cost for junk watches/repair watches

merc3ps

I am on a bit of a buying spree for "junk watches" in order to practice repairs on. Obviously it's ideal that a watch actually looks pretty good and I would wear it if I ever manage to fix it!

I was wondering what prices people pay for this type of watch.

In my mind there are:

- junk watches.. battered, not working, might be useful for parts, not big brands.... 2-5euro

- old watches... poor shape but perhaps salvageable, not working but perhaps could be just serviced, not a major brand .... 5-10euro

- not working... looks OK, not working but perhaps could be just serviced, not major brand.... 10-20 euro depending on condition/brand

Is this about right?

Reloc8

This kind of thing is probably your best bet to start off on http://cgi.ebay.ie/WATCH-COLLECTION-NEED-REPIRE-X13-/140582985186?pt=UK_Jewelery_Watches_Watches_MensWatches_GL&hash=item20bb661de2

Looks like that lot of 13/14 watches will go for less than 20 euro.

Then 'known brands' tend to be sold separately and flagged as such - and you really are taking your life in your hands with these, as to whether they are real, 'as described' etc. e.g. http://cgi.ebay.ie/Seiko-replaced-dial-and-needs-repair-parts-/220803376202?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item3368e8244a

Otherwise check out flea markets whenever you're in the neighborhood of one.

Good luck with it - a very interesting thing to do - I'm envious of you (lacking the dedication to venture on such a thing myself)

peasant

Reloc8 wrote: »

This kind of thing is probably your best bet to start off on http://cgi.ebay.ie/WATCH-COLLECTION-NEED-REPIRE-X13-/140582985186?pt=UK_Jewelery_Watches_Watches_MensWatches_GL&hash=item20bb661de2

Looks like that lot of 13/14 watches will go for less than 20 euro.

I'd second that and refine it a bit.

On German e-bay they have a section called "Sammleruhren", i.e. collectors watches. If you go to that section and search for "Konvolut", this will come up

http://schmuck.shop.ebay.de/i.html?_nkw=konvolut&_sacat=10682&_sop=1&LH_PrefLoc=2&_odkw=&_osacat=10682&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313

mixed lots of old mechanicals (I take it that's what youre looking for)
With a bit of patience, the right lot will come up that doesn't contain too many quartz watches and still is affordable

merc3ps

Yeah, part of the problem is I don't want ladies watches, or quartz, and alot of the lots on eBay have them!

Another problem is that you then have to pay for shipping!


I did pick up some watches locally last night and paid about €8 per watch for non working mechanical watches. 4 of them I would consider polishing/repairing, 3 are junk but good for practice.

Perhaps this was too much but I had them in my hand and it was convenient!

I suppose I'm just wondering if people think 8-10 is too much for a no-name, very worn, non working watch, or is there a lower price for mechanicals? Should I really have been paying 5 or less?

marcus1971

I went down a different road in getting more familiar with the inner workings......

First off buy yourself a cheap "homage" (that can of worms again!!) Sub or Explorer watch off ebay (I used a Replica vintage Rolex...but its clear from the posts in the homage thread that I am going to hell for this, so don't copy me in this regard)..... go for one with a low beat dg2813 movement.

(the replicas are a good way to go afaic because there is then all the extra skills to learn in getting it "right"....swapping crowns for genuine, reprofiling the cases, reshapring the crown guards, re-luming the dials, drilling lugholes, upgrading crystals, ageing the cases/bezels/bracelet/hands/dial, waterproofing the case etc etc etc)

Open an account with Cousins UK
http://www.cousinsuk.com/

Buy yourself a few new dg2813 movements, they are only Stg 9.95 (no VAT for export) & a few sets of mercedes hands to match the movt.
http://www.cousinsuk.com/searchresults.aspx?searchtext=dg4813

Get yourself a cheap toolkit off ebay, until you get used to the different tools...then buy higher quality tools by the each and your skills will vastly improve with the better tools, good tools make a huge difference....and you only need a few bits and pieces.

Now you have matching movements, you can be pretty sure they work because they are new, you can strip them down, always have a complete/partially assembled one for reference, parts to swap around if you break something....nothing worse than breaking a piece and being left high and dry with nothing to replace it with.

Great to start off with hand removal/resetting - fixing keyless works (the others for reference here is invaluable) and most importantly is actually getting used to handling the parts as opposed to knowing where they go or how to put them there.... its all about the dexterity.

