Blogs: DIY Watches and More

Aug 11, 2026

A skeleton pocket watch turns timekeeping into a visual experience. Every gear, spring, and jewel is on display, and you can watch the entire mechanical system operate in real time. To create this ...

Aug 7, 2026

You are sitting at your workbench with a hand-wound movement kit disassembled in front of you. The pallet fork jewels look like specks of red dust. The hairspring coil is thinner than a strand of h...

Aug 5, 2026

If your Miyota 8215 is drifting more than you would like, regulation can help. Many owners notice steady gain or loss after a few months of wear, and most builders can handle the adjustment at home...

Aug 3, 2026

The cannon pinion is a tiny friction-fit tube that holds the minute hand in place on the Seiko NH36 movement. When the cannon pinion works correctly, nobody thinks about it. When hand installation ...

Jul 30, 2026

Choosing your first watch movement kit usually comes down to two options: the Seagull ST3600 and the Miyota 8215. Both cost $140 in complete kits with tools and guides, and both teach real mechanic...

Jul 29, 2026

Two NH36-powered watchmaking kits sit at the same Easy difficulty level: the Cabot and the Marco. Both use the Seiko NH36 automatic movement with 24 jewels, day-date complications, and over 41 hour...

Jul 28, 2026

Setting the date on a mechanical watch seems simple until something goes wrong. The Miyota 8215 date mechanism is one of the most widely used calendar systems in affordable automatic watches, found...

Jul 27, 2026

The NH36 danger zone is the 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. window when the automatic date-change mechanism is engaged. Setting the day or date during these hours can strip gear teeth and damage the calendar whee...

Jul 24, 2026

Open the caseback on most watches, and you see a solid metal plate covering the gears. Open a skeleton watch, and every wheel, bridge, and spring is visible. That visual drama is why skeleton movem...

Jul 23, 2026

Ask a watchmaker to name the most important Swiss automatic movement ever made, and most will say the ETA 2824. Since its launch in 1971, this workhorse caliber has powered watches from brands like...

Jul 22, 2026

Seagull movements are mechanical watch calibers produced by the Tianjin Seagull Watch Group, the world's largest manufacturer of mechanical movements. Despite that distinction, most watch buyers ha...

Jul 21, 2026

Most affordable automatic movements need large cases, but the Seiko NH05 movement breaks that rule. At just 17.5mm in diameter, the NH05 is Seiko's smallest automatic caliber in the NH family. That...