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Last Update on
Tuesday, 24 May, 2011 11:58 PM
Since: August 2001
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367 Watches by Brand A-Z (opens new window) |
Watches and Tools for Sale (opens new window) |
911 ...
Dear Watch Friends,
Welcome to my watch site that started as a documentation
of my
private collection (separate page, not for sale)
in 2001. You can find our
watches for sale here. With the help of many friends - online and in
the real world - I have been able to learn about watches, watch repair and watch
photography. Frederik Dove from BBC World Service summed it up much better than
I ever could: "Going through your collection is almost like a
history of the wristwatch history unwinding before your eyes."
Please have a look at the
Copyright section before copying content from
this site. Thank you.
Enjoy your stay!
Reto
Please read this before disassembling your Minute Repeater...
I am not a watchmaker. My knowledge comes from experimenting, trial and error and I had the luck of having a friend teaching me watchmaking basics.
You can start tinkering with your watches using our watch starter kit at a great price.
Last but not least, some of the watch work
below is not really "Watch School" material but rather personal notes from my
learning process.
Watch Books, Tools and References:
Basic Watch Works anybody can try:
| Basic Topics - Level of Difficulty | Tools required |
| WS10 | How to REFURBISH satin brushed BRACELETS - Beginner |
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| WS11 | How to REMOVE a watch MOVEMENT - Talented Beginner |
Case opener, movement pad, watchmaker's screw driver |
| WS12 | How to REMOVE and replace HANDS and DIAL - Talented Beginner |
Case opener, hands lifter, hands setting tool, watchmaker's screw driver |
| WS13 | How to make nice HOLES into Nylon STRAPS - Beginner |
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| WS14 | How to RESIZE the most common BRACELET types - Beginner |
Hammer, bracelet block, pin pusher or bracelet sizing tool |
| WS15 | How to remove SPLIT PINS with a BRACELET SIZING TOOL - Beginner | Bracelet sizing tool |
| WS16 | How to put on a NATO Strap quickly (including link to Bill Yao's DIY) | |
| WS17 | How to measure the overall LENGTH of a bracelet - Beginner | |
| WS18 | How to make a simple LEATHER STRAP - Beginner | Leather scissors, button |
| WS20 | Changing the battery on a Patek Nautilus with split-stem | Watchmaker's screw drivers, movement pad, Silicon grease |
| WS21 | How to use a Spring Bar Fork Tool - Beginner | Spring bar fork tool, ev. bracelet sizing tool, also see WS14 |
| WS23 | How to fix a clasp that is not closing properly - Beginner | A pair of pliers with smooth jaws |
| WS24 | How to resize a FLEX band (expansion bracelet) - Beginner | Spring bar fork, these instructions are on a Poljot page! |
| WS25 | Battery change on a IWC/JLC MechaQuartz Caliber 631 - Beginner | Case opener knife, tweezers with insulated tips, screw-driver 1.0 mm, 1 battery R397. Eventually a pin pusher to open bracelet |
| WS26 | How to change the Capacitor of a SEIKO 5M42 Kinetic - Beginner | Case opener for screwed backs, tweezers with insulated tips, screw-driver 1.0 mm screwdriver 2.0 mm, spare parts 30235MZ, toothpick, loupe (picture of all tools inside) |
| WS29 | How to change a crystal on a pocket watch - Intermediate | Case opener, movement pad, precision caliper, brass tweezers, eventually a case press with nylon dies |
| How to resize a SEIKO SKX779K/SKX781K (MONSTER) Bracelet with Pin Collars - Beginner | ||
| The instructions above also work for the SEIKO Samurais SDBA001, Knights SKXA49 and all watch bracelets with pins and collars | ||
Advanced* Watch Works:
*experience like absolving TimeZone's Watch School or having the opportunity working with a watchmaking tutor for a couple of times
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367 Watches by Brand A-Z (opens new window) |
Watches and Tools for Sale (opens new window) |
2. The Watch Hunting Reports and Miscellaneous
Watch Hunting in Bangkok:
| Location | Watches | Date |
| Jatujak Weekend Market | Hamilton/Seiko Ladies' Diver | July 7th 2002 |
| Jatujak Weekend Market | Royal/Orient Ladies' | August 3rd 2002 |
| At a small Shop in the Outskirts of Bangkok | Square Seiko/Orient Quartz | August 6th 2002 |
| Jatujak Weekend Market | Seiko Ladies' HW/Seiko 7005/Seiko 2205/Citizen V2/Citizen Ladies' HW | August 12th 2002 |
