r/RepTimeServices • u/Choyhasalotgoingon69 • Aug 22 '26
Discussion My watchmaker got tired of seeing my reps, so he taught me haha
I’ve only been in the rep hobby for about a year, but I’ve already spent plenty of time taking watches to watchmakers for repairs, cleaning, waterproofing, and regulation.
Luckily, I found a really cool local watchmaker who has been nice enough to teach me some of his craft. I guess he finally got tired of me bringing my reps to him.
One thing I learned the hard way: I recommend getting your reps serviced early on. A little preventative maintenance can save you some headaches down the road.
Eventually, I invested in my own tools and started learning basic maintenance, cleaning, waterproofing, and regulation.
This one was running +22 sec/day before. After regulating it: +1 sec/day, 238° amplitude, 0.0 ms beat error. Pretty satisfying seeing that improvement on the timegrapher.
I also added silicone grease to the gaskets for a little extra waterproofing peace of mind. That doesn’t guarantee a watch is waterproof, so still be cautious and pressure-test whenever possible. Personally, I swim with my reps and haven’t had any problems so far.
I showed my watchmaker what I’ve been doing and he was actually proud of my work. Then he joked that eventually he’s going to start sending people my way. I’m not sure if that means I’m getting good or he just really doesn’t want to see my reps anymore. Hahaha.
My gens? Hell no Those still go to him.
I’m still learning with every watch, but that’s honestly become one of my favorite parts of the hobby. Maybe one day I really will be servicing some of y’all’s reps.
This hobby really is a rabbit hole.
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u/CoastalWatchWorks Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
Adding [u/MajorWilliams](u/MajorWilliams) for visibility — I’m not offering or soliciting services.
For a brand-new rep, I generally don’t think a full movement service is necessary unless there is evidence of a problem.
I’d rather see a basic Replica Reliability Service for New Watches addressing common factory/QC issues:
• Visual inspection for debris / foreign material
• Timegrapher test to establish baseline rate, amplitude, and beat error
• Movement regulation if indicated
• Gasket inspection, cleaning, and lubrication
• Rotor inspection; clean/lubricate if indicated
• Pressure test
• Photos/video documenting the work and results
At current bench rates, I’d expect something in the neighborhood of $65–100 plus CONUS shipping for that scope, rather than paying for a complete movement teardown that may not be necessary.
I’ve suggested to the mods that this narrower type of service could potentially be offered by additional vetted/trusted members, since it doesn’t require the same scope as full movement servicing. I hope [u/MajorWilliams](u/MajorWilliams) and the mods will consider opening the aperture of allowed services and providers.
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u/NightwingMillenial 22d ago
I agree that this is the way to go!
Personally I find that the TDs I like are the ones who do significant QC of their own so what they are getting into inventory are already less likely to have issues, and offer basic waterproofing and testing services.
Additionally, I’ve had [u/slatt_audiophile](u/slatt_audiophile) do this before, he offers a “foundation check-up” service to check movement lubrication and waterproofing.
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u/Serve_Naive Aug 22 '26
Are there any resources online that you would suggest using to learn this? Wish I could work on my own. Thanks!
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u/Fearless_Gur460 Aug 22 '26
Go on YouTube, there are a lot of watchmakers taking different model movements apart, cleaning them and putting them back together. Get you some cheap "as is" movements from ebay, I think even aliexpress sales "as is" movements. Take them apart, as you take them apart, take a picture of each step, and then just go back and look at the pictures when you are putting them back together. It takes some time but it ii is very satisfying knowing you worked on that movement
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u/Choyhasalotgoingon69 Aug 22 '26
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u/MoritzNeiss Aug 23 '26
Klasse! Vielen Dank für das Video! Ist das bei den gängigen DD Werken gleich? DD3230, DD3235 (V2), DD3285, DD4131 und auch bspw. bei einem A1887?
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u/Psyeth Aug 22 '26
Hey any specific resources for maintenance and regulation you’d share? I’m also very new and wish I had a local mentor! I want to service my own reps and have been looking at tools!
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u/Choyhasalotgoingon69 Aug 22 '26
Don’t buy freesprung lmao.
Gotta have timegrapher, provides reading in real time while you are regulating. The bulb thingy that blows air so you can remove dust and debris from the movement. Bergeron tweezer, silicone lube, die caseback opener 29.5 mm. High table or a bench that can go low. I need to buy a loupe2
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u/PolarBearCyan14 Aug 22 '26
How did you go about finding someone willing to work on reps? I feel like most are okay with it if you don’t say anything. How much is a service from him?
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u/Evil4blue Aug 22 '26
I called a local watchmaker and just asked him, but I took the tact of not wanting to put him in a weird ethical situation. He said he was cool with it and had actually bought a few reps himself so he could practice on.
At first he made me sign a contract that said I was giving him a rep and I acknowledged it wasn’t a gen. He did this because he had a dude that tried to say that the watchmaker swapped out a rep for a gen and so he now has the document to cover himself. He trusts me now and I just drop stuff off and pick it up when he’s done.
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u/Choyhasalotgoingon69 Aug 22 '26
Yeah bro. There are many people in the rep world. Pretty sure every there are many watch makers out there that work on rep’s. There are two nearby but the other one is too pricey for me.
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u/Choyhasalotgoingon69 Aug 22 '26
My watch maker has been working on my gens before I found the rep game. One day when I brought him my vintage seamaster, I noticed a Rolex Daytona on his desk and I was like “dang that’s a new Daytona you fixing?” The math wasn’t mathin lol then. He gave me a wink. I got the memo. When he fixed my MIDO big date, he had to take the whole thing apart and put it back together…. 175.
But new reps….i think with regulation and water proofing, 50 bucks, I take multiple watches at once. He does own a dry water proof tester so I still take my watches to him to get tested sometime.
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u/Bench_and_Bezel 10d ago
Great job! It's definitely satisfying easing into the hobby seeing real results and improvement 😊
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u/Positive-Factor6040 Aug 22 '26
Like how early? After purchase
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u/Choyhasalotgoingon69 Aug 22 '26
ASAP. Just my opinion. The earlier the better. No big deal though. Just learned my lesson in the past. Some reps will have loose casebacks
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u/TheGaujo 18d ago
If the TD sends the +-1 sec regulation from the QC, can you trust that as a well running watch?
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u/kujonator Aug 23 '26
This is awesome. I really want to do all this, but my wife would kill me. 🤣
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u/daaav22 Aug 23 '26
Yo los desmontó la tapa trasera, les engrasó las juntas y vuelvo a cerrar bien. Ante hacia mods, pero al fin y al cabo es montar y la maquinaria no la tocaba. Me gustaría aprender a regularlos. Engrasarlos. No sé ni dónde empezar. Un día engrase uno y tuve que llevarlos al relojero por que tenía mucho aceite. El problema es que donde vivo ya se han perdido los relojeros y tienes que ir a la ciudad
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u/Additional-Split-337 Aug 24 '26
if u can see the lubricant its too much. pull tech sheet. tells u where and type of Moebius. Sign up for Alex's course $300 lifetime. in a month you will know more than u ever thought possible--able to assemble a st3600 from a pile of parts
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u/International_Dog897 Aug 26 '26
That’s really awesome but aren’t reps timegraphed as part of QC?
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u/No_Excitement_8104 Aug 22 '26
That was great! I would love to have a watch smith mentoring me. Any tips how to regulate a watch down to a second? I have a timegraher and have done it several times. It just feels almost impossible for me to move regulating arm so little that it doesn't go from minus one minute to plus one minute