Is anyone into "building" watches?

Wish I knew someone that did watch repairs either locally or online , I have a superb fake copy of a breitling that has a snapped winder stem , I would love to get it repaired as it has sentimental value .
But where do you find a watch repairer these days . Now the ideas in my head I’ll have to google it
 
the black fox said:
Wish I knew someone that did watch repairs either locally or online , I have a superb fake copy of a breitling that has a snapped winder stem , I would love to get it repaired as it has sentimental value .
But where do you find a watch repairer these days . Now the ideas in my head I’ll have to google it
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Everyone local to me seems to have given up mechanical watch repair. One place did offer to rip the mechanicals out of my dads watch and replace them with a digital movement.

Replacing a watch stem is quite easy assuming you can get the right stem. "All" you do is get the back off, release the existing stem and get it out, fit the new one, measure how much you need to cut off, remove it and cut it to size and refit it. The problem is finding someone who can be bothered.
 
TimHughes said:
I agree, simply "automatic" sounds best. I have had the same problem, and in the end getting only sterile dials, "automatic", or otherwise text that is accurate for the watch. I am having a hard time finding what I want. Especially Aliexpress, the search function has lots of room for improvement!
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I spotted a dial very similar to your music edition dial, maybe the same one.

I'm still deciding what to do. I'm wavering away from a white dial with blue hands and thinking about doing a 36mm Exployer.
 
woof woof said:
I spotted a dial very similar to your music edition dial, maybe the same one.

I'm still deciding what to do. I'm wavering away from a white dial with blue hands and thinking about doing a 36mm Exployer.
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why not? :) I've got the blue version of the dial ready to assemble too. So far it's my favourite build.
 
woof woof said:
Replacing a watch stem is quite easy assuming you can get the right stem. "All" you do is get the back off, release the existing stem and get it ;out, fit the new one, measure how much you need to cut off, remove it and cut it to size and refit it. The problem is finding someone who can be bothered.
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+1

@the black fox if you can't find someone, try yourself it's quite straightforward as @woof woof says. You may need an inexpensive tool to open the back; that's all.
 
woof woof said:
Everyone local to me seems to have given up mechanical watch repair. One place did offer to rip the mechanicals out of my dads watch and replace them with a digital movement.

Replacing a watch stem is quite easy assuming you can get the right stem. "All" you do is get the back off, release the existing stem and get it out, fit the new one, measure how much you need to cut off, remove it and cut it to size and refit it. The problem is finding someone who can be bothered.
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Did phone a local repairer I found on google , who told me in a very snotty tone he doesn’t work on fakes . Ah well
 
the black fox said:
Did phone a local repairer I found on google , who told me in a very snotty tone he doesn’t work on fakes . Ah well
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I'm not totally surprised although I have had a glass replaced on a homage watch before I got into this and the guy actually said it was a good looking watch. If you have any stalls or shops selling watches or straps it might be worth asking if they can do it or point you in the right direction. When I replaced the stem on one of mine it didn't take long at all but I knew what the movement was and what stem I needed and you or someone will need to know what your movement is to get the stem and possibly a crown too. I suppose some just wont want to put the time into this but good luck with this and I hope you do find someone.
 
This evening I decided to get my first Casio going again and put in a fresh battery. It reset to 1985 - it was a strange experience clicking through all the years since to set it….
 
I still have my one and only digital watch which I bought on a plane when I was about 20. A Montine International. It looks like a Casio but I think they made their own, I could be wrong. I have been thinking about putting a battery in it as seeing if it works so inspired by you I think I will :D

On the building side. I'm taking my time to decide what to do. I started with the idea of a white enamelled dial (and I found one with Roman numerals) with blue hands but I'm not sure I'd wear it much so I'm window shopping dials. It will be going into a 36mm case for a Miyota... because I have one.

I'm still thinking that I find a sterile dial like the one in the second picture I posted looks a bit too sterile. I think I like the idea of having something present on the dial, like "Automatic", or something. I'll keep looking.
 
@woof woof - go for it and take a journey through time :) fingers crossed it will still work.

white enamelled dials with blue hands sounds very nice. I agree having "automatic" would be better than completely sterile.

I am still enjoying building and trying different colorways as the parts are so cheap. All the "aquanaut" parts have arrived so I'll soon have black dial/steel case/black strap, blue dial/steel case/blue strap, white dial/steel case/red strap, yellow dial/black case/yellow strap, and brown dial/rose gold case/brown strap. At the weekend, I did see the real version of the rose gold/brown one, and ok it has the logo, and it does look a little bit more refined, but you need to look carefully.
 
I was going to try and build my own watch several years ago but I just couldn't find the time to do it!!!
 
