Every serious watch enthusiast should take a watch making "experience" course
I was lucky enough to join a small watch making experience that gave me a taste of what it's like to work with watches. It was an eye opening experience and brought a whole new level of appreciation to these little mechanical marvels on our wrist.
Jaeger-LeCoultre is opening up newly designed boutiques across the world and to celebrate in Singapore, they had a watch making experience. I've always wanted to do the full day class just like you'd maybe go for a day long wine tasting class, coffee making class, or a glass blowing course! Just a few examples of things I've done before that gives you a different perspective rather than just consuming the good.
I'll share some pics and things that I learned about watches.
First, watch parts are tiny AF. I'm stating the obvious and we all know this conceptually, but these are seriously small.
These are a few of the parts and the hairspring (top) almost becomes invisible when you look at it head on. It's super thin.
This is the overall size is the movement. It's SMALL. That's my index finger and I'm not a giant. I have 6.6-7" wrists. This was a small movement to be fair, but still.
Okay, now here are the screws.l and the gear train. I placed that one screw on its head so you can see how small it is. The last screw and bridge were even smaller.
Final small part pic is the pallet fork. Apologies I don't have a "finger for scale" photo bc as the class progressed, it got harder and harder and my frustration precluded me from taking proper pics.
Below you can see the dark metal thing sticking out - it's the lever part of the pallet fork and you can see one of the jeweled heads. This thing is so small and it blew me away. We always see these enlarged pics and doesn't do justice how master watchmakers deal with precision. You need STEADY hands.
Seocnd learning, I used to think - maybe I'll become a watchmaker for fun after I retire. Nope, not for me.
You need an extreme level of patience and the ability to stay zen. Arter getting all the gears in place, like so:
You have to place a bridge over the top, like so:
Unfortunately, if you touch the gears in a weird way, the gears fly apart everywhere! If you drop a screw, good luck finding a half grain of rice sized, camouflaged screw on the floor. It's so precise - the gear's pivot the part sticking out has to sit right in the tiny jewel to rescue friction. It's so hard to be so precise.
You have to be a zen Buddhist monk not to want to murder the watch parts in front of you after you get frustrated. After trying to get the escapement wheel to fit in a few times, I realized one of the teeth was slightly bent and it completely caused the gears to seize up. Very little margin for error.
Final learning, I will gladly pay for servicing my watches now! I will never DIY this again in my life. Not for me and hats off to watch makers or repairers.
I highly suggest all of you serious collectors and aficionados to try it out. Ask your AD to do a short 1h session for good clients or maybe make a WC meetup around it!
Some random pics to round it off and thanks for listening.
Avid watch wearer, not collector. Like my children, I love all of my watches equally, but I love my Lange the best.
A great learning experience I'm sure!
I agree! It’s a great thing to learn more about the engine of the trinkets that we love so much and be able to fully understand each and every piece … the key is steady hands… I had few very tiny screw lost in space lol…
Also there’s wristwatch revival for that ! You don’t need a swanky JLC or and AD to start …
I'm getting into service and repair. I love the precise and clean nature of the work. Big departure from playing around with cars.
I agree! It’s a great thing to learn more about the engine of the trinkets that we love so much and be able to fully understand each and every piece … the key is steady hands… I had few very tiny screw lost in space lol…
Also there’s wristwatch revival for that ! You don’t need a swanky JLC or and AD to start …
Yeah, no need to go to any branded place. I just happened to snag an invite randomly from a friend. There's a local AD that does watch making classes on the weekends too.
I'm getting into service and repair. I love the precise and clean nature of the work. Big departure from playing around with cars.
Good luck! Both seem quite technical and if you're good with your hands, should have transferrable skill I'd assume.
I agree! It’s a great thing to learn more about the engine of the trinkets that we love so much and be able to fully understand each and every piece … the key is steady hands… I had few very tiny screw lost in space lol…
Also there’s wristwatch revival for that ! You don’t need a swanky JLC or and AD to start …
Yep! I buy cheap broken seikos to tear down and then fail at reassembling. It’s great fun lol
I've taken a watchmaking course and loved it. Horological Society of NY provides a course and offers it in select cities. I learned a lot and it was a fun challenge. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
Yep! I buy cheap broken seikos to tear down and then fail at reassembling. It’s great fun lol
Ooh, that's a great idea! How much is a movement, like $5?
I've taken a watchmaking course and loved it. Horological Society of NY provides a course and offers it in select cities. I learned a lot and it was a fun challenge. Would do it again in a heartbeat.
Good tip. Next time I'm back in NY or hopefully in LA, I will look them up!
