I am composing this online guide to pass on the 20+ years of experience, repairing watches, to others who want to discover the art of watch repairing. It is entirely complimentary for anyone to use although it is aimed at 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 just 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. Mending mechanical and automated watches are covered in numerous places and books (i found out from this book 'Practical Watch Fixing' by Donald de Carle which is an old book but great) 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 majority of quartz watches.
Despite this, there is decent cash to be made repairing quartz watches and it is much easier to discover too as there is less variation. The simple factor why repairing 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 an Excellent 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 correctly. If not, then this guide may 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 variety of things you will need to do (and get) in preparation. You will have much better outcomes, and a much more satisfying experience if you make the effort, effort, and expense to get the majority of the items noted below BEFORE beginning. Keep in mind that these are simply the bare fundamentals Get more information ... a severe repair work individual has numerous other specialized tools ... but we'll conserve that for another discussion. The bottom line is that preparation and having the right devices is vital to success of any repair work job!.
Workspacerkspace with a tidy, flat surface. For a beginner a cooking area table will do just great, but as you end up being more major you may desire to consider a watchbench made specifically for repairing watches and an excellent fluorescent lamp which is much easier on the eyes. A watchbench has little integrated in drawers for all of the tools and parts you are sure to build up over 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 service technicians will put cork or linoleum on the surface. These soft products stop parts from bouncing away, and aren't hard enough to harm anything dropped on them. Some benches even have a slide out "parts catcher" that presses against 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 dazzling contraption catches it!
A lot of novices will (as mentioned above) begin at a kitchen area table. A good idea for working at a table is to set a great 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 will not 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 conserve your table from scratches, and protect your watch from the tables difficult surface. To keep it from shifting, you might desire to consider taping it down with masking tape too.
Screw-driver set
You WILL require an excellent set of watchmakers screwdrivers. This is a MUST. The sets found at the outlet store for dealing with spectacles etc. will cause more difficulty than they deserve. They are not accuracy made and you will easily harm or strip the highly polished screws discovered in many watches. The eager eye of a serious watch collector will select this up immediately; it detracts from the look of the watch therefore reducing value of your watch. Track down and purchase a set of watchmakers screwdrivers. Even a beginners set will be far 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 forefinger on the cupped end (which turns). Press down on the top of the screwdriver and rotate it between your thumb and middle finger; turning the screw.