Watchmaking is a hobby that yields a lot of intellectual stimulation and intrinsic rewards. The reasons why you should build your own watch are numerous and meaningful due to its rich history and technological complexity. This can be a deterrent for many from indulging in the craft themselves, yet this should not be the case. Today, we will go through some basic steps to jumpstart your watchmaking hobby.
First, like with many things, research is a crucial first step. There are numerous resources available online to utilize when expanding your watchmaking knowledge. Gaining the fundamental knowledge of the components of a watch and how they operate would be a great start. Here are some of the great resources to check out:
Now that you deepened your understanding of watches and hopefully have the fundamentals down, it’s time to get a bit more hands on. A great first step to take instead of diving head first with building a watch from scratch would be picking up a watchmaking kit. Rotate’s watchmaking kits offer all-in-one, beginner friendly kits that include all the parts, tools, and instructions to fully assemble a classy watch. This is a simple yet amazing way to get the full start to finish experience of building your own watch without the lengthy and complicated process of doing it from scratch.
Once you feel that you have graduated from a watch made from a kit, it finally may be time to indulge in some more advanced watchmaking. One great way to start is to buy a cheap but relatively durable watch to experiment with. Start by just taking it apart and analyzing it by the functionality of each component. This might be a great time to refer to the various resources listed earlier to compare the teachings to the watch you have hands-on.
After getting comfortable with how to disassemble and assemble a watch, you might want to take the next step and buy all the components online from various sites and assemble your very own watch. This can be very time consuming but also yields a lot of reward.
Every person’s watchmaking journey will look slightly different than one other, but I hope this guide serves as a good basis to build yourself off of. Like any distinguishable craft, watchmaking will take time and patience to master. The key is to stay calm and diligent in the journey and find enjoyment out of the process.
Written by Sudona Barton of the Rotate Watches team.