Raincloud said:
I was going to try and build my own watch several years ago but I just couldn't find the time to do it!!!
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I know you're joking but... The time is mostly in deciding what you want and finding it. Putting it all together shouldn't take too long unless you hit some sort of problem like I did with a second hand just not fitting. I suppose if you do hit a problem the answer is to not faff on and instead order another part.
 
TimHughes said:
Here are a couple of the colourful "aquanaut" builds. I was not sure about the bright colours, but so far I'm liking them a lot.
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Those are very nice Tim.

What's holding me up is finding a dial I like in the size I want. I have a 36mm case for a Miyota which takes a 28.5mm dial and I want to use that case. I think that black dial one I did lacks something whereas I'm ok with the Railmaster style one. I think the black dial one would look better if it wasn't so plain, I think it would be improved with something else on the dial even if it's only the word "Automatic." I'm trawling through Aliexpress trying to find something I'm happier with. I had settled on a white dial with Roman numerals and blue hands but I'm having another think.

I have some larger watches which I really like but they're a bit too big on my wrist and ideally I'd like to find similar dials which would fit in a 36/38mm case.

I'll keep looking.
 
@woof woof the search function on aliexpress is pretty dreadful, not so easy to find what you need sometimes.
 
TimHughes said:
@woof woof the search function on aliexpress is pretty dreadful, not so easy to find what you need sometimes.
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Yes, I've sat going through page after page for what adds up to hours now but I want my next one to be something I'm going to wear a lot. I wear the Railmaster lookalike a lot but I haven't really warmed to that black dial one as much as it just seems to be missing something.
 
woof woof said:
Yes, I've sat going through page after page for what adds up to hours now but I want my next one to be something I'm going to wear a lot. I wear the Railmaster lookalike a lot but I haven't really warmed to that black dial one as much as it just seems to be missing something.
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Have you thought about adding to the black dial yourself? For example, a home-printed water-slide decal?
 
TimHughes said:
Have you thought about adding to the black dial yourself? For example, a home-printed water-slide decal?
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I think that's way beyond me, I have nothing like that.

I watched a Youtube vid today and whilst talking about another watch the guy mentioned a Smiths pilot and after seeing it I fancy building one. There's no logo or wording on the dials on AliExpress but it's pretty busy anyway so I think it looks ok. The dials all seem to be 33.5mm which wont fit the case I have which only takes 28.5mm but I might go for one as I've found plenty of cases which are 39/40mm and take 33.5mm dials and that's ok but I don't really want to go bigger than 39/40mm. The cases are available for a few movements including Seiko NH38 and Miyota 8215 and others. I've found a dial which is pretty true to the original but the hands are a problem. I'm looking through many many pages of search results now.

Of course buying the parts and assembling it myself costs more than a complete watch. I do wish it was cheaper to DIY.
 
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After hours trailing through search results on AliE I found not exactly what dial I was looking for but something close. I was looking for a dark blue dial with horizontal lines and without a date. I finally found one available with or without a date window for NHxx with a sort of wave texture, that'll do.

So I now have two builds planned. A Miyota 8215 with an old style Explorer type dial and hands in a 36mm case and the blue one which I can put in either a 36 or 39mm case. I'm really pleased to have found this dial as I have a lovely watch with a similar dial which at 42mm is a bit too big for me.
 
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Those are very nice Tim. Well chosen and well done.

As you can see from mine I like a relatively simple look without a date window. I have parts on the way now for an older Explorer style look with a Miyota 8215 movement and then I have more coming for a NH38 movement. The Miyota has a date function so it'll have a dead position when pulling the stem out. As you may know a lot of he cheaper Chinese brands use the 8215 or more commonly the NH35 even when they don't have a date window,

I really like this watch but it's a bit big for me. I'd like to do something as similar as possible but I can't get close to the dial without a date window. The dial I've picked is more expensive than the others at £22 but I'm hoping it looks nice. I'll have to try and limit this new little hobby as I have something like 28 cheap watches now.

1-DSC01661.jpg

It was this one which got me into building as I loved the dial and the backstory of the original but I wanted one without a bezel.

1-DSC01658.jpg
 
I've just received a dial I paid £18.49 for, the one I got the other day cost £5.98. The quality of this £18.49 one is just soooo much better. I now have to pick the hands and case to go with it.
 
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TimHughes said:
Here are this week's builds:

6G9A5680 by
Tim Hughes, on Flickr

6G9A5686 by
Tim Hughes, on Flickr

two more left to go and then onto requests from friends :)
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The face on that bottom one (and the hands) are very reminiscent of my Dad's Rolex. Missing the branding and has a date window but the markers and hands are very similar. (Late '50s Oyster Perpetual.)
 
