Switched from buying new cheap watches every year to fixing my own movements after a $5 YouTube video showed me how to clean a balance wheel

Took me three tries and a broken mainspring to get it right, but now I save about $80 a year on watches that I can keep running forever - anyone else find that the repair community is weirdly secretive about basic tricks?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivanbell17d ago

Yeah but learning the hard way builds real skill and keeps the craft from turning into fast food.

aaron_perry15d ago

Honestly I kind of get where the "learning the hard way" people are coming from. When everything gets handed to you on a silver platter nobody really understands why things work the way they do, they just follow steps. My dad taught me to fix my own car and yeah I stripped a bunch of bolts and broke stuff but now I actually know what I'm doing instead of just memorizing a YouTube tutorial.

pat_moore17d ago

Had a buddy who tried getting into watch repair last year. He asked some guy on a forum about a simple thing like adjusting a hairspring and got a lecture about "respecting the craft" instead of an answer. Took him like six months to figure out that most of the old timers just don't want to share the little tricks because they think it'll cheapen the hobby. He finally found a retired watchmaker who practically begged him to ask questions, turns out the guy was lonely and loved talking about it. Now my friend helps people on Reddit for free just to spite the gatekeepers.