What are the best lower end Swiss mechanical vintage watches?

[raykv423]

When I said lower end, I mean anything that’s less than $100–$200. 

I already have a vintage Timex Mercury I bought for just $10, but the issue is vintage Timex movements are notoriously difficult to be serviced and apparently you can’t even replace the parts, not even a mainspring (feel free to correct me but this is what I heard) and I’m not sure if a lighter fluid trick actually even works or if my vintage Timex can even be serviced at all and I’m not even sure how many watchmakers out there can service a vintage Timex, so I was hoping for another vintage watch that’s easily more repairable than a vintage Timex but considering I can’t afford a vintage Rolex or a Omega, I rather choose something far less expensive (maybe something like $5 to $100) and maybe something other than Timex and more Swiss made or at least has a Swiss movement, and has to be mechanical (manual wind and automatic are both fine).

[freddy333]

On 4/13/2025 at 8:39 PM, raykv423 said:

vintage Timex movements are notoriously difficult to be serviced and apparently you can’t even replace the parts, not even a mainspring (feel free to correct me but this is what I heard)

 

An ebay search for 'Timex watch parts' returns many pages of Timex parts. Same for 'Timex mainsprings'. Without including the specific Timex movement, it is impossible to answer your question with any accuracy. Is there a specific Timex movement you are interested in acquiring parts/service for?

In general, unless you are looking for damaged/defective items, I think you are going to have trouble finding any mechanical watches, movements & their parts cheap. At this point, even many so-called 'cheap' quartz watches & movements range in prices above $100.

[raykv423]

On 4/15/2025 at 3:03 PM, freddy333 said:

Is there a specific Timex movement you are interested in acquiring parts/service for?

The M24 movement, since my vintage Timex has that movement.

Edited 18 hours ago by raykv423

[freddy333]

I have only worked on 2-3 Timex watches, so I am not an authority, but they are simply made & I believe the M24 was a fairly common Timex movement that likely shares parts with other movements. I do not have a parts listing, so I cannot verify the correct mainspring for your movement or how available that & other commonly replaceable parts are.

 

In most cases, as long as your movement is complete (ie, not missing any parts), any watchmaker should be able to overhaul it, which will either put it into functional condition or give you an idea of what part or parts need to be replaced to get it there. That way you have a specific goal, rather than just a general assumption that parts are difficult to source. I would begin by checking with a local watchmaker to see if they can assist you. Otherwise, post a request for help in Timezone's Watchmaking forum. You might contact this seller to see if they have the mainspring you need.

 

Worst case, you can always get a generic mainspring to replace a worn 1. Either have a watchmaker handle the work, or, if you have some watchmaking skills, remove your spring from its barrel, measure the length, width & thickness of your spring & look for a match (with similar ends/fittings) on any of the watch parts houses like ofrei, cousins, esslinger, etc.