anyone built their own watch?
for context, ya boy's a broke newly grad. doing my residency right now, so i'm basically being paid minimum wage. as such, i don't have the financial flexibility to go out and buy any of my grail watches, and i know i won't be able to any time in the next few years (sigh, it sucks having priorities like buying a house. what fun is that)?
anyways, i'm thinking of buying parts on aliexpress to assemble an homage to the tudor black bay 58. i know i could buy a premade homage from the likes of san martin or invicta, but if i'm going the homage route, it feels more heartfelt and less like i'm buying someone else's money grab if that makes sense
let me know if you have had any similar experiences or if you have any thoughts!
resident physician spending what little money i earn on watches
Have a look at this just freshly posted 😉
I've built a homage watch. Bought dials, hands, cases, Russian pocket watch movement, made my own movement ring and assembled a Panerai homage.
If you look at the #modding tag here at Watchcrunch, you should find plenty of inspiration. The short answer is that you can of course build your own homage watch. (Even though building something that is uniquely yours can be a lot of fun.) If you have specific questions, please let us know.
If you look at the #modding tag here at Watchcrunch, you should find plenty of inspiration. The short answer is that you can of course build your own homage watch. (Even though building something that is uniquely yours can be a lot of fun.) If you have specific questions, please let us know.
thanks for the info! i'm new around here so i appreciate the pointer
thanks for the info! i'm new around here so i appreciate the pointer
And before I forget: Building a homage watch yourself is oddly enough not necessarily less expensive than buying an assembled homage watch on AliExpress, especially when considering the shipping.
As said above, building vs buying prebuilt on AliExpress is the same or more cost with individual parts. They even sell watches with no logos (ie sterile dial).
You can also consider low cost options like Timex and Orient. They make great watches at less than $200, even less than $100 for Timex. If you want a basic no-name NH35/NH36 automatic movement then AliExpress is your best bet.
Ive built a few myself and had quite a bit of fun. But will admit it took a bit of learning, plus the cost of tools! So if you want a hobby go the build route. If you just want a decent watch to wear and admire go with a prebuilt one is my suggestion.