Home made watch

[dustytretch]

Okay, this might be the most stupid post you may of seen but I have to ask.
At the moment I am very interested in watches such as Vacheron Constantin, A Lange and Sohne and all the other
watches I cannot afford due to my age being 14.
I was wondering if it would be possible to make my own watch, I am not considering buying a block of steel and crafting base plates, levers
balance springs and the case myself.
I was wondering, how easy would it be to purchase a base calibre and building a watch around it.
I have heard of companies that will manufacture a case, sapphire crystal and the various other components that go into a watch.
Is this reality that i could potentially complete, or should I not bother bother touching a movement without a degree from WOSTEP.
If making a watch is possible by these means, could someone recommend people who could manufacture cases and what not.
Thanks for reading this, although I suspect the answer for this post will be to save up for a watch made by JLC or Girard-Perregaux as it is
not possible to create a watch on your own unless you are an experienced watch maker like philippe dufour.

Thanks, Timothy Treciokas.

[AAWATCHES]

Very commendable a young person like yourself setting goals. Check out ofrei.com everything you need is there including a basic watchmaker course you assemble a watch. Good luck and stay on the forums send a lot of pictures and ask a lot of questions

[Tictocdoc]

You sir are in a very enviable position, At 14 you have your whole life ahead of you plenty of time to start early in a career or hobby of choice. I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours. As for home made watches. You can buy premade cases, movements and all the other components individually and a few basic tools and assemble them in your house. In the mean time Learn some french and or german. and by the time you finish highschool, you will be ready for Watchmaking school. If you know french and german. then you could possibly move to switzerland and learn more watchmaking over there and by the time you're my age 33.. you will be well on your way to being a master watchmaker that comands top dollar for his very limited edition timepieces.Exponential thinking at its worst...lolThat or you will have a rare hobby among teenagers..(and adults for that matter).Good luck

[dustytretch]

Thanks for the website, and for the compliment.
The website looks like it has everything I need, I just hope I can order from america if I hope to go ahead with this project :)

[dustytretch]

Damn, and I dropped French at school for Spanish.

[dustytretch]

I am a quarter German, I was given Spanish and French at school instead of German and French in my second year, I was picked for double languages due to good results in a test, but I chose to drop french to do spanish on its own so I could do electronics, which is my favorite subject and I am extremely good at
due to my interest in modular synths, which I have one.
I could potentially change to French for my GCSEs since I have just started, but it may work out very difficult.

[Tictocdoc]

Dont take my word too literally but if you are interested in watchmaking as a profession, I guess knowing French and or German will be a great advantage, WUS has a fantastic group of people many of which are actually watchmakers, Post a few questions on that board Im sure you will get very good advice there.

[dustytretch]

I have done french for 4 years and can understand it quite well, so I guess that sort of counts for something.

[jtstav]

I dont know if the OP will even see this post but myself being rather young (just turned 21) and in the same situation I'd also recommend ofrei. You may have the desire to buy an ETA or other swiss movementbut personally since its your first try building a watch I would get something cheaper like a miyota movement that you can mess with and not waste a couple hundred bucks if somethig goes wrong. Getting a Wostep cert is something to consider in the future if you still have the interest however you must make sure you are good at what you do. There are few watchmakers in America and even fewer schools offering Wostep certification. I myself considered doing it but the job availability caused me to reconsider. You have to be good at what you do or you may find yourself working in a jewlery store making next to nothing. Still you'd be doing something you love though. Butto answer your original question you should buy some empty watch cases and movements and assemble them from there. If you ever find the need to take apart a movement to see how it works and possibly reassemble it, I'd try buying an old vintage watch off ebay or a new chinese mechanical that wont cost you alot. Goodluck!

[bedroomeyes]

You took the words right out of my mouth.