I'm a collector of pocketwatches and wristwatches.
My question is this. How hard would it be to learn how to clean and oil a pocketwatch? I have quite a few in my collection and the cost is quite high for cleaning one - multiply that by a large number and the price is outrageous! Are there classes one can take?

Stephanie,

The following is a short article I wrote a couple of years ago for people in the same circumstances as you. Perhaps you'll find some of it helpful:

In order to be able to successfully work on watches, above all else, one needs to be mechanically minded. If you're the sort of person who can take apart a reasonably complex mechanism (such as power tool, a lock, or a firearm), and then successfully put it back together again, you probably have a chance of being able to work on watches. If you can successfully reassemble a mechanism that SOMEONE ELSE has taken apart, then you probably have a GOOD chance of being able to work on watches. On the other hand, if you're the sort of person (as many watch collectors are) who can't take apart a ball point pen and successfully put it back together, you probably shouldn't attempt to work on watches! In the words of an elderly friend of mine who spent most of his life as a professional gambler, "If you're stupid and you know it, you've got a chance, but if you don't know it, you've got NO chance!" Or in the words of Clint Eastwood (as Dirty Harry), "A man's got to know his limitations."

Assuming that you find yourself to be mechanically minded, the next thing I strongly recommend is that you invest in a good stereo microscope with a magnification factor of between 10 and 15 power. Typically, these are referred to as "dissecting" scopes, and good used ones can fairly commonly be purchased for between $200 and $500. Even though a lot of watchmakers use single lens eye loupes, or double lens visors that fit over their heads, those are really poor substitutes for a good microscope. Believe me, nothing enhances vision like a microscope, and when you're trying to work on watchs, there's no such thing as being able to see TOO well! I frequently fix watches that other watchmakers haven't been able to, simply because by using a microscope for all my work, I can actually SEE what the problem is while they can't.

I was very fortunate in knowing an old watchmaker who took me under his wing and taught me many of the basics of watch work. After this good foundation, I then purchased just about every book I could find on the subject, and read them all. One of the truly great books on repairing American watches is "The Science of Watch Repairing, Simplified," by A. Gideon Thissel. Mr. Thissel was for many years the head of instruction at the Elgin School of Watchmaking, and this book is frequently referenced in other books. While some books vary slightly from others in certain points, since watchmaking really is a science, most books on the subject contain pretty much the same information. I suppose that comparing books about watchmaking would be somewhat like comparing books about algebra or chemistry; since the subject is a science, most any book about it would contain pretty much the same information.

When you have determined yourself to be sufficiently mechanically minded, and have found a microscope and a few good books, the next things you will need are hand tools. The most basic ones are screwdrivers and tweezers, and in these, I recommend buying only the best, and then learning how to sharpen them. In my opinion, the best screwdrivers are made by Bergeon, and the best tweezers by DuMont. Carbon steel tweezers are better for general purpose work than non-magnetic ones and/or stainless steel ones, which are composed of much softer metal, and are much less durable. There seems to be some rule of physics which states that whenever tweezers are dropped, they must always land point-down! With watchmaker's tweezers, this almost always results in bent and ruined points, and since a good pair costs about $20, learning how to sharpen them is very important! Besides, even if you don't drop them, the points will wear in the ordinary course of use so that if you do a lot of work, they will need to be resharpened at least every week or two.

With your microscope, tweezers, and screwdrivers, and the guidance provided in a few watchmaking books, you should be ready to try your hand at working on a movement, but I strongly recommend you begin with one that isn't worth very much. It will take a while to get used to working with the microscope (it's sort-of like typing without looking at your fingers), and to develop your motor skills so that they are as steady and precise as they need to be. In order to be a good watchmaker, one needs to have exceptionally steady hands, and few people have ever needed to refine their motor skills to such a degree in the course of their daily lives. I suppose some analogy could be formed between this and athletic training. For example, few people need to be able to run 5 kilometers in their daily lives, and therefore, most wouldn't be able to when they first tried it. While it's certainly true that not every person has the potential to become a marathon runner, anyone in reasonably good health should be able to develop the stamina to run a few kilometers, but like the steady nerves of a watchmaker, it's something that has to be developed.

