Why buy when you can build!
Now right out the gate the title of this post is hypocritical as I have bought most of my watches. But I have also built a few, and from the first watch I built, I got hooked.
Ill preface by saying Im a big DIYer, so anything that involves learning a new skill and buying new tools has always been very appealing to me. I learned how to build vacuum tube amps (since they dont teach that in school since the 60s) and other music related electronics in my 20s. Ive taken on casual woodworking, sound engineering/mixing, and metal work/art in the past as well. Im in my mid 30's now, how did it take me this long to catch on to watches?!
I was casually looking for nato straps one day when I thought to myself: "These all come from China for sure...why so expensive?". So I tried a little app for AliExpress and the rest is history. I found all the parts I needed, all for a fraction of buying something "pre-built". I definitely wondered how good or bad the quality would be, how reliable the descriptions, colors and shipping would be, etc. Well to my delight everything arrived, worked and looked great! Ofcourse you get what you pay for, but I was getting more than what I usually did for the money.
The first thing I built was a substyle dual time watch. You can see pics in my profile, but check out this lume:
The next watch was an SKX mod with OEM dial and hands:
The title image is my latest build done for a fellow watch fanatic. It was his first mechanical watch so I wanted it to be unique. He liked turquoise dials and divers, so I went with just that. I looked at alot of parts and colour combinations then finally decided to throw caution to the wind and do a skeleton minimalist build. Luckily the customer was happy! I took the opportunity to also build myself a nice turquoise diver:
Now I have also taken to modding watches, but that is more straightforward. Im in the middle of an Orient Mako mod that Ill post when done. I have definitely run out of room though, so Ill have to get rid of some before the next comes along.
Anyone else take things as far as I did? Show me your builds!
Well rounded nerd, into music, guitar pedals, all things DIY, and watches!
Amazing, thanks for taking the time to write this up. I love to fancy myself a tinkerer as well and have been slowly building my watch tool arsenal. I hope to do similar to build watches others are not making and make my way up movement and parts wise.
Great builds. I'm still in process of gathering parts and have found that, to my great frustration, ordering all the bits separately adds up to a bigger price than just buying an Orient or Seiko 5 (at least on Namoki where I browse mostly).
Anyways - the DIY watch club one I built (and blued the hands of) is this one.
BTW- bluing hands is way easy with some metal filings and a small butane torch. any steel can be magically made blue or purple (or beige gray if you do it too long).
Amazing, thanks for taking the time to write this up. I love to fancy myself a tinkerer as well and have been slowly building my watch tool arsenal. I hope to do similar to build watches others are not making and make my way up movement and parts wise.
Looking forward to seeing what you build!
Great builds. I'm still in process of gathering parts and have found that, to my great frustration, ordering all the bits separately adds up to a bigger price than just buying an Orient or Seiko 5 (at least on Namoki where I browse mostly).
Anyways - the DIY watch club one I built (and blued the hands of) is this one.
BTW- bluing hands is way easy with some metal filings and a small butane torch. any steel can be magically made blue or purple (or beige gray if you do it too long).
Namoki and DLW have a very good selection but more expensive as you said. I can confirm buying parts right from AliExpress will definitely run you sub $150 for a full set of parts including a basic strap.
Thats some nice work on the blue hands by the way!
Absolutely wonderful! That skeleton is lovely!
On the first watch, I looked at the same components last weekend, except with different hands in mind.😉 I only have one question: Did you have to buy the grey spacer for the NH70 separately, or did it come with it?
Building my own watch has always intrigued me. Thanks for such a detailed post. Definitely planning to build one for myself before purchasing a new one.
On the first watch, I looked at the same components last weekend, except with different hands in mind.😉 I only have one question: Did you have to buy the grey spacer for the NH70 separately, or did it come with it?
Had to buy the NH70 spacer separately. I also had to sand the spacer down because the the dial had double layers. I also replaced the chapter ring with a plain black one, you cant easily tell because of the crystal reflecting the dial markers on the picture.
Had to buy the NH70 spacer separately. I also had to sand the spacer down because the the dial had double layers. I also replaced the chapter ring with a plain black one, you cant easily tell because of the crystal reflecting the dial markers on the picture.
Interesting, as I was thinking about an NH70 build myself. Yes, in the picture it looked like there were minute markers both on the minute ring and the chapter ring. But that is excellent information on the dial thickness, and is much appreciated. I had a feeling there was a reason why the NH70 didn't come with the spacer.
Great work!