My dad did this in his mid 40’s he bought several watch repair shops out in the late 80’s had every conceivable tool for it. Plus a ping pong table full of old jewels watches must have been thousands of them. A couple lathes everything you needed to be a watch repair person. Don’t know if he still has all that crap or not.
If you are any sort of tinkerer, it WILL happen. Be forewarned.
I own an Omega Seamsaster myself, I fully understand. It only comes out on special occasions though.
I suppose I could, but that was never my intention. I feel that I still have more to learn before I would ever feel comfortable taking in a watch for repair from a 'customer'. Perhaps one day. My thought was that aside from a few of my personal watches with much higher end complications, I could perform the routine services on them, saving that cost. Also there is a very large marketplace online for buying vintage and non-functioning timepieces. There are a few people I've met that actually make decent money from time to time buying old non-running watches, fixing them up and selling them online. I thought that might be fun to do one day.
I'm hunting for the same thing! I've located an old L&R Mastermatic that probably needs to be re-wired. It might make a fun restoration project. As I'm sure you've found out yourself, even those old machines command a good price. I'm using an ultrasonic myself as well.
From what I've gathered, there is indeed a big need for new watchmakers. I've heard it described as there being two types in the industry. The first is those who work for large companies, specializing in a particular type of watch movement, with the building a watch more akin to factory work. The second is the independent type of watchmaker, who has the skills and experience to work on and troubleshoot several types of watches. The older generation of these are retiring in great numbers, and there isn't enough people coming in to the trades to apprentice and fill those positions. A good watchmaker is never short of available work, and can command a hefty price. I know if I had a $40,000 vintage Patek Phillipe, I wouldn't want just anybody working on it.
Mechanical chronographs are very tough to work on. So many more moving pieces. Next to a minute repeater, they are among the most involved watch complications. The place I'm taking classes from is still developing their chronograph course, which is due for release in November. I have an old chronograph myself that hasn't been serviced in about 10 years, and will be the watch I use when taking that course. It's still running, but is due to be cleaned, re-lubricated, and regulated.
