(The link to download the guide exists at the bottom of the page).
One of my friends said, “I can do anything with a staking set and a lathe, but I prefer specialized tools.”
I agree with him. I look for tools that can help me do a better job at watchmaking. Sometimes those specialized tools do not get the job done and sometimes they do. I have found the pre-owned vintage tools in most cases superior to new ones. That’s not always the case, but using generalities often gets me in trouble so I won’t say every time.
When I attended Horology School in Paris, Texas at the Institute of Jewelry and Horology, I found a world of surprises. The biggest, perhaps, involved the tools the school provided. Most came from the period of 1930 through 1959. Why? The instructor explained that before digital and crystal watches changed the landscape, approximately 30-60,000 watchmakers worked in the United States. Today, the profession employs about 2500.
The bulk of interest in vintage watches and tools comes from amateurs, self-taught watchmakers and hobbyists. Depending on the progression of the non-certified watchmaker, certain tools become essential. For example, I never thought I would want a lathe. I left horology school when I faced a boring semester of lathe work. I didn’t want to spend $5000 to sit on a lathe.
Today, I need to know how to polish and burnish pivots. My area of interest in watches requires more work than changing parts. Often I have to retrofit them or find parts watches and make changes in wheels, balance staffs and so forth.
I browse eBay for vintage tools. I buy new ones from Esslinger, when possible. On eBay, I’ve gone through the school of hard knocks. For example, a seller listed a balance screw holder as a pin vise. When I asked how she identified it, the seller wrote, “my watch person” said it was a pin vice. I asked her about her “watch person” and it was the widow of a watchmaker.
The active watchmakers of the pre-quartz days have died off in recent years. If you shop on eBay, you will notice hundreds of vintage watches and tools flooding a once tight market. Watchmakers’ estates abound and so do “estate and garage sale” dealers. For the most part, estate buyers haven’t a clue what they have. You will see an item worth about $10 listed for $200. I look for the $200 items someone listed for ten dollars that says “nice watchmakers tool”. I actually find some.
This booklet will help you identify vintage watch tools. It’s from an old catalog dated 1953. I have a second one from Lindstrom dated 1951 and you’ll find it on my site too.
The point of all this? To help you and me enjoy our work and get it done with the best tools possible.
Respectfully submitted
