vric Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 (edited) Hi I'm looking to start playing with watches a bit more seriously. The TimeZone Watch School look to be one of the only option (if you don't want to buy 20 books to start) and I was wondering what you were thinking about this ? The level one with tools and some extra is about $450 (a bit expensive) and the level 2 would be about the same. Do you have any other option ? something cheper ? Anyone used this courses to start ? Thanks Edited March 18, 2008 by vric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HauteHippie Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankt Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 I did the first course waaaaay back when Walter Odets was just beginning the venture....In fact It was FREE back then...I have been able to take several watches apart as a result....Reassembly, on the other hand is a different story!! But seriously, it did give me the skills, and confidence to do routine stuff, like dial swaps, and adjustments...My motor skills have deteriorated with age, (and carpal tunnel surgery!!) to the degree that I dare not go beyond those levels any longer... BTW...If you weren't aware....Walter is the son of the playwright Clifford Odets.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 Walter is the son of the playwright Clifford Odets.... Incredible. When I read the name, I thought, wonder if he's related to Clifford Odets. Absolute legend. I love "Waiting for Lefty". From one of America's greatest playrights to a WIS son. It must be difficult to be the son of outstanding individuals... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankt Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 (edited) Incredible. When I read the name, I thought, wonder if he's related to Clifford Odets. Absolute legend. I love "Waiting for Lefty". From one of America's greatest playrights to a WIS son. It must be difficult to be the son of outstanding individuals...Last I heard, he was no longer "into" watches at all...Having moved on to fine art collecting... Walt made a lot of enemies in the WIS world @ 10 yrs ago when he did a scathing expose of Rolex quality control...I suspect that the post he made is still in circulation on the net somewhere...I always respected his talents and wisdom, and found him to be helpful and generous with his time..A real gentleman!! In fact...Here it is!!: http://www.timezone.com/library/horologium/horologium0036 Edited March 18, 2008 by frankt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 Last I heard, he was no longer "into" watches at all...Having moved on to fine art collecting... Walt made a lot of enemies in the WIS world @ 10 yrs ago when he did a scathing expose of Rolex quality control...I suspect that the post he made is still in circulation on the net somewhere...I always respected his talents and wisdom, and found him to be helpful and generous with his time..A real gentleman!! Well, at least there are some people that appreciated him. Thanks for the link, too, Frank. In fact...Here it is!!: http://www.timezone.com/library/horologium/horologium0036 "I doubt that this watch is representative of Rolex's historical production. Fifteen or 20 years ago, I believe the Rolex was what I expected this watch to be: a sturdy, minimally finished but workmanlike, reliable, work-horse. In thinking about how representative of current production this one sample might be, one must consider how a company produces 700,000 or 800,000 watches in a year. They are produced on assembly lines. Each part installed in the watch is selected randomly from a bin of hundreds or thousands of like parts. Likewise, each operation performed--or omitted--occurs randomly from among thousands of like operations. Thus, to believe that this watch does not represent the current approach to watch making at Rolex, we must believe that this single watch is the unique recipient of a dozen or more randomly-selected defective parts and randomly performed deficient or omitted manufacturing procedures. There are too many defects in this watch to support such an explanation. A mass-produced product with multiple defects represents, in itself, a form of statistical sampling of the total pool of parts and manufacturing operations and procedures. Clearly, the Oyster Perpetual Explorer is not a watch that I could recommend. The cost-efficient engineering of the movement is not remotely reflected in its price; and the extreme ease of service is not reflected in routine service costs provided by the manufacturer. The watch represents an extremely poor value if purchased solely to provide accurate and reliable timekeeping. And it is of no horological interest whatsoever. The contrast between the relatively good external appearance of the watch and the internal appearance is absolutely unparalled in my experience. I cannot think of another consumer product in which the gulf between the publicly perceived quality and the reality I saw is as broad as with the Explorer." Hmm, this burnt bridges? How ironic that in the rep world, had this been written by By-Tor or others, it would've been hailed as a masterpiece of honesty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvn Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 PM me about the course material. You're on your own for the tools, though. I am looking for it too - pm sent Now i need to buy a set of tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ylfig Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 I'm trying to read up as well. I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 Hmm, this burnt bridges? How ironic that in the