| China Town Bangkok | A Visit Full of Surprises! | May 28th 2003 |
Watch Hunting in Hong Kong:
Watch Hunting around the World:
| City | Country | Watches | Date |
| Tokyo | Japan | Grand Seiko, Orient GMT, Citizen ALTERNA | October 2002 |
| Bombay | India | TITAN EDGE ultra-flat quartz watches | Dec 2002 |
| Bombay | India | hmt Watches | Dec 2003 |
3. The Watch Articles & Reviews
| Topic | Format | Date | |
| A1 | Do you shake your watch? - Better watch this!* | Video | Jan. 2002 |
| A2 | Visiting Thailand's oldest active Watchmaker | Pictures and Text | Jul. 2002 |
| A3 | Two real and and two FAKE Omega Seamaster 300 m compared 3rd revision | Pictures and Text | Jul. 2002 |
| A4 | Inside a Sandoz Submariner-like | Pictures and Text | Jan. 2003 |
| A5 | Inside a TITONI Cosmo King Day-Date | Pictures and Text | Jan. 2003 |
| A6 | Arrival of 2 new Angular Momentum watches: ILLUM II Diver and AXIS LE | Pictures and Text | Feb. 2003 |
| A7 | Watches REALLY close: text and videos by Richard Freilich | 3 QUICKTIME Videos AVI Format | Aug. 2004 |
Reviews (R: Watch Review, C: Comparison, RA: Review Accessories):
Watch/Accessory Reviewed/Compared | Format | Date | |
| R1 | Uhr-Kraft Quartz Chronograph, Cal. Miyota 0S20 | Pictures and Text | Aug. 2002 |
| R2 | Orsa Quartz Chronograph, Cal. Miyota OS60 | Pictures and Text | Jun. 2004 |
| C1 | Omega Aqua Terra and Grand Seiko SBGR023 compared | Pictures and Text | Jan. 2004 |
| C2 | IWC GST Ti Chronograph and Ventura Loga Ti Slide-Rule Chronograph compared | Pictures and Text | Feb 2007 |
| RA 1 | DD Allwood 12-Watchbox | Pictures and Text | Apr.2002 |
| RA 2 | MK II 3-Watch-Travel-Case filled with 6 Watches and Accessories | Pictures and Text | Jun. 2004 |
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367 Watches by Brand A-Z (opens new window) |
Watches and Tools for Sale (opens new window) |
Watch Photography Helpers:
| Watch Reviewed | Accessories | Date | |
| GP1 | A Poor Man's Light Diffuser | Cloth Hanger and Vellum Paper | Dec. 2002 |
| GP2 | Photographic Helpers | Reflector Cards | Apr. 2005 |
5. The Forums - the new "Poor Man's" Watch Site
In October 2008 our ISP pulled the plug on the old forum that was a real resources guzzler. Luckily we, or better Jittery Jim and Tim, were prepared for an emergency switch and we could seamlessly switch to our new Phorum software. The new platform offers a lot more then our old WebBBS and was well received by the PMWF community. Please visit the all new "Poor Man's" Watch Site. Please note that if you registered at the old site, you will have register again for the new site which is even easier now. But it will be definitely worth it. We have new forums and lots of improvements waiting there for you. Looking forward to seeing you on the new site!
| Occasion | Prizes/Sponsors | Date |
| PMWF 1st Half Year Contest | Orient Automatic from Greg/Heat | June 14th 2002 |
| PMWF Sandoz Diver Contest | Ted/Matt | March 2003 |
| PMWF Strap Contest | diveluvR | April 1st 2003 |
| Celebrating New PMWF Server Contest | Easternwatch.com | September 2003 |
| PMWF THANKSGIVING WIS INSURANCE CONTEST | Ted aka TMK | 22nd November 2003 |
| Preview of the "2 Years PMWF" Contest | Too many to be listed here, see inside | November 2003 |
| "2 Years PMWF CONTEST" | Too many to be listed here, see inside | 14th December 2003 |
| 3rd PMWF Anniversary | Too many to be listed, see inside | December 2004 |
| 5th PMWF Anniversary | MarcelloC USA, ORSA, PMWC, Hector (Steinhart) | January 2007 |
PMWFerences:
| Location | Format | Date |
| New Orleans | Links to Matt V.'s post in the Archive | August 2004 |
| New York City | Photo Gallery with over 90 pictures! | 21st/22nd July 2006 |
| Chicago | Many Photo Galleries | 25th/26th July 2008 |
| The PMWF Gallery contains more pictures | ||
| The Photography Collections feature the latest events | ||
TIMEX Ironman Time Line (PMWF project)
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367 Watches by Brand A-Z (opens new window) |
Watches and Tools for Sale (opens new window) |
Terrorist attacks from Sept 11th 2001 |
Copyright Notice
Please feel free to use my watch photos for your personal entertainment and posts on discussion watch forums. If you use my photos, please give credits, thanks!
Please do not use any photos or text, design or layout from this site for your sales activities! Sales activities include Ebay auctions, any online auction site, Sales Corners of watch forums, online watch sites or any other sales or sales related activity.
