You may be looking for the best cheap watch repair kits for beginners because you want to change the battery in your watch has died and you want to replace it yourself. Or maybe you found a couple of old mechanical watches that won’t run and you want to try your hand at fixing them because they are not worth enough to get repaired. Whatever the reason, you don’t have to spend a fortune to play around with watches!
You may also be wondering where to buy watch repair kit, and the answer to that as with most things today is online, specifically, Amazon.
I first need to make a little disclaimer, these are not professional tools and as such, may damage or even destroy watches and/or parts thereof. Working on your own watch places 100% of the liability of any damage squarely on your shoulders and although I encourage people to learn watch repair, I also take absolutely no responsibility for anything you choose to do.
Moving on….
You know those cheap little eyeglass repair kits that have the tiny screwdriver and a few screws in the little plastic tube? This Ohuhu 156 PCS Watch Repair Tool Kit is the equivalent of that. If you are careful with the tools and only want to use them a few times, they are capable of getting the job done, most of the time.
What I like about this kit is that it has a pretty reasonable selection of tools and a case to store them in.
What I don’t like is that all the tools feel horribly cheap and I even had a couple fail the first time out (I am looking at you little link removal tool), although the watch I was using the tool on was rather old and beat up. It might have fared better on a newer watch.
I was surprised to find what appeared to be a real case knife in the kit although I am not too sure it would work for long opening real watches.
So why in the world did I include this cheap kit on the best cheap watch repair kits for beginners list? For the same reason a lot of people who wear glasses have those cheap eyeglass repair kits in their purse, glovebox, and shaving kit because they are so cheap and mostly functional you can keep them everywhere. At the time of this writing, this kit was about $15. Buy one, keep it in your trunk, leave your better tools at home.
This kit is the EZTool Watch Repair Kit with 16 Tools and 41-Page Illustrated Maintenance & Service Manual and it has most of the basic tools you might need plus an interesting little manual to help you use the tools.
What I like about this kit is, of course, the manual, but also the zippered case and good selection of tools. While not professional-level tools, most of them seem robust enough to last a while doing normal tasks. I particularly like the link removal tool as it seems to be easy to use and works well.
What I don’t like is that it does not include a Watch Case Opening Ball and a proper Case Opening Knife both of which I think are pretty much required for not killing yourself trying to do simple things. Personally I would also add a plastic spudger set to round out the kit. None of the additions are expensive and all of them but the ball fit into the case.
Overall, for the money, this is probably the least expensive best cheap watch repair kits.
Next up is the Deluxe Watch Repair Tool Kit from STAGO. This kit contains even more tools than the previous kit and has some tools that make it double as a small electronics tool kit instead of just for watches.
What I like is the wide array of tools. They include most of what you need including a proper case knife, loupe, and blow duster. These are not normally found in small cheap kits so that makes this a really nice find!
What I don’t like is again no Watch Case Opening Ball or plastic spudger set but both are easily and cheaply added. I also think the link removal tool, although functional, is a little cheesy compared to the one in the first kit. If you change a lot of links you might consider upgrading that but if it is just something you do once or twice a year then this one should suffice.
Overall this set should take you a lot further than the first set with only a small increase in spending which in my opinion makes it one of the best cheap watch repair kits for beginners available.
Once you move past about the $40 mark there just are no real “kits” available, or they just start adding in things you have no need for so they can claim to have more tools and charge a higher price. Your best bet is to start putting together tools into your own kit.
Then again you have to wonder, do you need something more expensive? If you are just replacing your batteries and adding and removing links from your own personal watches, then the answer is probably not. I would probably buy a nice little cheap kit off this list, use it until a tool failed or I decided I wanted a nicer tool, replace that tool and move on.
If on the other hand you are a little more ambitious and want to repair watches for other people, or find old broken watches, fix them and resell them which seems all the rage today, then yeah, you might need nicer watch tools than what is here and you will need to find some watch repair supplies. Personally I just decided to make my own watch tool kit from higher quality tools and I have never looked back. Fortunately, this website will give you a lot of guidance on whichever path you want to take.
I hope this helps you pick out the best cheap watch repair kits for beginners that fit your needs.