rep world, had this been written by By-Tor or others, it would've been hailed as a masterpiece of honesty. There's a lot of controversy surrounding that review, to be honest. It's not as cut and dried as it would at first seem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iflylow78 Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 would love the material as well - pm seems to be full. If I may ask you to pm me when you can that would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 There's a lot of controversy surrounding that review, to be honest. It's not as cut and dried as it would at first seem. Hmm. Angus gets around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offshore Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Anyone wanting a copy of the TZ watch course, can either PM me, or hang around for a day or so. I think you may find a raffle coming up, that will solve your needs! Offshore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmythree Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 quote = There's a lot of controversy surrounding that review, to be honest. It's not as cut and dried as it would at first seem. /quote The explorer I in question was purchased new from a rolex AD by Richard Paige, the owner of TZ back then. note: RP also owned 'Paris 1925' an upscale California watch store where he sold patek, ap, vc etc and was an accomplished watchmaker. The condition was representative of a production rolex of that era. Remember that the timekeeping was very good and the dial etc was well finished...this is what sells the watch. Very few owners know or care what goes on inside their watch as long as it has the magic name on the dial and looks and runs OK. (this is also a pretty good explanation of why replicas have made it so big) I had friends at a rolex AD back then and rolex did turn out some crap...I saw it firsthand. (and owned a few AK etc with the 3000) They were still trying to maintain QC while turning out 600,000 watches a year and it was not working out very well. Besides...the calibre 3000 movement in the explorer was not much of a movement imho. It was a cheapo quickie...a downgraded 3035 made just so rolex could have a fast beat no date movement for the ex I, no date sub, OP etc until they came out with the 3130 a few years later. (the 3130 is made from the 3135) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 If you are serious about the mechanics and/or repair of watch movements, I would strongly recommend taking both levels of the TZ course. By themselves, they will not teach you how to repair watches, but they will teach you how to take them apart & give you the basic skills to reassemble a basic movement. From there, I would recommend reading 1 of the classic watch repair books. My favorite is Donald de Carle's excellent 'Practical Watch Repairing', but it is probably not the best book to begin with if you have not completed both levels of the TZ course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capice Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 If you are serious about the mechanics and/or repair of watch movements, I would strongly recommend taking both levels of the TZ course. By themselves, they will not teach you how to repair watches, but they will teach you how to take them apart & give you the basic skills to reassemble a basic movement. From there, I would recommend reading 1 of the classic watch repair books. My favorite is Donald de Carle's excellent 'Practical Watch Repairing', but it is probably not the best book to begin with if you have not completed both levels of the TZ course. Just bought Practical Watch repairing and a german book from Jendritzki u.a.: Die Armband- und Taschenuhr in der Reparatur. Can recommend both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vric Posted March 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 (edited) Hi again.. Don't want to start a new topic on the same subject, so... I got the Course from offshore and now looking to buy the Tool kit. The course is mostly on the ETA 2804-2, but there is also one with ETA 6497-1. My question: If I take the ETA 6497-1, is it possible to get a Panerai Watch Case here and fit that movement in ? I know most use the ETA 6497, but is the ETA 6497-1 would do the trick ? If i'm to spend $300 on a toolkit, better spend few buck more and have a nice looking watch out of it Thanks Edited March 28, 2008 by vric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P4GTR Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Hi again.. Don't want to start a new topic on the same subject, so... I got the Course from offshore and now looking to buy the Tool kit. The course is mostly on the ETA 2804-2, but there is also one with ETA 6497-1. My question: If I take the ETA 6497-1, is it possible to get a Panerai Watch Case here and fit that movement in ? I know most use the ETA 6497, but is the ETA 6497-1 would do the trick ? If i'm to spend $300 on a toolkit, better spend few buck more and have a nice looking watch out of it Thanks bump, i'd like to know the answer to this question, and any other opinions on the OP's subject as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_brian_ Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Besides...the calibre 3000 movement in the explorer was not much of a movement imho. It was a cheapo quickie...a downgraded 3035 made just so rolex could have a fast beat no date movement for the ex I, no date sub, OP etc until they came out with the 3130 a few years later. (the 3130 is made from the 3135) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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