One of choices I made when I was younger was to treat watches similarly to how I treat clothing and shoes.
And what I mean by that is that in my life, wearing the same shoes, wearing the same jacket, wearing the same hat, wearing the same scarf and wearing the same watch day after day is not going to happen.
I know people tend to try to figure out why I do that, because most people don’t.
And I think that from my upbringing and also being brought up as a person who grew up with less, as a young adult, I didn’t want to be limited with my choices.
I want the ability to switch things up and wear clothes that are balanced and I treat everything as if they should compliment each other.
When I was younger, I remember receiving a Swatch as a gift. It had a yellow casing, black band and while I felt it was cool, the truth is that it didn’t match with a lot of clothing that I had back then.
As I got older, I started to get into watches and being particular on what I wear, what kind of band is worn and trying to maintain them the best I can.
And as I began to accumulate watches, I realized that I was spending money to have a watch band adjusted and realized I could do this on my own.
If you are planning to wear a watch with a steel band that requires link removal, my advice is to buy watch tools. Removing links or changing a band is fairly easy, but you need to have the right tools.
Personally, you do not have to spend that much on a repair tool. The main thing you will need are the following:
- For link removal, all you need is a tool box with a plastic hammer, pin punches.
- For removing the case back for those who have watches that need batteries, all you need is a case knife and a case wrench and that’s it.
- Want to remove a band, then all you need is a spring bar tool set.
- For G-Shock removals or watches that require a battery removal and it’s snug in a tiny space, that is where having a watch tweezer becomes very useful.
- And then there are watches that have tiny screws and so you want a kit that accommodates those small screws.
And the good news, is that you can find one very cheap. For example…
On Amazon, the Yescom 16 piece watch repair tool is only $5.95 with free shipping. That’s a bargain compared to what I spent on my tools.
When I first started, I felt that I had to spend a lot of money because quality mattered. Just to find out that when I bought a cheap watch tool set, they were just as good and even better than my expensive ones, because they did just as good as my expensive set and came with more tools.
On Amazon, you will find sets from $5.95 – $20.00 but seriously, if you can get a 16-piece tool set for under $10, let alone under $8, it’s a bargain!
Now is there anything that I purchased extra that I found to be worth it? When it comes to removing the back of cases, personally for me, I prefer something like the Abbest Watch adjustable back case remover. I found it much easier than the bar version.
Now if you own G-Shocks and are planning to do any removal, I recommend having a tweezer with the thinnest point (which comes with many of the sets these days). But just remember that for any watches that require non-rechargeable batteries like G-Shocks, but the batteries in advance (if you don’t have the manuals, then look it up online).
Granted, you don’t want to start cracking open your Rolex or more expensive watches, if you are not comfortable by doing so.
But for any watchwork, definitely purchase a watch repair tool set. It’s definitely worth owning!
