Welcome to September - It's Watch Time

 

Time is crucial to archaeologists. It means the world to us as we excavate and try to reveal the past. We are not mind readers by any stretch of the imagination, but with careful digging, most often with trowels, we can piece together what occurred at archaeological sites down to specific dates in time. As a prehistoric archaeologist, I can't get that specific. Yet, time still is crucial to my studies and excavations (dating a prehistoric site within 50 to a couple hundred years is still helpful in understanding a community that no longer exists). Give all this, I think you see why watch making and repairs are something I picked up as a new career path (part-time anyway).

I always wanted to learn a trade, and after spending almost $50 at a jeweler to have a battery replaced in
a watch, I decided to look into repairing watches on my own. Let me tell you, it's been an exciting journey!!! For less than the cost of getting ONE watch fitted with a new battery, I purchased tools with which to repair a few old watches I had lying around. Then, with the help of a master watch maker as a mentor and guide (along with videos from the University of YouTube (many from Esslinger Watch Supplies company), I've repaired over a hundred watches for friends, family, and students. As for my students, I purchase old, broken watches on Ebay, repair them, and then give the watches away to students who have no money to purchase books for classes, let alone watches. Thing is, people laughed at me saying that students wouldn't want watches because they use their cell phones to check the time. Sure enough, there was resistance from students at first. Now, I am going through watches left and right. As for my watch repair skills, replacing batters, watch crystals, seals, and crowns are things I can do. Many thanks to the watch company that donated 4 watch bands to my efforts and thank you to the Ebay sellers who have given me discounts on old watches. all the watches are given away. Cheers to everyone!!!!

P.S. An unexpected bonus with watch making/repairs - I have battled extreme OCD my entire life. Between medicine and therapy, my OCD is somewhat manageable. Now though, I find that working on a watch helps me calm down relatively quickly when my OCD/anxiety are through the roof. The last 6-8 months have been amazing.