Learn watch repair: start at the Bench, no sign-up

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Most beginners quit at the same moment: the first screw that flies off the tweezers, or the first movement that won't go back together. The Bench lets you make those mistakes where they cost nothing. Take a real vintage Omega calibre apart in your browser and build it back up, part by part, like a puzzle, with every part's Omega number on screen.

Sit at the Bench, no sign-up The tools you need

Want the calibre on paper? Get the Bench Map first: every part with its Omega number, in build order.

The path, from nothing to your first movement

1. Play one Bench, start to finish

   Start with the Seamaster 565. Strip it in bench order, each part into its own numbered well, then build it back: last out, first in.

2. Play it again, from memory

   From the second round, the Bench asks you to name each part before it moves. When you can name them all, you know the order.

3. Watch the film

   Every part of the same calibre on screen with its number, taken apart and built back up, on our YouTube channel.

4. Learn the parts by number

   The parts finder shows every calibre a part number fits. Knowing the number is how a lost part gets found again.

5. Get the tools

   The Bench uses five: screwdriver, tweezers, loupe, blower and a parts tray. The tools page shows the real ones.

6. Practise on a spare movement

   Then do it for real on an inexpensive movement you don't mind marking, before you open a watch you care about.

Practise before you open a real watch. Watch movements are small, sprung and easy to damage: a slipped screwdriver marks a bridge, a screw turned the wrong way can strip, and a spring can fly. Learn on the Bench and on a spare, inexpensive movement first. You open your own watch at your own risk.

Benches open now

What the Bench teaches that a book can't

• Bench order. What comes off first and why, and the build is the exact reverse.
• One part, one well. Every part goes into its own numbered well in the tray, so nothing gets mixed up.
• The right tool. Screwdriver for screws, tweezers for parts, loupe for looking. Use the wrong one and the Bench tells you.
• The lost screw. Now and then a screw springs off the tweezers. You find it with the loupe before you go on, as you would at a real bench.
• Which way a screw turns. Most undo to the left. Where a calibre has a screw whose direction our Omega guides don't state, the Bench says so instead of guessing.
• The numbers. Every part carries the number from Omega's own parts catalogue, the number a watchmaker orders by.

Thinking about watchmaking school?

A watchmaking school is a serious commitment of time and money, and the usual route if you want to work on watches for a living. Before you commit, find out whether you like the work. The Bench costs nothing, and a practice movement and a starter set of tools cost far less than a course. If you still want more after a few rounds, you'll walk into any class already knowing the order of work and the names of the parts.

In the US, the American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute (AWCI) is the trade body to look at for classes and certification.

Questions people ask

Watch Breaker is an independent identification specialist and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Omega SA or the Swatch Group. Omega is a trademark of Omega SA. Watch Breaker does not repair watches. This page is general information; see the Terms.