I am composing this online guide to hand down 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 utilize although it is targeted at the battery fitter, jeweller or amateur watch repairer who has a percentage previous experience and want to start mending watches. I am limiting my guide to Quartz enjoys only as this is a subject that is not covered well in other places and yet they are most of watches you will be asked to fix. Fixing mechanical and automated watches are covered in many places and books (i gained from this book 'Practical Watch Fixing' by Donald de Carle which is an old book however excellent) however to fix and fix these takes a lot more experience. This is why when fixing mechanical watches you can charge more cash for fixing one of these than you can charge for mending 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 that fixing a quartz watch is easier is they have actually not changed much in the last 30 years while mechanical watches have actually been around for hundreds of years while the 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 quickly expand your organization into repairing quartz watches with this online guide.
In this guide I assume you can open a watch back, change a bracelet and use standard tools properly. If not, then this guide may not be for you (if I get time in the future I will make a newbies direct too).
OBVIOUSLY you can't just begin turning screws ... there are a number of things you will require to do (and get) in preparation. You will have far better results, 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 just the bare basics ... a serious repair work person has hundreds of other specialized tools ... however 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 task!.
Workspacerkspace with a clean, flat surface area. For a beginner a cooking area table will do just great, however as you become more major you may desire to consider a watchbench made specifically for repairing watches and an excellent fluorescent lamp get more info which is simpler on the eyes. A watchbench has actually little constructed in drawers for all of the tools and parts you make sure to accumulate gradually.
The style is high, with a surface that (when sitting) is close to the face so the repair individual doesn't have to slump 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 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 device captures it!
Most newbies will (as pointed out above) begin at a kitchen area table. A great tip 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 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 simple to find. This practice will also save your table from scratches, and secure your watch from the tables hard surface. To keep it from shifting, you may wish to think about taping it down with masking tape as well.
Screw-driver set
You WILL need a good set of watchmakers screwdrivers. This is a MUST. The sets discovered at the outlet store for working on glasses and so on will cause more problem than they are worth. They are not precision made and you will quickly damage or remove the extremely sleek screws found in a lot of watches. The keen eye of a serious watch collector will select this up instantly; it detracts from the appearance of the watch therefore reducing worth of your watch. Track down 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 proper way to hold it (Right Listed Below) is to grip the screwdriver shaft between the thumb and middle finger, with the index finger on the cupped end (which rotates). Press down on the top of the screwdriver and swivel it in between your thumb and middle finger; turning the screw.