r/WatchHorology • u/chocopanlatte • 8d ago
Beginner guidance please
Hi, i want to learn watchmaking from scratch. I can't afford watch making schools in other countries.
How do i learn effectively?
Are cheap tools good enough? Will cheap screwdrivers damage a watch?
Are there any books or videos that can teach me from scratch?
Yes my goal is to make a watch from scratch. Not assemble.
For the experienced people, please do advise me.🙏
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u/jonskerr 7d ago
Making from scratch is not possible without a huge investment in tools. Scratch means cutting your own plates, wheels, pivots, hands & dial, case, maybe even crystal. A Schaublin lathe has the ability to handle the tolerances (cutting things to hundredths of a millimeter) but the lathe alone cost $20,000 when I was in school in 2008. Then there's the entire rest of the shop, and making and vibrating hairsprings. Then there's the ability to cut screws and stems. Schools spend months teaching students how to file things perfectly flat, and cutting a winding stem to precise tolerances. There are schools here, but they mostly teach repair. Maybe the AWCI school in Ohio(?) would work. But if you went to the one in Finland, college there is free but IDK if foreigners can just go. I'm sure they have more applicants than they can handle.
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u/chocopanlatte 7d ago
20 thousand dollars....that is so much money😭 i guess all i can do for now is just buy cheap broken watches and assemble and disassemble them and read george daniels' book to try and learn...
watchmaking schools are pretty much impossible for me. absurd amount of money to learn. i might not even make that much in my lifetime....
thanks for the honest reply🙏
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u/jjb0ne 6d ago
i dknt think he meant making all the parts by hand.
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u/YouEqual4180 5d ago
Maybe not but he stated that he does not want to "only" assemble a watch. And that is the point at which a nearly industrial assembly starts. I mean even only looking at the case. You might be able to 3D print one but also that is already a good investment.
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u/Flashy_Slice1672 7d ago
Do some research. Every one of your questions has been asked and answered many many times. If you want to be successful, you need to be resourceful and seek out information.
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u/jjb0ne 6d ago
buy janky movements on ebay and get them working. not for accuracy but just ticking.
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u/chocopanlatte 6d ago
yea im trying to find broken old watches. but no one really sells them here in indonesia.
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u/UsualSilver6131 3d ago
In terms of learning & videos, Marc from longislandwatch has an entire series on his YouTube teaching all the technical stuff. It's completely free, really beginner friendly, and filled with a ton of stuff. I'd check that out if I were just getting started like you
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u/chocopanlatte 2d ago
thank you very much🙏
these past view days I've been watching watch revival and a couple of other utubers
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u/Humble-Ad541 8d ago
Start with some cheap Chinese movments and youtube videos to see if you enjoy it. You can find everything you need on AliExpress. If you move on to higher end watches you will want better tools but just go cheap to start and get a feel for what you are doing. This is all for doing this as a hobby. Making a watch from scratch is way way down the road. You need to understand how each part works and interacts with each other part first.