision made and you will quickly damage or remove the extremely refined screws discovered in many watches. The eager eye of a serious watch collector will choose this up immediately; it interferes with the appearance of the watch therefore lowering value of your watch. Locate and buy a set of watchmakers screwdrivers. Even a novices set will be much better than anything you can find 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.