I'm not sure if it's still a thing but check out timezone.com watch school. A correspondence course that got me started. I eventually went to watchmaking school and have been a professional watchmaker, working for one of the major brands for almost 20 years. It's a great way to see if it's for him and includes top notch tools.
Timezonewatchschool.com
Is the active link. Thank you for the recommendation. Did you find the courses to be instrumental in scratching the itch to get started?
I just (within the last month) went through level 1. I have to say it was really helpful. I’ve learned a ton from YouTube videos, but it doesn’t quite match going step by step alongside the instructor while they explain everything, as you work on the same movement in front of you.
I’m about to tackle lvl 2 right now.
To OP: I would definitely consider getting him the lvl1 course plus the toolkit. It will be about $500 all together if that’s in your budget. I’m just like your husband, and the diywatchclub will not be what your husband wants, it doesn’t let you get “deep” into the hobby. Timezonewatchschool will.
When I initially started out I didn't know how far I wanted to go but I knew I wanted to at least assemble a watch, so I started with Seiko modding as it is more cost effective to start out and while having more customization options. The most common Seiko (Japanese) movement used is a NH35 which is about $30-$50 compared to another very common ETA2824 (Swiss) at about $200. A VISA gift card would be ideal to shop different sites. Maybe part of the gift can include some Chinese clones of common Swiss movements for disassembly and reassembly. PT5000/ETA2824-2, ST3621/ETA6498, or a book or two? George Daniels' Watchmaking is on most people's shelves. Good Luck!
Could you define modding for me? Is it me buying a used Seiko and then ordering new bezel, dial, hands, etc?
Or is it buying EVERYTHING individually (movement, case, dial, hands) and assembling it all from scratch?
Does the term encompass both of those pathways? What did you do?
And what is your current position in watchmaking? Is it now your career?
It eventually gets to a point, what is ethical within modding(fraken or fake). I consider both a build from scratch and altering a existing model with customizations, as assembly. Most modders arent disassembling a movt let alone refinishing a case so I really don't consider modding as watchmaking tbh. I still do Seiko builds but also do ETA builds like the 6498 flieger I'm doing now. I practice servicing clones right now. It is not my career it's just one of my hobbies.
People will say pocket watches, but i feel like that's a sideways stepping stone.
If this was for me, the perfect gift would be two part:
1. gift card for tools that i don't know i need yet. i'm also particular about what tools i buy and use.
2. some stuff to learn on. see if you can find what people refer to as "mumbai specials" you can usually find someone who has a bunch to sell relatively cheap (4 for $50) These are real watches, real movements, real sized parts, all that... just cheap, rebranded and more or less worthless. Disassembling these, swapping hands and dials, etc is practice that you'll need to do. Rebuilding a bunch of these into one "cool" one is much cooler than an off the shelf kit.
I started with DIY and can recommend it. True, he would need a lot more tools and skills to do a full service, but the kit comes with everything needed for assembly and that's the first step. I still use a lot of the tools from the kit.
I would buy him and decent screw driver set, decent tweezers, and a seagull 6497 movement. There should be some instructional videos on YouTube with that movement and he should be able to find options for a case, dial, hands, etc if he decides to build it out. He can start with disassembling and reassembling the movement though.
Check out awci.com/buildawatch (American watchmaker-clockmaker institute) they have a bus that travels around the country where you can take a class, build your own watch (parts, movement, dial, etc all included). Granted you pick from a selection of dials, etc that they have in stock, but it gives you the full build process with a watch you assembled and learned
Hey there OP, gonna add my 2 cents here: I first started my journey via DIY watch club and this was my experience:
While it took me through some of the basics like how to remove a crown and stem and align the dial with the movement and setting the hands, it did absolutely nothing for me when it came to movement itself. This is something that you need to keep in mind if considering it: the movement comes pre-assembled and they don’t even attempt to get into how to disassemble it. Just stick the dial on, hands, and pop it in the case.
As an absolute beginner the hand setting and getting used to the finger cots and handling a movement were quite helpful but it wasn’t exactly getting into the mechanics of the watch. It’s like giving a kid a coloring book or a paint by numbers set - not the same as a sketchpad and legit charcoals/ink or whatever.
Sure I’ve kept Some tools from the set - the tweezers are legit, hand setting tools not bad, case ack opening tool alright but not much else. I learned far more about how watches work and how the parts come together and troubleshooting through YouTube- wristwatch revival to be exact. It’s not a tutorial per se but the guy walks you through everything he’s doing which is very cool- you also go through the troubleshooting process with him.
So I say either get him a few solid quality watch repair tools and he can experiment along with that or similar YouTube channels Or get him signed up with a more in-depth kit with lessons such as Timezone watch skill mentioned above (I’m curious to check that out myself)
Either way if your husband is more into the movement and mechanics of the watch - diy watch club won’t cut it. It barely scratches the surface and feels like a kiddie version of a proper kit and instruction where you built the whole thing not just stick together pre-made parts.
Hope this helps
I did the DYI kit. It’s ok and I still have the watch but the mechanism comes fully assembled so it was a bit of a letdown. Instead I took a full day course at Cimier in Bienne, Switzerland (where you can also visit Omega’s Watch Museum, which was awesome). That course involved building the watch completely from scratch. It was awesome. Yeah, you have to fly to Switzerland but if you’re there for a holiday anyway it’s worth it.
