Don Dahlberg
Familiar Face
- Messages
- 68
- Location
- Southcentral PA
Several of you have asked how to find a good watchmaker. First, most watchmakers of vintage watches are members of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) and/or American Watch and Clock Institute (AWCI). Both have referral pages on the internet. For the NAWCC go to http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/business-directory and http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/member-information/members-links. For AWCI see http://www.watch-clock-makers.org/
Being a member of one of these organizations does not mean the watchmaker is good. It is best to get recommendations from someone who knows the field, and/or educate yourself a little about what makes a good watchmaker. One way to get recommendations is to contact the officers of your local chapter of NAWCC. You can find these officers at http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/chapter-information/find-a-chapter-and-officers.
Once you have found a watchmaker, you need to ask some questions. Ask them about the watch. If they cannot tell you about the watch, they may not know much about vintage watches. (Of course, there are many strange watches out there such as this Russian watch. We just cannot find parts for such watches and many are not well make.) You should ask how they overhaul a watch. They should describe how they take it apart to all moving parts (about 50 pieces). They clean the watch in an ultrasonic or mechanical cleaner using a cleaning solution and one or more rinses. If they talk about a combination cleaning-oiling solution, run (do not walk) out of the door. They should then reassemble the watch movement while inspecting each part. They should make repairs or corrections in the parts as they go. During and after this process they oil the movement using several types of oils and greases at appropriate locations. Finally they adjust the watch for timing appropriate for the movement grade and run the watch in several orientations for several days. They should stand by their work for at least three months. It take a minimum of 3 to 4 hours to clean a watch. It can take much longer when there are problems with the watch. I spend much of my time undoing "fixes" done by others. Expect to pay for that time. A proper overhaul often costs more than the value of a watch. It take one to two years of formal training to start to become a watchmaker. The best are AWCI or WOSTEP certified. Still there are many good vintage watchmakers who have learned through an apprenticeship with other watchmakers. (Ask where they were trained.) It takes years or decades to become good no matter how you were trained.
I hope those of you are interested in vintage watches find this useful. You might want to explore the NAWCC at www.nawcc.org.
Don Dahlberg
Being a member of one of these organizations does not mean the watchmaker is good. It is best to get recommendations from someone who knows the field, and/or educate yourself a little about what makes a good watchmaker. One way to get recommendations is to contact the officers of your local chapter of NAWCC. You can find these officers at http://www.nawcc.org/index.php/chapter-information/find-a-chapter-and-officers.
Once you have found a watchmaker, you need to ask some questions. Ask them about the watch. If they cannot tell you about the watch, they may not know much about vintage watches. (Of course, there are many strange watches out there such as this Russian watch. We just cannot find parts for such watches and many are not well make.) You should ask how they overhaul a watch. They should describe how they take it apart to all moving parts (about 50 pieces). They clean the watch in an ultrasonic or mechanical cleaner using a cleaning solution and one or more rinses. If they talk about a combination cleaning-oiling solution, run (do not walk) out of the door. They should then reassemble the watch movement while inspecting each part. They should make repairs or corrections in the parts as they go. During and after this process they oil the movement using several types of oils and greases at appropriate locations. Finally they adjust the watch for timing appropriate for the movement grade and run the watch in several orientations for several days. They should stand by their work for at least three months. It take a minimum of 3 to 4 hours to clean a watch. It can take much longer when there are problems with the watch. I spend much of my time undoing "fixes" done by others. Expect to pay for that time. A proper overhaul often costs more than the value of a watch. It take one to two years of formal training to start to become a watchmaker. The best are AWCI or WOSTEP certified. Still there are many good vintage watchmakers who have learned through an apprenticeship with other watchmakers. (Ask where they were trained.) It takes years or decades to become good no matter how you were trained.
I hope those of you are interested in vintage watches find this useful. You might want to explore the NAWCC at www.nawcc.org.
Don Dahlberg