Nod said:
The face on that bottom one (and the hands) are very reminiscent of my Dad's Rolex. Missing the branding and has a date window but the markers and hands are very similar. (Late '50s Oyster Perpetual.)
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Do you still have that? I recently inherited my Dad's Smiths watch from the 1950s and am enjoying wearing that too. I'd like to "clean" the Smith's dial, but digging into it, dial cleaning isn't really feasible as it's not really dirt, it's degradation that goes through the varnish, print and paint layers, so this new build is a solution to that problem. Parts cost, including postage for the build, was GBP 80, which I think is not too bad.
 
I have my dads watch, I think it's a shop brand Incabloc. It sat in a drawer for 24 years after he died until my mam died, it seems to work apart from the date not moving and it's quite dirty. I'd like to have it cleaned and who knows, cleaning may fix the stuck date but I can't find anyone local. One company wanted to remove the innards and fit a quartz movement. No way. I'm going to try again to find someone who works on mechanical watches.
 
woof woof said:
I have my dads watch, I think it's a shop brand Incabloc. It sat in a drawer for 24 years after he died until my mam died, it seems to work apart from the date not moving and it's quite dirty. I'd like to have it cleaned and who knows, cleaning may fix the stuck date but I can't find anyone local. One company wanted to remove the innards and fit a quartz movement. No way. I'm going to try again to find someone who works on mechanical watches.
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https://www.incabloc.ch/en/history/ sounds like an important part of watch history, yes please keep it!
 
oops built another one.... build time down to 20 minutes..... I think that's the last one for me, apart from the carbon fibre submariner, which needs some microscopic tools for the rolex 3135 movement inside that I'm waiting for, moving onto to orders from family and friends :)
 
TimHughes said:
oops built another one.... build time down to 20 minutes..... I think that's the last one for me, apart from the carbon fibre submariner, which needs some microscopic tools for the rolex 3135 movement inside that I'm waiting for, moving onto to orders from family and friends :)
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I want another three or four. One I have the parts for, another I only have the dial for and another two which I'm still planning but have parts in my Wishlist for, I just have to make my mind up. I'm going to see how I feel about the 36mm case one I have all the parts for before deciding what to do with the other three. The dials I've bought so far are all 28.5mm so something different might be an idea but I do want to keep the case size down. I have a few 35mm dials in my Wishlist which need a 40mm or maybe 39mm case.

I have about 30 watches in total so I really must stop. I don't know if I can part with any including the ones I think are really a bit too big
 
woof woof said:
I want another three or four. One I have the parts for, another I only have the dial for and another two which I'm still planning but have parts in my Wishlist for, I just have to make my mind up. I'm going to see how I feel about the 36mm case one I have all the parts for before deciding what to do with the other three. The dials I've bought so far are all 28.5mm so something different might be an idea but I do want to keep the case size down. I have a few 35mm dials in my Wishlist which need a 40mm or maybe 39mm case.

I have about 30 watches in total so I really must stop. I don't know if I can part with any including the ones I think are really a bit too big
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I'm up to 20-odd with styles and color combinations for all eventualities and like you I don't know if I can part with any of them.
 
A big fail!

I started assembling my Miyota build and ran into a BIG problem. Well not really but it's stopped me. With this movement you do the usual and cut the unused pins on the back of the dial, no problem. There's a dial ring which needs to be fitted to the back of the dial and then you fit the dial to the movement and there are two screws to tighten which hold it all together but I don't have a screwdriver small enough. Googling tells me it's 0.6/0.7mm so I'll order one and continue once it arrives. I can't carry on as the dial is loose, it's not like the Seiko ones which are a push fit, this one has to be tightened.

Oh dear. I didn't see that coming but you live and learn :D So it's all on hold until a new precision screwdriver set starting at 0.6mm arrives from Amazon tomorrow.

PS.
One nice thing about the Miyota 8215 movement is that the stem release is more obvious than with the Seiko NH38, it's right out in the open and easy to get to. The dial ring and the securing screws are a faff though. I prefer the way the Seiko dial goes on with just a push fit.
 
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TimHughes said:
I'm up to 20-odd with styles and color combinations for all eventualities and like you I don't know if I can part with any of them.
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I like the simpler designs but have a few divers but I don't have a use for the bezel. My favourite diver is the vintage Omega Seamaster style one I posted a picture of above. I've no idea if the others are homages or original designs as they all look pretty much the same to me. One is quite good looking with a gold effect case but it feels too big for me, ditto that Kuerst above which I really like but it's too big. I tend to wear the others in rotation but my builds tend to get the most wear and I do tend to like the simpler designs most.

When I first started buying cheap watches I didn't know that some are homages to expensive Swiss makes, I just bought what I liked and only found out some were homages later. I don't see homages as anything to dismiss as the famous makes do it too, how many Submariner type watches are there from the famous brands? Lots.

I recently bought a cheap Smiths homage and I really like it. I didn't go for a build as I have ideas for those already. Again, there are IMO multiple similar watches from the well known Swiss makers.
 
