I once, a few years ago spoke to a member who claimed to do 4 to 5 watches a day (COA) While he was bragging it up I was thinking I would not want a unit that he had done. I can spend a day just setting up a balance unit, checking the HS & roller jewel, installing a new staff and assembling it without breaking the pivots, poising it, checking for true and getting it in beat. Then assembly of the balance unit.
Would that make me slow or just cautious.
Are there any members that do 5 COA's a day? How long do you spend on a average COA?
Does that make me slow, inexperienced or to decrepit to keep up? Who an I keeping up with anyway?

Patrick

You are definitely on the right track. Time and patience are rare commodities, these days, which is why so few people, even collectors, have pocket watches that work truly as originally intended. Keep up the good work.

JBS

During the many discussions I have had with Chris Abell, our most recognized watch maker, I do remember him saying once "I had an especially good day recently where I finished 4 watches . . . but it was a very LONG day!"

Rarely can I say in the 1,000's of watches I did that I found 4 (or three for that matter) watches in a row that could simply be dis-assembled, cleaned, inspected, re-assembled with lubes and oils, timed and finished without some extra (time burning) "Hitch" that needed extra attention.

If I serviced and finished 2 watches a day, I was doing well. Then they must go to the timing bench and prove their (my) worth for a few days.

My best time was on a 19J Raymond BWR at 4 hours flat. Absolutely no issues and it came off the bench running at 18,000 beats center position.

As a rule, I'm running 10 to 12 hours for a COA with a restaff, poise, time... Add a couple hours if I have to replace cracked jewels... and that all assumes I have bench spares/parts on hand to effect the repairs.

If I have to shop for parts or a parts movement... add a couple more hours for the shopping, receiving and fitting.

At $75 for a COA with an uplift of $25 for a restaff.. which is actually only $10 for the average staff replacement cost of $15... and I figure I might make minimum wage on a watch.

I worked on a watch for one of our guys and finally gave up at 40 hours... on a project I could only charge 4 hours on.

My original business plan was to source distressed watches, service them both mechanically and cosmetically... and resell them for a profit. But.. I am finding that buyers could care less or are far too skeptical about what a serviced watch is and will only pay the same price for a serviced watch as what I payed for the distressed watch to begin with.

I bought a couple 7j 12s elgins for $40 a piece, serviced them, new crystals, polished the cases, serviced and adjusted the stems... and they sold for $45.. each... Not only did I lose about $15 on each watch after parts and fees but also lost 20 hours of my life that I get to chalk up to self edification.

When I was repairing watches full time in the mid to late 90's, I could do about 4 a day the proper way. These could be long days though and I remember having almost no issues with higher grade pocket and wrist watches that had been reasonably well cared for ...even if new staffs, mainsprings, etc. were required, but had many snags with 7 jewel wonders, and especially the lower grade Swiss wrist movements with their coarse finish & fit; these grades probably never ran that great to begin with. It was especially difficult to achieve proper balance amplitude with these lower quality timepieces and thus, their timekeeping performance was often (comparatively) poor. I did trade work in my home for a handful of jewelry stores in the Sonoma county area then, so at least it wasn't me who had to tell the customer not to expect too much! I had a 1970's era Greiner Precicheck timing machine that worked well, a good Boley lathe, well dressed tools and many nice stashes of old material. The material that I had the most problem securing was open face crystals ...and this is when I decided that I'd find a way to make them.

I never did make great money doing trade work. The only people that I knew that were making a decent living repairing watches had store fronts and were servicing mostly Rolex and other modern hi grade & complicated watches. They were smart enough to decline just about all antique work, passing it along to losers like me, living in the woods. I was happy to get it though and was comfortable being poor! To this day, I can still properly deal with fusee watches of any origin, verge or lever. I can still disassemble, clean and adjust any old 1/4 hour repeater, marine chronometer, giant Swiss triple date carriage watch, etc., etc. While some only took on predictable work, others like me (you too maybe) were left, sometimes for many hours, practicing acts of sheer horological heroism! I have no regrets and as I write this, I realize that I'm left feeling rich because of it!

William

My approach is I know what watch I will be starting my work day with, but not where I will finish. It takes as long as it takes to get the work done right. As Dave says there are almost always side issues which come up during the cleaning process which have to be addressed especially with pockets.

I would suggest each person just work at a pace which is comfortable to them and at the end of the day they will have some well done work not a bunch of watches not running!

Rob
www.pocketwatchrepairs.net

I had to learn that it isn't about the money, It's really about being able to be a part of the great history of these incredible pieces.

Getting lost in a watch is one of the few things I can do that is still so challenging for me that nothing else exist but me and the watch for a few hours at a time.

I agree with Paul watch repair for me has never been about the money..I usually spend between 4 and five hours cleaning, oiling and adjusting a watch..That doesn't include time spent every now and then looking on my hands and knees for that little screw that flew away...LOL...

very inspiring words guys.
i am falling in love with these machines.
and can't believe my first is running strong.
total fluke i'm sure.
my best time so far, about 15 hours.
but im not in a hurry.
thank you to all of you
Todd the beginner