The more deeply you become involved in watchmaking, the more tools you will need. There is a long tradition among watchmaker's of having special tools for just about every conceivable purpose, and all of these usually do their jobs better than the jobs could be done without them. Trying to do serious watch work with only a few screwdrivers and a pair of tweezers would be like trying to overhaul an automobile with a few screwdrivers and a pair of wire pliers! Any decent watchmaker should have a staking set, a watchmaker's lathe, a cleaning machine, a set of mainspring winders, a poising tool, a timing machine, a roller remover, a hand puller, some pin vises, several specialized types of tweezers, a demagnetizer, etc., etc. The list could go on and on, and most any watchmaker will continue to accumulate more and more tools the longer he/she works in the profession. All of these tools can be purchased second-hand, but new ones are exceptionally expensive. A nice new K & D (Kendrick and Davis) staking set costs over $1,000. A new Levin lathe (just a fairly basic model) costs about $3,000, and a new Vibrograf or Witschi timing machine can cost in excess of that! By purchasing only used tools, and shopping around a bit without getting in too much of a hurry, one could probably buy all of the tools necessary to have a decent shop for about $2,000, but that would be keeping expenses to a minimum.

As for the prices of watch repairs, these depend on several factors. One is geographical location, as some places have higher costs of living than others. With the watches themselves, the costs of repairs generally are commensurate with the complexity of the mechanism, and its relative condition. Obviously, it's much more difficult and time consuming to clean and oil an automatic, triple date moonphase, triple register chronograph, than it is to clean and oil a time-only, manual-wind watch. In short, the more pieces a watch has and the more that need to be replaced, the harder it is to work on and the more it will cost to have it repaired.

Another important factor to consider is the relative value of the watch. Generally speaking, it costs more to have a Rolex, a Patek Philippe, or some similarly high-grade watch repaired than it does a Benrus or a Bulova. This is due not only to the cost of parts that may be needed, which will be higher for higher priced watches, but also the watchmaker's liability, which in the event of an unfortunate mishap, is much greater with more expensive watches. For example, if a watchmaker accidentally damages a Rolex, or if one is stolen from the shop, his/her liability for it will be several times that of most ordinary watches.

I know that this is a really long answer to a really short question, but perhaps it will give you a few things to think about, and allow you to better understand what watch work is all about. It really is a highly skilled profession, and it's not the sort of thing that just anyone can do. Even with good instruction, trying to teach someone to do watch work who has no natural aptitude for it, would be like trying to teach someone to be an artist. Personally, while I'm a good watchmaker, I can't even draw a decent looking stick figure, and I am sure that no amount of instruction would ever make an artist out of me -- at least, not that type of artist!

With the information I have provided here in mind, if you still think you want to learn how to work on watches, and believe that you have the necessary aptitude for it, please feel free to e-mail me at your convenience, and I will be more than happy to assist you in any way that I can! By and large, watchmaking is a dying art, and I try to do everything I can to promote it as much as possible. A very decent living can be made as a watchmaker these days, but anyone considering it should go into it with their eyes open to its realities. If you only want to learn about it in order to save yourself a few dollars restoring your own watches, forget it! It would be much more economical for you to find a good watchmaker, and let him handle all the headaches for you! Just imagine how many watches you could pay to have repaired for the cost of a fairly basic set of tools, and of course, that would be assuming you don't tear anything up that you end up taking to a watchmaker after all!

I hope this helps!

=======================

Steve Maddox
President, NAWCC Chapter #62
North Little Rock, Arkansas

Stephanie,

Here is another article I wrote a few years ago in reply to a similar question to yours above. Again, perhaps it will be of some assistance:

As a professional watchmaker, my recommendation is to get some good books, a few basic tools (screwdrivers and tweezers), a stereo microscope, and try to disassemble and reassemble a really cheap watch. Henry B. Fried wrote some excellent horological books for beginners, as did Donald DeCarle.

