I’d love to be younger too and go back to watch making school, and become fully accredited. For now I just go by what I’ve learned over the years, since the age of 12 and by what I read and learn from others in the profession. I tutored under a Master Watchmaker/Master Jeweler/Stone Cutter at the age of 15 for about a year, until he moved out of state and I lost contact with him. I’ve known for years it was just a matter of time [no pun] until people tired of the goofy looks of some less expensive watches and wanted to get back to the real deal well crafted mechanicals. I’d love to have the tools and the skills to design and make my own Tourbillon, for example, if only to say I could. There’s an interesting video here of a Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyro Tourbillon, called the Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 that just mesmerizes me when I watch it.
I find it funny that I've read where the Chinese that make watches only wear Swiss, German, American or Russian watches themselves. They are making auto movements and the quality isn't that bad, such as the Seagull movements, although still somewhat hit or miss in quality control. I had one with a TY-2807 movement that kept great time, but sent it back due to the chrome plating on the movement flaking off inside the dial. There was a defective part that was bent or cracked during assembly that I could easily see due to the skeletonized dial and back. Some companies that market watches with these movements try stating a MSRP of in the thousands or $4,495 MSRP for the one I’d sent back and paid an actual $100 for, when the movements themselves only cost about $25 U.S to obtain.
I find it funny that I've read where the Chinese that make watches only wear Swiss, German, American or Russian watches themselves. They are making auto movements and the quality isn't that bad, such as the Seagull movements, although still somewhat hit or miss in quality control. I had one with a TY-2807 movement that kept great time, but sent it back due to the chrome plating on the movement flaking off inside the dial. There was a defective part that was bent or cracked during assembly that I could easily see due to the skeletonized dial and back. Some companies that market watches with these movements try stating a MSRP of in the thousands or $4,495 MSRP for the one I’d sent back and paid an actual $100 for, when the movements themselves only cost about $25 U.S to obtain.
