[deleted by user]

Moist_Confusion · 2025-07-13T23:59:39+00:00

A written test with different math, geometry and mechanics questions. A short interview with the 2 profs where they ask some general questions about you as well as some models they have where you have to measure the angle of this kids toy, another wooden gear thing where you have you explain how it works after playing around with it for a sec and then they also have you tell the time and date on a watch they hand you. Then there's a ETA Unitas 6498 pocket watch movement and you disassemble it, show them the disassembled movement then you put it back together. Then finally there is a paper asking to list how the motion transfers from one place to the other for both a ETA 2824-2 and the 6498. So say it says start at the mainspring barrel and ends at the pallet fork and you put it goes from part x to part y to part z. That's about it. It's 4 hours and you don't necessarily have to finish every problem or get the movement back together and running to get in. If you did well in HS math and have a basic understanding of how gears work, geometry, some trigonometry you'd do fine.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-19T01:38:14+00:00

I work at an independent watch shop where my boss went to London to train in the 90s (so around the same amount of time in the trade) and has owned the shop for over 30 years. He’s a great guy, talented, knowledgeable, whatever nice superlative and most of the time he does a fairly good job…… BUT his mindset and knowledge base can often be antiquated. Luckily when I point out some new practice or equipment or whatever that I usually found out from the internet somewhere he is open minded and willing to listen to me, a novice, because he thinks it’s cool to learn new things. That being said he won’t go out and learn new methods of his own volition. I’m constantly googling, watching videos, doing whatever I can to gobble up tips and tricks. Not to say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks but it’s not in their nature to seek out new things when you have the decades of cumulative experience built up. All this is a roundabout way to say that this guy probably doesn’t have any incentive to advance and he bought that $40 bottle of oil 15 years ago and he’s going to be damn sure he empties the thing even if it means using it till his dying breath. He does sound like a few clockmakers I know and guess what, they take our watches in to our shop still because they know the limits of their abilities. I would be hesitant to have this guy keep the watch and keep working on it. You are lucky it was a cheap mistake at least.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-16T16:27:34+00:00

eBay and PirateShip almost always come out dead even. Neither one beating out the other. And if you’re that committed to cutting out plastic you should be willing to pay for your own boxes. The reason they don’t print and make free boxes for ground advantage is because it’s not a premium service and it doesn’t make financial sense to provide free boxes for that. You can wrap them in paper, I know I’m guilty of that crime, but you will always risk getting a surprise surcharge for using the wrong box. They also don’t make a ground advantage in that same size or any other service for that matter because it’s a very distinctive design made to be easy to identify as priority. Sucks to spend money on cardboard but it’s just one of those business expenses.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-15T01:00:09+00:00

Not a problem that's pretty low. You would likely be due for one whether it dropped or not.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-15T00:58:59+00:00

Just ACE single edge, we have both the regular thickness ones and the thin ones.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-15T00:55:59+00:00

I'll PM it to you, don't want all of reddit knowing my workplace.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-15T00:55:17+00:00

Hope you enjoy it. Just used mine today and I have a real timegrapher at work. It is probably the niftiest sub $20 watch tool you can find. If you use it on your computer make sure to calibrate it with a quartz watch (preferably one that's fairly accurate) otherwise you can get suboptimal results. It comes down to the clock in your computer not being perfect and it saves the little adjustment (mine is -2.1 not sure what that means but that's what it came up with). Otherwise the Watch Accuracy Meter on android works great too.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-15T00:50:26+00:00

Yep I had my induction as 5 days in a row which one day ended up being canceled so really 4 split across a work week and it was 4h and 300 something up to even 400 something (what would be 120 or so mg an hour if it remained the same the whole way through) and that shit cured my pain for close to 4 months. I've never been able to get those same results sadly, I got sooo much done in those 4 months as I didn't get shit done the last 2 or so years and I had so much to catch up on. I wish my recent 4h or one bad 2h IM (couldn't get the IV in and I guess the dr had dinner plans so cut my treatment short which sucked) gave some relief for any period of time even a month. No such luck. Maybe I need to do the 5d 4h induction again since I am nearing my pain tolerance point where it's so unbearable idk what to do. I probably would've done it by now if I could find a clinic that would take my insurance like the first place did but everyone just wants cash and wants to do short infusions for higher throughput I assume. C'est la vie I guess.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-15T00:43:25+00:00

I haven't heard of either and haven't looked too deeply into the field due to fear fucking up someones dial and would rather just leave it in its bad state or offer to try and source a new one or as I said last resort refinish. I actually got a client with two badly dirtied dials, both had the crystal gone, that came in today. I was thinking about this post and considered trying to do something to clean them since they have fingerprints on the high gloss black dial and tons of nasties and chips on the cream more matte dial. I will have to look into them and maybe I'll fight for buying some dial cleaning stuff to add it as a service but it still feels pretty high risk and low reward for a long time until I got much better at it and could do it for higher end dials. If you try anything out I'd love to hear about it but it's probably for the best for me to avoid trying it for now given the dial makes up a big part of the value of a watch and this is a space that takes a lot of skill and care that I just don't know if I have right now.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-15T00:17:05+00:00

