So this week I finally decided to tackle my dad’s old Bulova watch. Thing hadn’t run in years just gathering dust on my shelf. Figured I’d try fixing it myself cause why not? Grabbed this cheap Bulova repair kit off eBay, arrived in this flimsy plastic case.
The Kit Breakdown
Cracked open the kit on my kitchen table. Nothing fancy inside:
- Three screwdrivers looking like they’d bend if I sneezed too hard
- Magnifying glass with scratches already on the lens
- Tiny tweezers with bent tips right out the package
- Prying tool that felt like melted plastic
- Random spring bars that probably fit nothing
Opening the Beast
Couldn’t even find the damn caseback groove at first. Ended up scraping the hell out of the back with that garbage pry tool. Heard this awful PING when the caseback finally popped off – found three tiny screws launching into my carpet. Spent twenty minutes crawling around with that useless magnifier trying to spot ’em.
Finally got the movement out holding my breath cause those tweezers kept dropping screws. Saw the main problem immediately – hairspring tangled like a bird’s nest. Started picking at it with the tweezers and snap, the thing flew across the room. Found it stuck in my toast later.
The Reassembly Nightmare
Took three hours just to get that stupid hairspring untangled. Used my wife’s sewing needle in the end since the kit tools were useless. When putting it back together, realized the kit didn’t even include finger cots. Grease smudges all over the dial now.
Struggled for another hour trying to line up the hands properly. Sweat dripping down my forehead under that magnifier. Pressed down too hard with the tweezers and left dent on the minute hand. Noticed the second hand wobbling like it was drunk when I finally got the caseback jammed shut.
The Final Verdict
Tapped the watch against my palm. Amazingly the damn thing started ticking! But it runs five minutes fast every hour now. Those generic spring bars snapped when I tried attaching the strap, gotta order replacements. Honestly this kit was mostly trash but hey – watch runs again! Next time though? Paying a professional.