Are you a real watch enthusiast with a penchant for modifying or modding your watches and timepieces? Watch modification, also known as modding, has become a popular subculture in the world of watch collectors. Watch modding offers a chance for you to reconstruct and customize a watch according to your personal preferences. Although one can buy a quality watch or timepiece out in the market, modding allows one to personalize their constant time-telling companion to match one’s persona and style sensibilities. Now, suppose this is your first foray into the world of watch customization. In that case, the whole process might seem unbelievably complicated and time-consuming, but by just trusting the process, you might find it to be the opposite. That being said, if you’ve never modded a watch before, you may not know where to start! Fortunately, this article is all about arming new watch modders like yourself with some tips for your maiden watch modding voyage.
Tips For New Watch Modders:
1. Know your watch before picking your watch.
This is an important first step for watch modding beginners! Unless you’re a bonafide expert horologist, you ought to know that not all watches or timepieces can be modded or have mod parts available in the market. So picking your first “watch mod” watch is important.
2. Prepare a “watch styling” plan.
Once you’ve picked a watch or timepiece you wish to modify, you can then think of whatever style or look you want to fashion it to. Do you want a sleek, modern look? Or something more colorful and vibrant? Well, make sure to plan it out! The answer to all of that will materialize once you organize your thoughts and personal tastes. Just remember that regardless of any style or look you choose, there will almost always be a modification or part out there available for your horological design goals.
3. Choose the right mods and tools.
Don’t just go out and about looking for any watch mod you can get your hands on. Before performing risky watch surgery, you must be well prepared for the task at hand. You want to make sure that the finished product of your first watch modding effort is good and decent, and the only way to do that is if you work with quality modding parts and tools! Take your time to research watch mod parts suppliers and sellers within your area. Check out reviews, what they have to offer, and more. This way, you get a brief idea of what to expect from each provider, helping you understand which offers the best price-for-quality parts!
Many tools can be used to get a watch mod job done. And nowadays, finding the right tools for modifying small devices isn’t that hard. For starters, you can buy basic watch repair kits that provide all of the essential tools needed for watch modification. They can be sold online and are cheap but functional. However, once you start doing more complex projects, you might want to invest in more tools, such as a spring bar tool or a case back opener.
4. Read the watch manual.
It’s vital to understand that every watch is different. Therefore, before doing anything else to a watch, you should always consult its manual. If you don’t have the original watch manual, plenty of online resources are available for your perusal.
5. When in doubt, reach out!
Alternately, you can always reach out to expert watch mod specialists and professional watchmakers that allow you to take advantage of their years of experience in watch modifications rather than trying (and potentially ruining) your personalization attempt. This option also solves the issues of clumsy human error and the lack of appropriate tools and parts like Seiko mod dials.
What do you do next after you’ve picked out a watch or timepiece, planned out the horological design of your dreams, and got all the parts and tools you need for your first watch mod job? Be brave! Remember your training (and all those mod tutorials you may have watched a few too many times) and your intent. Yes, you will be taking a watch apart for the art of personalized design but know that there is a growing online community of horology enthusiasts who share ideas, creative mod ideas and are always willing to ease newbies through the learning stages. Remember, your watch modding voyage should be an enjoyable and liberating experience for you! Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and don’t be afraid to express yourself. After all, the little parts of ourselves that we express – such as making a few changes on a simple time-telling device – can be the parts that stand the test of time.
Author’s Bio:
William Ross is often described as a jack of all trades. He loves to explore new things and cultivate his knowledge everywhere he goes. These days, he spends most of his free time writing about watches and watch accessories, as he is a collector himself.