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TimHughes said:
Do you still have that? I recently inherited my Dad's Smiths watch from the 1950s and am enjoying wearing that too. I'd like to "clean" the Smith's dial, but digging into it, dial cleaning isn't really feasible as it's not really dirt, it's degradation that goes through the varnish, print and paint layers, so this new build is a solution to that problem. Parts cost, including postage for the build, was GBP 80, which I think is not too bad.
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Yes, I do have it and it's on rotation as an almost daily wearer. Keeps pretty good time too.

I had it serviced by Rolex when it first came down to me (at a hefty £700) then needed another service a bit over a year later so I got a local watchmaker to do it (at a far more reasonable £200!). Now 10+ years and still going strong.

A mate built me the watch on my wrist at the moment. It's a Seiko automatic movement in a Steeldive case. Keeps better time than the Rolex but I'm not sure how well it auto winds! Too many watches and not enough wrists means that the autos don't always stay as wound as they should be...
 
I
woof woof said:
I don't have a use for the bezel.
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have a few watches with rotating bezels and just use them as basic timers for snorkelling. Purely for interest though - I try to get a couple of hours in per beach day on holiday.
 
woof woof said:
A big fail!

I started assembling my Miyota build and ran into a BIG problem. Well not really but it's stopped me. With this movement you do the usual and cut the unused pins on the back of the dial, no problem. There's a dial ring which needs to be fitted to the back of the dial and then you fit the dial to the movement and there are two screws to tighten which hold it all together but I don't have a screwdriver small enough. Googling tells me it's 0.6/0.7mm so I'll order one and continue once it arrives. I can't carry on as the dial is loose, it's not like the Seiko ones which are a push fit, this one has to be tightened.

Oh dear. I didn't see that coming but you live and learn :D So it's all on hold until a new precision screwdriver set starting at 0.6mm arrives from Amazon tomorrow.

PS.
One nice thing about the Miyota 8215 movement is that the stem release is more obvious than with the Seiko NH38, it's right out in the open and easy to get to. The dial ring and the securing screws are a faff though. I prefer the way the Seiko dial goes on with just a push fit.
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Something very similar caught me out with the 3135 movement. I've ordered a set of tiny screw drivers, and the parts are sitting in the box until those arrive. This is a game of patience :)
 
Nod said:
Yes, I do have it and it's on rotation as an almost daily wearer. Keeps pretty good time too.

I had it serviced by Rolex when it first came down to me (at a hefty £700) then needed another service a bit over a year later so I got a local watchmaker to do it (at a far more reasonable £200!). Now 10+ years and still going strong.

A mate built me the watch on my wrist at the moment. It's a Seiko automatic movement in a Steeldive case. Keeps better time than the Rolex but I'm not sure how well it auto winds! Too many watches and not enough wrists means that the autos don't always stay as wound as they should be...
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The cheap watches I've bought vary by a small amount. I have looked up what the expected +/- seconds per day is for each movement and some of mine seem to be good but a couple seem to be maybe a slight amount out of spec but to me a watch doesn't need to be accurate to within a couple of seconds per day. For me winding a watch and even setting it every day or every couple of days is a part of the enjoyment of owning and using a mechanical watch. Most watches seem to have some sort of regulator which can be adjusted if people feel the need but so far I haven't felt the need and a £30-£60 watch which seems to be accurate to a few seconds per 24h seems good enough for me. Plus you don't have to pay hundreds for servicing.
 
TimHughes said:
Something very similar caught me out with the 3135 movement. I've ordered a set of tiny screw drivers, and the parts are sitting in the box until those arrive. This is a game of patience :)
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I couldn't find a single screwdriver so the had to go for a set, £5.99 from Amazon. At that price I don't expect them to be top quality but I hope the 0.6mm will last long enough to tighten two screws.

In future and unless I order the wrong thing I'll stick to the Seiko NH38. The spec is -20/+40 but I think so far mine are well within that when checking against my "atomic radio controlled clock", also from Amazon :D
 
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Miyota 8215 saga continues.

My screwdrivers came and I was able to screw the dial to the movement and fit the hands but when I put the assembly in the case together with the provided metal spacer and screwed the back on the movement and metal spacer rattled in the case. Looking online there seem to be two answers, a plastic spacer ring as I've used before with the Seiko builds or screw in clamps to fix the dial and movement assembly to the metal spacer. The holes for the screws to hold the clamps are there but I can't see how this will stop the innards moving so I've ordered both the screw and clamp set and the plastic spacer. Hopefully one of these options will fix the assembly securely in the case.

The dial and hands do look lovely in the case but I'll have to wait for another delivery from AliExpress to try and complete this build. I think my next will be a Seiko NH38 again. The two I've built were a push fit with the dial providing the push fit and they didn't really need a spacer and all in all seemed less hassle than this Miyota build.
 
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