is that servicing them isn't nearly as hard as I'd always assumed. I've just picked it up in the last year. Anyone who builds their own PCs or can code should have no trouble, they're actually not all that complicated—just *small*.
As it turns out, the key is the right tools. And these days, they're easy to get your hands on thanks to e-commerce. The guts of mechanical watches had always seemed intractable to me, but then I went out on a limb and bought an illuminated set of head-worn magnifying lenses. It only cost about $20. Suddenly, everything became clear and easy!
A good set of brass tweezers (another $10, don't buy the junk for doing eyebrows at the drugstore), a good set of jeweler's screwdrivers (real ones, which go down to 0.2mm width flat blades) for another $20, a case-back tool for $3-4 to get them open... The most expensive things are the lubricating oils, but even then you're buying in small quantities (because you're literally using pinhead dabs) so again less than a $50 investment.
It turns out parts are the easiest things to come by, there are sellers by the bucket on Etsy selling mechanical movements in untested condition, like 20 complete movements for $5-10 of for some common consumer models. They market them as "steampunk" decor for art projects, but they're just piles and piles of complete watch movements. You buy a bucket of 'em and you have parts coming out your ears.
Then, you just follow your nose. And if you get stuck, there are YouTube teardown videos for just about every common movement. And there are dozens of timegrapher apps for smartphones now to help you to regulate them—start the app, put the mic by the open-back watch, and it will tell you how close you are to perfect time as you adjust the level. It's all actually shockingly easy, I think anyone with tech skills can pick it up in just a few months of practice.
It's a lot like computers used to be in the '80s. A list of standard parts that are pretty recognizable (every moment has one of these, one of these, one of these, one of these...), specs that are easy to find for mix/match, and a basic set of not-all-that-special-or-expensive tools.
In a world of more and more devices that are trying to be your "everything" device, and that are more and more locked down, unserviceable, and undocumented, with shorter and shorter times between charges, it's really refreshing to own and work on devices that are simple, straightforward, perform one job and perform it well, run on their own for decades, can be understood and maintained indefinitely, and that are amenable to at-home customizing, hacking, and optimization (regulating, cleaning, polishing, servicing, etc.)
I've found in mechanical wristwatches the same fun that we used to be able to have with 8-bit computers in the '80s. Only better, because these don't need wall power, make great gifts, and can be left to future generations while still retaining much of their original functionality without any learning curve for the user.
Plus, they look great. I still can't get over all these people walking around with little blank screens on their wrists. Better to have steel and chrome and paint and colors.