The last thing I need right now is a new hobby. I keep telling myself that, but I can’t help it. I blame YouTube.
It all started two months ago, on an early Saturday morning. I found myself awake before the rest of the family, so I made some coffee and sat down to watch some classic Doctor Who on PlutoTV, except they were showing episodes from the William Hartnell years, which was a hard no for me. So I turned to YouTube and found an odd recommendation in my queue for a vintage wristwatch restoration video. It was an interesting-looking watch, and while the video was 50+ minutes, I was curious how one worked with tiny watch parts. So why not?
So started the tumble down the rabbit hole, and I love me a good rabbit hole. The question I’ve been asking myself ever since is: why watchmaking?
The Presentation
First off, Marshall at Wristwatch Revival is a professional video and voice-over artist and only repairs watches as a hobby. His videos are polished and the enthusiasm in his voice really shines through. If you look through the comments section, many say they watching him work is like watching Bob Ross paint: we may not paint ourselves, but we enjoy watching someone enjoy their craft.
A Restoration Tells a Story
It starts with a problem: a watch isn’t working properly and it’s the watchmaker’s task to discover what’s wrong as they take apart, inspect, clean, and re-assemble a tiny and intricate machine using specialized tools, magnifying loupes, and timing graphs. What’s at stake? Existential threat! Seriously! The watch’s whole reason for being is to tell accurate time, and the (low-stakes) drama is whether Marshall has the expertise to restore what’s been lost. In many ways, it’s a similar underlying premise of CSI and police procedural shows where experts have to piece together clues and use specialized knowledge to catch the criminal. It’s all about restoring a sense of order and control over a chaotic world.
Watches are Anachronisms
I like old things. I’m a sucker for history, retro-styling, and nostalgia. Not to rehash my previous point all over again, but old things come with their own stories: the stories of the people that owned them, the aesthetics of the time that said “this is how something should look,” and the history of how the objects were constructed to answer particular problems. Here, keeping accurate time in a mechanical device worn on the wrist.
It even goes further in that we decided we needed different watches for various activities, which gave rise to dress, field, and sport categories. We developed watches for specialists, like nurses, EMTs, pilots, racetrack professionals, and divers. In a time where the modern wristwatch is a miniature extension of our phones, there’s a nostalgic throwback feel to wearing a device that keeps time through a series of springs, gears and a pendulum.
I Appreciate the Craft
I’d like to think I’m handier than the average bear. After helping my dad fix houses and cars as a kid, I went to work in industrial manufacturing and fabrication. I’m not a mechanic or electrician, but I know enough to recognize my limitations as to what I can and cannot tinker with. For example, I can change out a PCV valve on an ’82 Chevy Citation and change the oil, but I wouldn’t dream of rebuilding its transmission.
Watchmaking is something I could tinker with, given the right tools and a bit of practice. It’s not too dissimilar to soldering circuits and getting fidgety little screws tightened down on sensor housings. (Somewhere, someone who knows watchmaking is laughing their ass off at my ignorance. I welcome your letters.)
So What’s Stopping You?
It’s a time and money sink I just can’t justify right now. The bare minimum would be something like $350-$1000, depending on the quality of the tools. I also can’t rely on YouTube videos for training, so I’d also be looking at 40+ hours of actual instructional videos and reading, plus the hands-on time of practicing the skills. That’s time and money I could spend on writing.
So was it all a waste of time?
No. The videos have inspired me to dig out my old Fossil watch, replace its battery, and spend some time removing the scratches from its crystal. It’s nothing close to a full restoration, and it’s certainly not a mechanical movement with fussy springs, ruby crystals and such, but it’s a retro-inspired timepiece I’ve had since high school with dings, scratches, and places where the brass is showing through the plating. It’s retro in fact now, with a story all its own and that’s enough for me.
For now, anyway.
If you’re interested in watching what sent me down a rabbit hole, here’s a link to what started it all. If you watch it, let me know what you think!
