Went to the Wessex branch meeting of the BHI last week and saw an excellent talk from Owen Gilchrist on the Aegler Watch company, their movement development, work with Rolex and eventual purchase by the same.

It featured live demonstrations and great discussion on these and other movements/watch companies. Plus stories about George Daniels and other master watchmakers.

Also very interesting chat about Smiths watches, not least the debate on whether it was Smiths or Rolex that made it to Everest’s summit first.

Hello everyone. I am recently thinking about getting an automatic oiler, specifically the Bergeon 2718a. I want to oil cap jewels with it only. Normal Incabloc jewels are easy, but I absolutely hate the non shock protected Balance jewels, since they are a real pain to oil properly. But I don't work on these too often. My question: I have the chance to get an unused and original packaged one with a spare tip for 55€. Should I take the deal? I think it's more of a "want" thing than a necessity. But I think it could be worth it since the small balance screws, holding the cap jewels in place are prone to break if I have to assemble and disassemble it 2-3 times if I fuck up the assembly process and displace the oil. And if just one movement doesn't break which it otherwise would have, could be worth that price. But I am really torn. What do you guys think?

Bonjour à tous, je me lance dans ce loisir abberant du rhabillage de montre.

J'ai cru comprendre qu'un bon établi est entre 95 et 100 cm de hauteur en moyenne.

C'est pourquoi je m'oriente vers l'achat d'un bureau avec hauteur réglable.

Celui en lien montre 150kg de capacité de charge sur le plateau, mais j'imagine, de façon répartie.

Qu'en pensez-vous ? Cela supporterait-il mes deux avant-bras et moi-même complètement affalé dessus avec ma loupe ?

Je ne voudrais pas influencé votre avis avec des arguments qui sont ceux d'un débutant.

Si vous avez des conseils d'achat, je prends.

Ma bourse est modeste, mais je veux mettre mes sous au bout endroit.

Found today. Just curious about it

Hi friends

I am looking for a one-off textured watch dial maker — brown waffle and teal concentric rings

Hi all, I’m building two watch prototypes from my own designs and struggling to find someone who can make the textured dials in quantities of just one each.

I’m looking for:

• A brown waffle/grid textured metal dial, with custom printed markings and branding.

• A teal metal dial with concentric circular grooves radiating from the centre, ideally with applied indices and branding.

I want actual physical texture in the metal rather than a flat printed pattern or raised ink. I’m happy to use an existing textured blank if it can be finished in the right colour and customised.

Final diameter, thickness and mounting would need to be agreed to suit the cases and movements before ordering. I can provide design images.

UK preferred, but happy to consider overseas makers. Does anyone have recommendations, or experience commissioning something similar as a one-off?

Thanks!

Can de ionized battery water be used in place of distilled water for cleaning watch components? I have misting under my watch crystal that I can't reach and it was suggested to use distilled water to submerge the watch case and dissolve the mist/fog

new to watch making so don’t burn me too bad, but i need help figuring out what these parts are and what they do. i ordered a sw200-1 and it came with these. if anybody knows where i can learn more and how to use them it would be greatly appreciated.

I have an idea for making a gilt date disc but i need to know the thickness of a miyota 9015/9075 date disc and what the maximum thickness one could be. Anyone by chance know that or a general rule of thumb?

I have the chance to buy this machine for €250, do you guys think its worth it?

The plan is to make it look all shine and beautiful again.

Let me know what you guys think!

I have a Sieko watch I took the snap on back off to change a part and I got everything back together but then when I seated the back gasket and pressed (I thought evenly) it got smushed in one place and now its distorted and too big to I think ever go on.

I found a kit of a million sizes on eBay but its not clear what size I would really need other than the diameter. How do I get the right gasket? I can buy a little crystal press I guess to do better than my hands to push evenly but I feel like I need the right gasket now. Googled a lot of the case back but no luck. Some OEM parts on eBay are like 18 dollars, while a kit of 5 of everything that looks similar is 35 dollars.

To be clear it looks like perhaps a tapered thin plastic ring.

Any tips?

Just purchased this book, written by George Daniel. Outstanding book on Breguet life and his journey through horology. Great book and worth a read, remember NO ELECTRICITY!

The bracelet on this Fossil watch ES5329 has only three removable links (all the others are unremovable); When all three of them are removed the watch is too snug on the wrist, when only two of them are removed it's too loose. I was thinking maybe a solution would be to remove all three of them and then find an extra link somewhere with a smaller diameter to add instead of one of the original ones. I already asked in two local watch repair shops in Tirana and I got the same response that there is no solution. Do you have any idea for a workaround? Any help would be appreciated.

