Restorations? What's too far?

I saw one where I think he cleaned each part like he was gonna use it again but continue to replace parts until it was pretty much just a radom custom seiko with brand new parts 🤔 Just a stroke of paint as they say 🤣

replacing parts left & right and polishing to like new condition. 

It's the Watch of Theseus!  Begin philisophical debate about if it's actually the same watch...

For me, the only replacement parts should be ones that don't work at all. Broken shaft, messed up mainspring, or a hairspring that's gone haywire?  Sure.  Perfectly good wheels that just aren't as pretty, or a bridge that is tarnished?  Nope, leave them alone.  It adds character.

I'm not sure where the line is; if you use vintage/NOS parts, then you could make the case that it's still a vintage watch.  But if you're using brand new parts?  At some point it stops being "vintage" and starts being "vintage inspired" or maybe a "restomod."

A lot of the watches the youtube guys do are for content more than value. take a cheap old swiss or japanese watch and spend crazy amount of time and effort to fix it for the views, subs and comments. Fixing an NH3x movement is more expensive than replacing. There is a saw off between fix or replace and its usually the labour that makes the difference. Its a plug and play world now just like in the auto industry.

I love watch restorations puts me to bed early lol

They relax me as well. not to that extent, but yeah

It’s soothing not sure why… esp the ones with just relaxing music…I find the guy who talks about it funny sometimes parts fly off and he can’t find it lol

I'm not a vintage collector, but for me it's all about the dial.  As long as the dial is the same, I'm happy.  I know this is not the norm when it comes to vintage collectors.

Marshall?

YES!! Lol I like Red Dead Restoration as well. Those pieces I’m amazed how they bring it back to life!!

Just got caught up on Marshall and will probably binge Red Dead now. LOL

I only ever replace parts if they're broken beyond repair... or beyond my skills to repair. I will polish the case to get it as close to new as possible without ruining the lines/shape. It's a vintage watch and it shouldn't look brand new, but it needn't look like its on its last legs either. A new or refinished crystal often makes a huge difference.

I certainly don't do it for the money. There are often many hours work to restore a watch worth £60.... but for me, the joy is in seeing an old watch tick again and for it to look good doing so.

Not a vintage guy but for me, I wouldn't mind a whole replacement except for the case. The dings and scratches on the case makes my watch feel mine, not the movement.

And the English guy Nekkid Watchmaker I find him hilarious and amazing to watch

It’s always a difficult question and there’s no hard and fast rule; each project is different. On a cheap watch I generally feel less inclined to keep it original and more to make it cool/pretty/unique.

On something that is collectible, thus expensive or valuable, you’ll use a lot more restraint - granted the result will be worthwhile. If the dial is ruined or movement all rusted up, it changes things again