Winter Watchmaking

 Yes, it's been sincerely winter here since I last posted. Overnight temperatures have cruised down to -11F and there's been a lot of snow. Not Buffalo NY amounts by any means--total seasonal snowfall is now at 48.3 inches which is about twice normal, and the snow depth is 13 inches. Everything has a thin crust of ice on it, too.

This means it's been time for my winter hobby to get going. I've been out and about trying to learn about how to get the basic raw materials: watches (including bare movements) and tools. I'm also starting to ponder how to make this a long-term sort of thing. 

Last year I mainly focused on dismantling old pocket watches; This year I'm going to get a formal, if brief, education by taking a two-day class from a local professional watchmaker. I'm also going to try my hand at smaller movements. Toward that end I've purchased several HMT watches from Ebay. These have India-made movements, are typically 17 jewels, and can be had for about $10 refurbished and running. At that price there's not a lot of concern about fumblefingers wrecking it. Here's a picture of the first arrival

Yes, that's an image of Gandhi on the face. The hour and minute hands are luminous, but I'm not sure about the choice of a red second hand over a red watch face. Oh well, it's the movement that has my interest, and here it is

Fairly clean looking, but there is some discoloration on the spacer ring near the stem suggesting there might be some rust. That might account for the gritty feeling when the crown is pulled out or pushed in. On the plus side it seems to be keeping good time. I'll be able to quantify that once I put it on my timegrapher.

Like most modern wristwatches this has a screw-on back, and normally one would use a special tool to open it. It's often possible to use a rubber ball instead. One simply presses the ball against the back and turns it. Here's the one I use

It's not the famous Bergeon #8008 8-ball ($17 on Amazon or $9 on Esslinger, shipping extra). It's a dog play toy ($5 from Petco and probably other pet supply stores). It has a smooth, tacky surface and seems to work quite well. It's not inflatable so no need for a pump. And as an extra bonus it squeaks!

A footnote about saving money: shop Ebay, not Etsy. I paid $7.50 for the watch (before tax). An identical (save for a white face) model on Etsy is $37.96 before tax (shipping is free from both vendors). And the Etsy watch is a refurbish, too--the description is word-for-word identical with that on Ebay. Don't expect the Etsy version to arrive faster, either. It also ships from India and has the same protracted delivery time as it does on Ebay.

Next time, more about the Gandhi watch!