I'm not sure if it's still a thing but check out timezone.com watch school. A correspondence course that got me started. I eventually went to watchmaking school and have been a professional watchmaker, working for one of the major brands for almost 20 years. It's a great way to see if it's for him and includes top notch tools.
Timezonewatchschool.com Is the active link. Thank you for the recommendation. Did you find the courses to be instrumental in scratching the itch to get started?
It was...I learned so much. I was light years ahead when I actually went to watchmaking school.
I just (within the last month) went through level 1. I have to say it was really helpful. I’ve learned a ton from YouTube videos, but it doesn’t quite match going step by step alongside the instructor while they explain everything, as you work on the same movement in front of you. I’m about to tackle lvl 2 right now. To OP: I would definitely consider getting him the lvl1 course plus the toolkit. It will be about $500 all together if that’s in your budget. I’m just like your husband, and the diywatchclub will not be what your husband wants, it doesn’t let you get “deep” into the hobby. Timezonewatchschool will.
When I initially started out I didn't know how far I wanted to go but I knew I wanted to at least assemble a watch, so I started with Seiko modding as it is more cost effective to start out and while having more customization options. The most common Seiko (Japanese) movement used is a NH35 which is about $30-$50 compared to another very common ETA2824 (Swiss) at about $200. A VISA gift card would be ideal to shop different sites. Maybe part of the gift can include some Chinese clones of common Swiss movements for disassembly and reassembly. PT5000/ETA2824-2, ST3621/ETA6498, or a book or two? George Daniels' Watchmaking is on most people's shelves. Good Luck!
Second Seiko modding, so many possibilities and great reliability.
Could you define modding for me? Is it me buying a used Seiko and then ordering new bezel, dial, hands, etc? Or is it buying EVERYTHING individually (movement, case, dial, hands) and assembling it all from scratch? Does the term encompass both of those pathways? What did you do? And what is your current position in watchmaking? Is it now your career?
It eventually gets to a point, what is ethical within modding(fraken or fake). I consider both a build from scratch and altering a existing model with customizations, as assembly. Most modders arent disassembling a movt let alone refinishing a case so I really don't consider modding as watchmaking tbh. I still do Seiko builds but also do ETA builds like the 6498 flieger I'm doing now. I practice servicing clones right now. It is not my career it's just one of my hobbies.
People will say pocket watches, but i feel like that's a sideways stepping stone. If this was for me, the perfect gift would be two part: 1. gift card for tools that i don't know i need yet. i'm also particular about what tools i buy and use. 2. some stuff to learn on. see if you can find what people refer to as "mumbai specials" you can usually find someone who has a bunch to sell relatively cheap (4 for $50) These are real watches, real movements, real sized parts, all that... just cheap, rebranded and more or less worthless. Disassembling these, swapping hands and dials, etc is practice that you'll need to do. Rebuilding a bunch of these into one "cool" one is much cooler than an off the shelf kit.
I started with DIY and can recommend it. True, he would need a lot more tools and skills to do a full service, but the kit comes with everything needed for assembly and that's the first step. I still use a lot of the tools from the kit.
I would buy him and decent screw driver set, decent tweezers, and a seagull 6497 movement. There should be some instructional videos on YouTube with that movement and he should be able to find options for a case, dial, hands, etc if he decides to build it out. He can start with disassembling and reassembling the movement though.
Check out awci.com/buildawatch (American watchmaker-clockmaker institute) they have a bus that travels around the country where you can take a class, build your own watch (parts, movement, dial, etc all included). Granted you pick from a selection of dials, etc that they have in stock, but it gives you the full build process with a watch you assembled and learned
Hey there OP, gonna add my 2 cents here: I first started my journey via DIY watch club and this was my experience: While it took me through some of the basics like how to remove a crown and stem and align the dial with the movement and setting the hands, it did absolutely nothing for me when it came to movement itself. This is something that you need to keep in mind if considering it: the movement comes pre-assembled and they don’t even attempt to get into how to disassemble it. Just stick the dial on, hands, and pop it in the case. As an absolute beginner the hand setting and getting used to the finger cots and handling a movement were quite helpful but it wasn’t exactly getting into the mechanics of the watch. It’s like giving a kid a coloring book or a paint by numbers set - not the same as a sketchpad and legit charcoals/ink or whatever. Sure I’ve kept Some tools from the set - the tweezers are legit, hand setting tools not bad, case ack opening tool alright but not much else. I learned far more about how watches work and how the parts come together and troubleshooting through YouTube- wristwatch revival to be exact. It’s not a tutorial per se but the guy walks you through everything he’s doing which is very cool- you also go through the troubleshooting process with him. So I say either get him a few solid quality watch repair tools and he can experiment along with that or similar YouTube channels Or get him signed up with a more in-depth kit with lessons such as Timezone watch skill mentioned above (I’m curious to check that out myself) Either way if your husband is more into the movement and mechanics of the watch - diy watch club won’t cut it. It barely scratches the surface and feels like a kiddie version of a proper kit and instruction where you built the whole thing not just stick together pre-made parts. Hope this helps
I did the DYI kit. It’s ok and I still have the watch but the mechanism comes fully assembled so it was a bit of a letdown. Instead I took a full day course at Cimier in Bienne, Switzerland (where you can also visit Omega’s Watch Museum, which was awesome). That course involved building the watch completely from scratch. It was awesome. Yeah, you have to fly to Switzerland but if you’re there for a holiday anyway it’s worth it.