Unfortunately, unless you have some degree of mechanical aptitude, you're likely to have a heck of a time learning how to work on watches. I've heard that former President Richard Nixon was so mechanically disadvantaged that he couldn't take a ball-point pen apart and put it back together, and if you're in that same boat, you'd better forget about working on watches. You'll just frustrate yourself, and tear up a bunch of stuff. On the other hand, if you can look at various mechanisms and understand how they're supposed to work, and you can take things apart and put them back together without too much difficulty, you should give it a try. What do you have to lose, except maybe a cheap watch or two?

In my opinion, the most important attributes for a watchmaker are a good mechanical mind, good eyesight, steady nerves, and good hand-eye coordination. Of course, infinite patience is a "plus" as well. If you're seriously lacking in any of those qualities, your life as a watchmaker is destined to be unhappy.

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SM

Stephanie,
First of all welcome to the IHC. If you are wanting to work on your own watchse you will be glad you ran across Steve, Ed, Rich and the many other highley skilled watchmakers that we are proud to accociate with. They will offer up assistance like no other. Ask 'em if you got 'em.
Now on to watch repair. I too was turned off by the lack of service and the high price of having my watches repaird. If you want to collect on a budget then you have to learn to clean them yourself. Thats a fact. Get a book to start. Read up. For about the cost of a fine RR watch 350.00$ at the most you can get set up to clean and oil your watches. Get yourself a old junker and wear it out. Take it apart and put it together. Wear it out doing this. I started with a 16s 7j Elgin because it was very similar to the 18s 19j I really wanted to work on. Once I got my confidence up I went for it and you know what, with the exception of my full plate 18s watches they all run great. I say if you want to learn go for it! Nothing beats the feeling of sucess. They are not all easily fixed but with the people here you can get through anything. These guts helped me through some fun and chalanging ballance work on one of my first jobs and man what a help.

I say go for it. You have the support from your fellow members and most of all, You can do it!

Aaron Bereiter

Wow! Who knew!
Thank you Steve and Aaron for your response.
After reading what Steve has to say about the matter, I'm thoroughly discouraged. Your point was made. I had no idea what one needs to even begin this large feat. I would not call myself mechnically inclined, and I certainly don't have the patience, of a saint or anyone, sooooo, it doesn't look good for me. May have to fork out the bucks if I want something done and done correctly. Then there's the - waiting game with the watchmaker - for SIX weeks or longer and B--- S--- to boot with that!

Aaron, you did give me a little confidence after reading your response. But not enough, I'm afraid. Will have to think about this quite a bit more before proceeding with my new endeavors in pocketwatch collecting.
Thanks guys.
Stephanie O'Neil

Stephanie,

Bob Tasciones tapes are excellent for beginners. It would be great for the organization to have more women involved in watchmaking... Most of these watches were assembled by women workers. For proof, here's a picture from the Waltham Watch Factory.

Mike Miller
NAWCC Member# 154831
NAWCC-IHC Charter Member# 27

I thoroughly enjoyed the photo of the employees of the Waltham plant. (I wonder what their salaries were at the time?) How interesting! Do you have more pics you can share?

And you are right, quite a lot of women involved in the production of pocketwatches at that time.
Do you have any idea what year this pic is from?
A little more encouragement by looking at the photo of women employees thanks to you.

Stephanie O'Neil
NAWCC #0143979

from an 1885 pamphlet about the American Watch Co. (Waltham):

"For certain kinds of work female operatives are preferred, on account of their greater delicacy and rapidity of manipulation; and it should be added that woment get the same wages as men for doing the same kind and amount of work"

Hi Jerry,

This gets even more interesting! Women in the work force in 1885 is a surprise much less the same amount of wages as men! Hummmmmmm! I'm glad to read that. I'm also glad to read about women's delicacy and rapidity of manipulation!-in the pocketwatch work force that is.
Huummmmmmmm!Maybe I will be able to clean and oil!Thanks Jerry. Anyone else?

Stephanie

Go for it! If you have an honest desire to learn you can. Anyone can learn anything if they want to. Stephanie, if you want to do it the ball is in your court. I have a running 7j 16s Elgin to practice on. I learned on that watch and it still runs. Get a junker and jump in.

You can do it!

Aaron Bereiter

Thanks Aaron for your vote of confidence.

Stephanie