Alright, let’s talk about this pocket watch thing. It started pretty simply. I was rummaging through an old box, you know, the kind everyone has with random stuff from years ago, and I found this old pocket watch. Belonged to my grandfather, I think. Looked nice, but dead as a doornail. Didn’t tick, didn’t wind, nothing. Most people would just leave it, right? But I thought, heck, what have I got to lose? Let’s see if I can figure this thing out.
Getting Started – Tools and Hope
First thing I did was go online and order one of those cheap watch repair kits. You know the ones, with the tiny screwdrivers, tweezers that look like surgical tools, and that magnifying glass thing you stick in your eye. Felt a bit silly, but hey, needed the tools. When the kit arrived, I laid out an old white cloth on my desk so I wouldn’t lose any tiny bits, took a deep breath, and popped the back case off the watch.
Wow. Inside, it was like a tiny, intricate city of gears and springs. Pretty amazing, honestly. Also, pretty dirty. Looked like it hadn’t been opened in decades. Dust, old oil, just grime. My first real job was just figuring out how to take it apart without breaking anything.
The Messy Middle – Taking it Apart and Cleaning
So, I started disassembling it. Slowly. Very slowly. Took photos with my phone at every step, because I knew I’d never remember how it went back together otherwise. Those screws were unbelievably small. I used little containers, like old pill bottles, to keep parts from different sections separate. Even then, I nearly lost a screw about five times. It would just ping off the tweezers and vanish. Spent ages crawling on the floor looking for it.
- Cleaning was next. Got some special cleaning solution, but also ended up using rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs for the grimy bits.
- Had to be super careful not to bend anything. Some parts felt so delicate.
- The mainspring, oh boy. Getting that out, cleaning it, and then trying to wind it back into its little barrel… let’s just say there was some swearing involved. It slipped free more than once.
There were moments I thought, “This is nuts. It’s never going back together.” Especially when I couldn’t figure out why one gear wouldn’t mesh right after cleaning. Had to take a section apart again, clean it again, and then it finally clicked.
Putting it Back and the Moment of Truth
Reassembly was like running the disassembly video backwards, but way harder. Everything had to line up just right. It took hours, spread over a few evenings. My eyes hurt from squinting through the magnifier. My back hurt from leaning over the desk.
Finally, it was all back together. The movement was back in the case. I closed the back. My hands were actually a little shaky. I picked it up and gently turned the winder. Felt some resistance. Good sign. Wound it a bit more.
And then… I held it up to my ear.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
It was working! I couldn’t believe it. Just sat there listening to it for a few minutes. Felt like a huge win. Okay, it doesn’t keep perfect time – loses maybe a minute or two a day. But honestly, I don’t even care that much. It was dead, and now it’s alive again. It’s sitting here on my desk, ticking away. Pretty cool feeling, bringing something old back like that. Mostly, it was just satisfying to stick with it and figure it out. Learned a lot about patience, that’s for sure.
