[145]

I found this link at another forum. You can buy your case and works and become that litle old watch maker you have always wanted to be.

I am not sure you can be honest about the Swiss Made part though if it is assembled here.

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:-ItN_Lbel1UJ:www.ofrei.com/page1168

 

[timefinder]

Koi:

This is a great link. Thanks. I would like to try it someday; but, I have to wonder....has anyone done this yet? Does it come with instructions? Espescially for regulating the watch for a novice who has no regulating experience or equipment? And why the price difference between models?

Thanks for any insight anyone may have.

 

[sheldonsmith]

Ofrei supplies for the TimeZone watch school

Otto Frei also supplies students in the TimeZone watch school. Two great courses; you get the tools and movements at a discount. After the two courses, you get a *much* better understanding of how watches work.

Above are my two TimeZone school watches, one automatic, one manual.

I have rebuilt some watches since the courses like my father in-law's Benrus above.

-Sheldon

 

[timefinder]

Sheldon:

Can you repost your pics? They are not coming through. Thanks!

 

[sheldonsmith]

I PM'd John

This is my second post here with no pictures rendering.

The actual links to the images are as follows:

http://members.aol.com/sheldons4/images/done-2.jpg

http://members.aol.com/sheldons4/images/LevelII.jpg

and

http://members.aol.com/sheldons4/images/benrus.jpg

I PM'd John to see what it is I am doing wrong. This is the only board where my pictures do not render. I dont know if it is vBulletin or something I am doing.

Any insights appreciated.

-Sheldon

 

[sheldonsmith]

There is some sort of link tracker gumming things up

In my above post, if you hit the link, the images wont render. If you hit the link again once it is in your web browser, it will render just fine.

There is some babble/link tracking going on between the vBulletin bulletin board engine and AOL.

I hope it is something that John can figure out.

-sheldon

 

[timefinder]

@Sheldon: Interesting how it does that. Thanks for sharing, and nice pics!

 

[boscoe]

LMAO! Did anyone besides me think:

Hmm, the watch will be assembled here in the USA (or Canada), but the dial will read Swiss Made. Perhaps this is The Lalo's sekret.

 

[bullandvodka]

sheldonsmith,

I have absolutely wanted to try the TimeZone school. I posted an inquiry about it in the old forum maybe 6 months ago, but no one responded as having done it. BTW, your project watches look great. I like your customizations!

Please let me know your experience with the school. I live in SF, so the parts people are just across the bay in Oakland. Was it fun? Was it enough to make you feel confident to crack open cases and make simple repairs to do fun customizations like changing the hands and dial? My goal would be to make my own watch with a VJ 7751 movement. Do you feel you can do that after taking the school?

 

[timefinder]

Was the school online or an actual instructor-led / hands-on?

 

[CaptKirk]

In case anyone has trouble posting a pic:

Image posting on this site is much easier than the old site.

1. Press the "Insert Image" button (looks like a pic of mountains). All the buttons have "tool tips" which display a text hint of the button's function. Hold your cursor over each to see what it does.
2. Paste the URL of the desired pic into the dialog box that opens up
3. Press OK

Press "Preview Post" Button to check the results.

Bam! It's there!

 

[sheldonsmith]

The courses are self-study with the assistance of a forum

The courses are self-study with the assistance of a forum led by watchmakers in Holland. The two courses are entirely cool. You work at your own pace, and the tools from the tool kit are top notch. The customizations that are shown on the watch are hands/faces that came with the movement kit. I found that it took about a month working a few evenings or weekend afternoon each week.

This is not a course you can power through because there is some question/answer on the forum, and invariably you are going to lose/break parts that you have to reorder. I lost a few springs that flew across the room, and broke a few screws... Fortunately, the kits use ETA movements so obtaining parts is easy from ofrei or other watch part houses. Also, I would lose or break parts when I got tired or tried too many steps in succession. Now I know why watch makers are a pretty calm crowd who dont rush any repair. There is a definite Zen zone I had to get into in order to work on watches.

the lessons are web based. I downloaded all the web pages and converted to .pdf on my computer so that I was not tied to the Internet. I can also refer back to them in the future (which I do).

I highly recommend the courses. Feel free to shoot me any questions regarding the courses, but save the actual technical questions for the course forum. Those questions are answered pretty quickly. Unfortunately, there is no level III course. If there were, I would have registered.

yes, after these classes and practicing on Benrus', creating your own watches wiht ofrei kits will be no problem as you will already have the tools and the understanding. I will cracking my 16710 later in the week to put on a transparent caseback. I already have the Rodico, silicon grease, and the press just came in the mail.

If you truly want to understand watches, take these classes.

-Sheldon