I am writing this online guide to pass over past 18 years, fixingwatches to others who are interested in learning the art of watch repairing.Mending mechanical and automatic watches are covered in many places and books (i learnt from this book ‘Practical Watch Repairing’ by Donald de Carle which is an old book but very good) but to repair and fix these takes a lot more experience.I am restricting my guide to Quartz watches only as this is a subject that is not covered well elsewhere and yet they are the majority of watches you will be asked to fix. It is completely uncharge for anyone to use even though it is aimed at the battery fitter, jeweller or amateur watch repairer who has a small amount previous experience and would like to start mending watches.
This is why when repairing mechanical watches you can charge more money for repairing one of these than you can charge for mending the majority of quartz watches.And,the simple reason why fixing a quartz watch is easier is they have not changed much in the last 30 years while mechanical watches have been around for hundreds of years. Despite this there is decent money to be made repairing quartz watches and it is easier to learn too as there is less variation. To be a Good Watch Repairer you need experience so it is a lifetimes learning to become competent mechanical watch maker (horologist), while you can rapidly expand your business into mending quartz watches with this online guide. In this guide I assume you can open a watch back, adjust a bracelet and use basic tools correctly. If not, then this guide may not be for you (if I get time in the future I will make a beginners guide too).
The Basic Rules.
Cleanliness, Cleanliness, Cleanliness
Give yourself time to do it right without cutting corners
Respect your customer’s property even if they don’t
Listen to your customer. It’s your biggest source of hints when
Trouble shooting.
Use Quality Tools, Parts and Batteries
The bottom line is when you give the watch back to your customer it
will be in a better state than when you were given it, even if your
customer has not accepted the estimate for the repair.