Watch Repairing as a Hobby: An Essential Guide for Non-Professionals
Product ID: 48021564
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Before Apple and Casio made watches, repair was a craft. Here an illustrated handbook, ideal for the beginner that acts as a watch and clock encyclopedia First published almost 75 years ago in London, D.W. Fletcher’s guide is still an indispensable guide to understanding the way that watches work. Beginning with the absolute basics of watch operation, Fletcher explains the different tools needed for repair, cleaning, and disassembling. He also adds a troubleshooting guide for common ailments and detailed solutions. With dozens of detailed diagrams, Fletcher’s book is divided into five main sections: How a watch works Tools and how to use them How to take down, clean, and reassemble a watch Common ailments of a watch More ailments Watch Repairing as a Hobby takes a watch amateur from intrigued novice to skilled technician. With dozens of illustrations to lead you from analysis to repair, this classic manual is necessary for anyone curious about watches and how they tick. “Have you ever thought of watch repairing as a hobby? You may feel that a watch is so tiny and your hands are so big. Just there lies the fascination of this hobby; watches are so tiny, and because they are so tiny they have to be much more perfectly made than other mechanisms. You may not believe it but you can, with practice, acquire such skill in handling the tiny parts of a watch that you will forget that they are tiny. You can start in quite a small way and you only need a few tools; as you grow in confidence and skill you will find more and more to interest you. It may even be that you will make some momentous discovery which will rock the horological world.”—From the Preface Review: Good state and fast delivery - The book arrived quickly and in good state. The book itself is not bad, start simple and then goes quite deep on escapements, etc. But then it is a book, you can get the same info today on youtube with faster and much clearer explanations/demonstrations. There are a few "tips" however that are worth reading. It is fair to say that the first chapters can be read, but then at 1/3 to 1/2 of it it becomes very specialised. So either you are obsessed with horology and you read it all, or you take a "read when you need it" and use the second half of the book more to solve a problem you would be facing when working on a watch. Review: Reprint of 1947 book. Nice read. - Quite a small book but an enjoyable read. Note that this is a reprint of the original 1947 published book. You must bear this in mind when reading. A lot of the information presented is still relevant. It is a nice, if dated, introduction to mechanical watch repair.
| Best Sellers Rank | 139,096 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 17 in Antique & Collectable Restoration & Maintenance 41 in Antique & Collectable Clocks & Watches 318 in Engineering & Technology References |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 846 Reviews |
N**S
Good state and fast delivery
The book arrived quickly and in good state. The book itself is not bad, start simple and then goes quite deep on escapements, etc. But then it is a book, you can get the same info today on youtube with faster and much clearer explanations/demonstrations. There are a few "tips" however that are worth reading. It is fair to say that the first chapters can be read, but then at 1/3 to 1/2 of it it becomes very specialised. So either you are obsessed with horology and you read it all, or you take a "read when you need it" and use the second half of the book more to solve a problem you would be facing when working on a watch.
C**C
Reprint of 1947 book. Nice read.
Quite a small book but an enjoyable read. Note that this is a reprint of the original 1947 published book. You must bear this in mind when reading. A lot of the information presented is still relevant. It is a nice, if dated, introduction to mechanical watch repair.
J**N
reference book
great for the reference library
P**S
Reads like breaking a WW2 code, mechanical watches mystery made crystal clear - at last!
Clear, concise, practical, educational and a wonderful book that has stood the test of time, being a direct reprint of its 1948 original. It needs no updating, it does what it says on the cover, its an essential guide, particularly to newcomers to this fascinating subject.
T**N
Three Stars
great reading
M**E
Interesting and informative
Quite hard to read, initially, but gets easier the more you go through it. I have been using it to learn how to strip and repair junk watches I buy from auctions. It's been really useful and I have a much better understanding of how a watch is laid out functionally. As other reviews have mebtioned the book is quite old and the images are a little quaint by today's standards, but if you accept that then it's fine.
G**E
Value 4 money
lots of information lots of helpful drawings
R**1
As Described
As Described
M**I
Interesting info
The book is good if you have zero knowledge regarding the watch function, as it explains the basics. However, it is a good book to start with if you are thinking of getting into this hobby.
A**R
Five Stars
great resource for beginners!
L**K
Waste of money
Book is only 62 pages and hasn’t been updated in 50 years. Unless you like classic books, too old to be of any use today. Bit a waste of money. There are better alternatives today.
C**N
Much shorter than advertised. Not updated in 50 years
This is a small book. It is advertised as 80 pages. Untrue: it is only 63 pages. Whic makes it pretty expensive. And it may have been a golden classic, but it ha not been updated in 50 years… So half a century of progress is missed.
A**K
unuseful
Book is a reprint of a 40s text, in the meantimes repairing products and watches changed so it is too old to be useful. Moreover, you won't anyway be able to repair an old watch: the book is good to learn how a watch works but not detailed about opening it, disassembling, etc.
Trustpilot
2 days ago
1 month ago