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Story

A Matter of Time

Time is a fickle thing. It supposedly flies when you’re having fun, but crawls during the last few hours of the work day? What, did it lose its wings or something? And our new-agey friends keep telling us time’s “just a construct, man” but when we explain that to the driver of the morning bus we almost missed, he laughed in our faces. 

If only there was a way to measure time, conveniently and accurately, with some sort of instrument dial on our wrist. Just kidding, everyone knows about watches. But did you know that making one doesn’t require knowledge about nano-sized gears, cogs, or even quantum mechanics? 

Now any man can build a handsome watch with just some concentration, a little elbow grease, and our new Watch Making Kit. With a project this unique, even the busiest man will happily make the time to...make the time. Or at least measure it. 
Precision Points
  • The movement of this watch is self-winding. That means he’ll keep his watch in time just by wearing it. Unfortunately, this technology hasn’t yet reached TV remotes. 
  • We’ve included two different sets of dials, hands, and straps so he can build a watch that perfectly suits his suits. 
  • The finished watch will be water-resistant up to 50 meters, so he won’t even have to remove it in the shower. Of course, the smell might indicate otherwise. 

Watch Making Kit

$179.99
2.5
22 reviews
Watch Making Kit has been discontinued

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In the Box

  • Seagull TY2806 Movement
  • Screwdriver Tool
  • Brass Movement Holder
  • White Dial and Hand Set
  • Blue Dial and Hand Set
  • Hand setting tool
  • Exibition Case Back with O-ring
  • Crown/Stem Combo
  • Case Back Tool
  • Watch Case with Crystal
  • 2 Strap Springbars
  • Blue Leather Strap
  • Brown Leather Strap
  • Hole Punch
  • Screw Rivet
  • Man Crates Watch Making Guide
We’ve got fun diabolical wrapping options for every occasion. Add one during checkout to make his gift extra special!

How It Ships

Project Kit Refills ship in cardboard boxes.
In an awesome cardboard box. Corrugated C Flute cardboard with regular slotted style... told you it was awesome!

  • Choose your delivery date at checkout
    Choose your delivery date at checkout

Story

A Matter of Time

Time is a fickle thing. It supposedly flies when you’re having fun, but crawls during the last few hours of the work day? What, did it lose its wings or something? And our new-agey friends keep telling us time’s “just a construct, man” but when we explain that to the driver of the morning bus we almost missed, he laughed in our faces. 

If only there was a way to measure time, conveniently and accurately, with some sort of instrument dial on our wrist. Just kidding, everyone knows about watches. But did you know that making one doesn’t require knowledge about nano-sized gears, cogs, or even quantum mechanics? 

Now any man can build a handsome watch with just some concentration, a little elbow grease, and our new Watch Making Kit. With a project this unique, even the busiest man will happily make the time to...make the time. Or at least measure it. 
Precision Points
  • The movement of this watch is self-winding. That means he’ll keep his watch in time just by wearing it. Unfortunately, this technology hasn’t yet reached TV remotes. 
  • We’ve included two different sets of dials, hands, and straps so he can build a watch that perfectly suits his suits. 
  • The finished watch will be water-resistant up to 50 meters, so he won’t even have to remove it in the shower. Of course, the smell might indicate otherwise. 

Customer Reviews

    5.0
    Ellis
    Jan 28th 2021
    Lots of fun. Some pain.

    All in all, I had a great time assembling this watch. As others have mentioned, there were some pain points.

    I spent hours trying to affix the second hand. From the reviews, I see that a lot of folks gave up and went without it, and I don't blame them. There was a lot of cursing on my part. Most of the problem was that the loupe (magnifying glass) supplied with the crate has a focus point about two inches in front of the lense, so you basically have to hunker down with your face almost touching your workspace, your eye socket squinched shut to keep the loupe in place, and then figure out how to wedge the hand setting tool in there too. Once I broke down and grabbed a head-mounted loupe with a more distant focus point, I had the second hand in place within 5 minutes.

    The next roadblock were the ears that hold the movement to the case. Threading those teeny tiny screws into the earholes and then trying to screw them into the movement holder caused a lot more cursing. Ultimately, I scrapped the recommendations in the instructions and set the screw facing threads-up on my workspace and lowered the ears down onto it with a set of tweezers. Be careful with the tweezers, though. If you put too much pressure on a screw or the ear, it'll pop right out of the tweezers and fly across the room.

    One other issue I had was that mine didn't come with a temporary stem/crown, so I just used the permanent stem/crown while setting the watch. No big deal. The problem I ran into was that pressing the stem release button was a bear. I know they recommend this being a two man job to release this, but I found that was just too many fingers stuffed into a watch. What I wound up doing instead was to put the movement face-down into the case (with something soft under the crystal so it doesn't scratch) and then press the stem release button with the smallest Phillips screwdriver I could find (which for the record doesn't look anything like the picture in the instructions). The button has a recessed face, and the tip of the Phillips fit snugly into it, not slipping like everything else I tried.

    One last tip: before you clamp the ears down to secure the movement into place, turn the watch over and make sure the second hand is still spinning. I had the entire thing secured with the caseback on before I checked and found that some time in the hours of messing around trying to get the hand in place, that I'd bent it upwards, and it was pressing against the underside of the crystal, not allowing it to move. I had to take the whole thing apart (more cursing) and straighten the hand.

    I know it looks like I'm bashing the product, but I'm really not. Yeah, I'm old so my neck hurt for a week after craning down over this thing for so long, but it really was fun. I have about 30 or so watches, and this one jumped right to the top of my most worn list. I smile at the work I put into it every time I look down at it. 5 stars and would recommend to friends.

    5.0
    D. Cavanaugh
    Apr 5th 2020
    Date ring to dial spacer ?

    Great kit, didn't really like the band selection and design. I did have a problem installing the dial too close to the date ring causing it not to move to only find out there is an available spacer to prevent this. Why does this kit not come with the required spacer?
    Thank you,
    DevCav

    Man Crates Response: Hey there,

    Sorry about that missing spacer. Give us a buzz at 866-902-7260 and we'll get you hooked up!

    -Team Man Crates

    5.0
    Reginald Rey
    Jan 12th 2020
    DIY Did it myself!

    I am a watch collector. This awesome diy gift with options of how you would like to build it was Christmas gift from my wife.

    5.0
    MKT
    Jun 27th 2019
    Fathers Day gift.

    This is one of the best gifts I have received. I had so much fun assembling the watch. My wife knows I like tinkering and making things work and thought this would make a good gift. She was right!

    5.0
    Peter Scanlan
    May 24th 2019
    Challenging But Awesome!

    This kit is fantastic! Wish it came in a crate you needed a crowbar to access but what can you do? Instructions are detailed and easy to follow, but prepare yourself as there are several time consuming and potentially frustrating steps to building your new watch. This kit definitely requires a steady hand and a gentle touch. That being said, I loved (almost) every minute of building my watch and have a great looking high quality time piece as a result. Well done Man Crates (again)!

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