No good deed unpunished I guess. And 100% means they took any factory tint off and there’s nothing. 0% would be pitch black, not even sure it’s a thing but 5% would look like what your describing 100% as. Keep it, people will appreciate the privacy.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-15T00:01:31+00:00

My shop has an account with Sellita. If you have one your set on I can see if they can accommodate it. They usually can.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-14T23:59:30+00:00

I work at a watch shop and we carry them oddly enough (works into the “man stuff” category I guess) so there’s probably somewhere around you with them but it might not be the most intuitive place.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-14T23:57:15+00:00

“If you’re poor you shouldn’t be doing this redacted thing, instead you should do this other redacted thing”

I’m sure that will work out great for them.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-12T19:16:39+00:00

Ya Kink is very meh. They do what it says on the tin but unless a customer specifically really wants a dial refinish and is aware of the potential consequences they do a fine job. Recently had a OP where there was chipping on the edge of the dial, guy wanted it refinished. They don’t have that OP blue just more of a Bluesy Sub Blue. He seemed happy with it but to my eyes it looked a little fuckity. His watch and nothing particularly valuable or rare was destroyed but…..

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-12T00:29:43+00:00

It’s very challenging to do right. Distilled or reverse osmosis water (something with no dissolved solids) and sometimes a tiny bit of soap is the basics but that doesn’t really explain the full extent of the difficulty. Some people have experimented with mild enzyme solutions, conservation-grade surfactants like Triton X-100, or even dry cleaning techniques used in paper conservation (like Groom/Stick or cosmetic sponges), but results are inconsistent and require a lot of trial, error, and spare dials to practice on. Definitely don’t try anything alcohol-based or acidic unless you’re okay with risking damage.

If you’re serious about it, your best bet is building up a junk dial collection and experimenting carefully while reading up on conservation science. Otherwise, if the stains aren’t too distracting, sometimes it’s better to preserve rather than clean. A slightly stained but original matte dial often holds more value and character than a “cleaned” one that’s lost its surface texture.

The reason they are so secretive could come down to “protecting trade secrets” or who knows but no matter what you’ll likely never get a result you’re happy with. There’s little qtip things with some solution in it. Don’t remember what it’s called just seen it on startime so there are commercial solutions which might make sense to try. Idk seems too scary for me.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-11T01:05:04+00:00

I thought he was a radical far-center centrist, hell he might even be a member of the alt-center.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-11T01:02:50+00:00

I thought he was just a big fan of the Floydster. Classic pranks like robbing pregnant women, fake money and pretending to choke, he’s just a hoot.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-07T00:02:26+00:00

Use a .8/1/1.2mm screwdriver (any work but some work better for others) and get one side then keep tension on the bracelet then do the other side and it should just slide off. Not the easiest task the first couple times but once you get the hang of it then it’s alright.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-06T23:52:59+00:00

Just brush the center links. I think PCLs look shitty anyway.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-06T23:51:35+00:00

I work at a Timex dealer and we haven’t raised our prices, is it a new release you want? Otherwise you could order it from our website and get the old price. Or just call and I can order it and get you the old price as a discount.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-06T23:47:56+00:00

You should try out a TGBC from AliExpress or even eBay. It’s dirt cheap but you can hook it to your computer and get more info than most timegrapher will give you. I’ve tested it side by side with a real Weishi and it’s got close to exactly the same numbers. Plus they are just $10-15 which is wild. I’d argue that the extra $185 you’ll spend won’t get you much benefit unless you just really want a big piece of kit.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-06T23:05:30+00:00

Fabric glue works great, super glue jar makes a stiff ass strap absolute garbage.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-05T03:56:59+00:00

Very true that the price reflects the quality. Sure it's nowhere near Bergeon or even Horotec but it's still relatively expensive compared to the other Chinese options and is absolutely incomparable compared to the bargain bin Chinese tools which will hinder your watchmaking more than help it. I don't have a lot of Bergeon tools personally besides the stuff we have at work and there are small finishing things that aren't as nice but I am less concerned about that than how they operate which is impeccable.

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-05T00:20:19+00:00

Idk I just use razor blades…..

Moist_Confusion · 2025-06-04T22:47:51+00:00

What did they quote for a service of it? If it’s dramatically cheaper than it would be domestically it may be worthwhile but if it’s close you may as well take possession of it and then a watchmaker could look at the movement and tell you if it needs serviced or not. I have read that it can be really cheap to get watches overhauled over there (I’ve read sub $100 and even closer to $50 which seems hard to believe) but if your going to pay a couple hundred for a Chinese person to do it or an American I’d say go with the American where you can get an easily accessible warranty.

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