Lots of good tips to share too, might be better for a different thread though.

merc3ps

Yes I like your suggestion on buying cheap movements. I might look into that alright. I have actually signed up for an distance learning course with with videos etc and that is helping. It is pocket watch based though, but we have about 30 of those in varying condition.

marcus1971

merc3ps wrote: »

I have actually signed up for an distance learning course with with videos etc and that is helping. It is pocket watch based though, but we have about 30 of those in varying condition.

.....have you looked into this course,

http://www.timezonewatchschool.com/WatchSchool/

Mixed reviews on the various forums, some think its a bit basic and some think its great, might be worth looking into, they use ETAs (and others) as their learning movement so you are actually practising on a variation of what is already in 95% of the mainstream watches out there.
$75 per module and there are 3 modules.

flutered

hi op, i have quite a few different brands of running wrist watches, pm me if you are interested.

quarryman

Can anyone recommend a beginners set of tools?

merc3ps

marcus1971 wrote: »

http://www.timezonewatchschool.com/WatchSchool/

I have, but I am doing this in conjunction with my father and he chose the other one, but I might give it a go too! One step at a time.

marcus1971

quarryman wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a beginners set of tools?

Ebay is usually your best bet for that kind of thing, usually pretty low quality stuff in the bundled kits like this type of thing:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/13pcs-Watch-Repair-Tool-Pin-Remover-Case-opener-Set-/250867670844?pt=UK_Jewellery_Watches_WatchAccessories_SpareParts_SM&hash=item3a68e0df3c

You can also buy tools by the each, 4 things that are a good investment are good quality screwdrivers, good quality tweezers 3 sizes would be enough, a rubber ball caseback opener and a good quality springbar tool. Cousins UK or Ofrei USA are the two places I have bought from.

As far as consumables go: Rodico is essential, polishing compound (Mothers mag and aluminium polish is almost as good as rouge and waaaay better than cape cod cloths, which will ruin the finish with swirls and fine scratches), Scotchbrite scouring sponges are as good as anything for a brushed finish, Polywatch is the best thing for polishing plastic crystals- especially on the inside and some silicone grease for your gaskets & screw in crowns...buy it once and it will last forever.

You can buy big bulk bags of assorted: screws, case clamps,
springbars, rubber gaskets, movement rings/spacers all pretty cheap usually a few euro.

There are additions you can make as you go along: crystal press, dremel, bench buffer, press drill......

And there are countless things you have about the house that are as good as anything you can buy:

A small strand of blu-tack wrapped around a toothpick is invaluable for placing tiny screws until you get the hang of the tweezers.

PVC plumbing bits n pieces are great for pressing on bezels and sometimes even crystals without marking them, a few different diameters from B&Q are cheap enough.

A large diameter plastic pipe, bracelet polishing & rebrushing is made easy by using double sided tape on a plastic pipe and sticking the bracelet to it so that it is curved around the pipe.... it helps get between the links and if rebrushing (with the scotchbrite pad) it helps keep the lines straight

Toothpicks/Cocktail sticks

A can of compressed air ONLY for blowing out the inside of a case before refitting movement (NOT FOR USE ON MOVEMENT ITSELF)

A childs "snot extractor" from Boots will do as a blower.

Refills from ballpoint pens or similar can be used to press hands on without marking them.

Business cards with a V cut into them serve as dial protectors.

Wash up liquid: Before working on a watch (if not using finger cots) its a good idea to give your hands a good scrub with dishwashing liquid, it cleans the grease off your hands better than soap and its pretty difficult to clean greasy fingerprints from watch dials, especially black ones.

Wash up liq also works a treat on casebacks that the rubber ball won't open, wash your hands and the ball with wash up liq and then try, it seems to give that extra grip that will loosen the most stubborn casebacks.

quarryman

awesome marcus. As always, brilliant advice.

I have a handful of old auto Seikos in various conditions on their way to me. I wanted to have a go at refurbing them myself.

marcus1971

quarryman wrote: »

awesome marcus. As always, brilliant advice.

I have a handful of old auto Seikos in various conditions on their way to me. I wanted to have a go at refurbing them myself.

Cheers for that, careful with the Seikos, a lot of them are auto only - they don't handwind and as a result some of them are not as straightforward as just unscrewing and removing the rotor to get at the rest of it..... lots more little bits in there than on most movements.

I f'd up and eventually binned up a perfectly good seiko "helmet" not paying attention and just tugging at the rotor to remove it

(Awesome looking watch for the money..... kinda a bit like a poor mans Flightmaster and usually $100-$150 on the bay, worth checking them out if you have never seen one before and like 70's style watches)