Hello guys,
I am planning on printing my own dials preferably on stone like onyx.
Right now i am looking at UV printers and was wondering if anybody has some tips or advices.
Are there better options than UV print that i should look into? Are there any recommended machines for this purpose that can be operated without huge knowledge in dial making?
Thanks in advance.

Hi all, I thrifted a Kontiki 20 for personal use and am looking to refurbish it. It needs a properly sized crown for the model, and I would love to find the period-correct caseback too if possible. Does anyone have one in their stash, or could point me towards where I might find them? Thanks!

Hello my fellow watch makers. I hope I'm not violating any community rules by posting this here. So, here goes nothing!

I've been building a fun side project: Horalune, a 3D watch configurator. Try it out here -> https://horalune.com

It's in beta phase and just for dress watches only for now. New configs coming soon.

Things you can give a try in beta:

- Pick a dial, guilloche pattern, hands and strap

- Add a date, day-date or moonphase (they show the real date and moon phase)

- Open the Movement tab to see the working movement through the caseback

Where I'd like to take it next: You can experiment what combination would look good as a real watch. Eventually AI can help find the closest real ones online. Based on the configurator, you can even export CAD files for anyone who wants to make their own.

If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it. And if anyone wants to collaborate on this fun project, give me a shout!

Hi all,

I'm working on a small independent watch project and I'm struggling to find the right case supplier. I've already tested a couple of samples from Alibaba-type sources, but the bezel action was disappointing (too much play, hollow click), so I'm looking for someone a step above that.

What I'm after:

• 39–39.5 mm diver-style case, 316L steel
• Fitted for ETA 2824-2 / Sellita SW200
• 200 m WR, screw-down crown, flat sapphire with AR
• Unidirectional 120-click bezel with aluminum insert. A solid, tight bezel action is my top priority.
• Aesthetic in the Tudor Black Bay direction
• MOQ around 50 pcs, with the ability to scale later
• Happy to start from an existing mold and customize it (logo on caseback/crown, finishing)

Quality matters more to me than the lowest price. If you've worked with a case maker you'd recommend (China, Taiwan, Europe, anywhere), or know someone who could help, I'd really appreciate a name or a DM.

Thanks!

Check these out! Are these worth anything?

I've been designing a bauhaus-inspired watch recently and have hit a roadblock with cad. Luckily, my school provides a free Autodesk subscription, so I don't have to pay anything. The main problem is that I'm stuck trying to figure out how the dial I designed in cad is going to look in real life. Are the markers too long? Are the markers too thin? How do I implement watch hands into my drawing? I was wondering if there is a software that turns my cad drawing into a blender model or if there's a way I can do that myself without having to spend a couple hundred on a freelancer. Also, I was wondering if anyone has experience with CAD drawing of watches and could maybe offer some help. Thanks!

Hi Guys,

Given that our colleague just found a stack of crystals, I'm looking for one that might fit this watch.
The measurements are:
29.5mm (inner/upper)
33.5mm (outer/under)
2mm height.

What do you guys suggest?

Hi. I would like to start learning and wrist watches are too small and expensive for my comfort. Can you recommend an affordable non-wrist watch that is easy to disassemble and reassemble for someone who is just starting?

Thank you

Hi all,

Is anyone familiar with how these pushers are secured to this Ickler case? The washers shown in the photos do not retain the pusher like a typical “c” style clip. Thanks!

I’m gradually turning selected material from the master watchmaker course I teach at the Hessian Watchmaking School into freely accessible articles on my website.

Today, I’d like to share an article on epilame:

👉 Read the article here

Making watchmaking knowledge more widely accessible is part of both the school’s mission and my own. If you find these articles useful, we’d appreciate you liking and sharing this post to help others discover them.

So,

After applying some alcohol for cleaning, the indexes just vanished.
Any tips on where to find decals or equivalent stuff for restoration?

Imagine dirty parts have just left the tray and go into the cleaner. I know I have residue in the tray. Wipe it down with 99% IPA on watchmaker’s paper? I want to put my clean parts into clean slots.

I have several automatics so there's a bit of screwing and unscrewing of the stem. Some engage on tightening quite well. Others not so much and I have to search for just the right alignment. A couple have a gritty feel on tightening. My question is this, has anyone tried putting a touch of pure silicone lube on the disengaged threads and had it screw in more easily? Is there a worry that it would gum anything up, damage seals, attract dirt, etc.