Yep! I buy cheap broken seikos to tear down and then fail at reassembling. It’s great fun lol
The worst thing a beginner can do it buy something with the expectation to fix it. Almost 100% certain to fail. Get something new and functional to learn how it should look and work.
I bought it with the intention to tear down and see how it works, get a feel for the sizes of everything, and make my mistakes on something broken. I have a running one that I have not had the time to do an R&R on.
I bought it with the intention to tear down and see how it works, get a feel for the sizes of everything, and make my mistakes on something broken. I have a running one that I have not had the time to do an R&R on.
You can pick up a ST36 movement for under $40 to learn the basics. I'm glad I did that first and didn't get over my head right away because I would have gotten discouraged and quit.
I also wanted to get some oils as well so I don’t put everything back together dry, but couldn’t figure out where a good place to start would be.
I’ll look into picking one of those up tho. I have also heard that large pocket watch movements are a good starting point, given the larger scale.
I also wanted to get some oils as well so I don’t put everything back together dry, but couldn’t figure out where a good place to start would be.
I’ll look into picking one of those up tho. I have also heard that large pocket watch movements are a good starting point, given the larger scale.
Yeah, my friend did a similar thing with a much bigger iwc movement and said it was easier. The watchmaker teaching is said pocket watches are definitely a good starting point.
I also wanted to get some oils as well so I don’t put everything back together dry, but couldn’t figure out where a good place to start would be.
I’ll look into picking one of those up tho. I have also heard that large pocket watch movements are a good starting point, given the larger scale.
Moebius 8000 is a good oil to start with if you are learning. From there, you will want to upgrade to the more expensive 9010 and HP 1300.
Thanks so much for the post my friend! Great reading
I’d LOOOVE to do a watchmaking course.
I almost signed up for one of the HSofNY classes in Seattle a couple months ago, but it was gonna be over 1000 bucks CAD and 3 hour drive each way - for the few hours of class?… too rich for my blood!
I’ve recently bought a cheap 4R36 for the express purpose of trying to take apart then put back together… when I take that one I’ll post pics of the disaster 😉
Thanks so much for the post my friend! Great reading
I’d LOOOVE to do a watchmaking course.
I almost signed up for one of the HSofNY classes in Seattle a couple months ago, but it was gonna be over 1000 bucks CAD and 3 hour drive each way - for the few hours of class?… too rich for my blood!
I’ve recently bought a cheap 4R36 for the express purpose of trying to take apart then put back together… when I take that one I’ll post pics of the disaster 😉
Woah that's pricey! Maybe there's a local watch servicing dude that can do something casual for a small group. Just need a few sets of tools. I'm gonna see if I can get something organized somehow. Promise them some servicing biz or something, hah.
I was the same as you - so I jumped on this opportunity to do it. Even though it was 2 hours only, it was a good taster class.
You have all the tools to do it? Post some pics!
This is pretty bada$$. Good to know JLC is opening this around the world. Was there a waitlist to attend these classes? Would love to take a course with JLC.
This is pretty bada$$. Good to know JLC is opening this around the world. Was there a waitlist to attend these classes? Would love to take a course with JLC.
It was organized by a local watch enthusiast group of influencers in partnership with JLC. Probably will be executed locally, so maybe you can figure out which boutique is upgrading to the new, inviting style of boutique. Not sure if all boutiques will do this course.
I was smiling the whole time while reading your post. I literally started small fixing vintage ladies cocktail and baguette-style movements. I think that expedited my proficiency in watch repair since the margin of error is under millimeter-level tolerance.
I'm glad they didn't let you work on a JLC Calibre 101 😄 You can always go smaller.
https://www.fratellowatches.com/cdn-cgi/image/anim=false/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Jaeger-LeCoultre-Cal-101-AWCO-7.jpeg
I was smiling the whole time while reading your post. I literally started small fixing vintage ladies cocktail and baguette-style movements. I think that expedited my proficiency in watch repair since the margin of error is under millimeter-level tolerance.
I'm glad they didn't let you work on a JLC Calibre 101 😄 You can always go smaller.
https://www.fratellowatches.com/cdn-cgi/image/anim=false/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Jaeger-LeCoultre-Cal-101-AWCO-7.jpeg
Wow that thing is tiny!! It was an amazing experience. Definitely want to try it again to get used to the feel of such tiny little objects. It's incredible, seriously.
Youre a watch repairer or doing it for fun?
Wow that thing is tiny!! It was an amazing experience. Definitely want to try it again to get used to the feel of such tiny little objects. It's incredible, seriously.
Youre a watch repairer or doing it for fun?
Its good practice to achieve that monk-like patience.
I learned it during the pandemic to pass the time, now I had a guy from Dubai and another from Japan that hand-delivered their dad's watch to me for servicing 🤯