Building a DIY Watch

In a world of smartwatches that demand constant attention and charging, I found myself feeling disconnected from the simple act of telling time. My Apple Watch, with its endless notifications, felt more like a distraction than a tool. My trusty Casio A158WEA-1 was a relief, but I yearned for something more.

Then I started stumbling upon DIY watch projects, and something clicked. The idea of building my own watch — a single, simple timepiece for every occasion — took hold. I was drawn to the classic, rugged look of field watches like the Hamilton Khaki Field Auto or the Timex MK1, but aesthetics weren’t the only reason.

This project was personal. My grandparents were both “Uhrmacher” (watchmakers), and building a watch felt like a way to honor their legacy. It was a chance to create something with my own hands that would connect me to my family’s history, a tangible link to their craft.

[Placeholder for Grandparents’ Store Image]

Doubt crept in quickly. “How hard can it be?” I thought — and then immediately wondered if I was being naive. I’m a software engineer, not a watchmaker. But the more I read, the more doable it seemed. So I started making a plan.

Design and Inspiration

Before embarking on this project, I needed a vision. I created a moodboard to capture the aesthetic I was aiming for: a classic field watch with a modern twist. The design is heavily inspired by the timeless look of the Hamilton Khaki Field, but with personal touches that will make it uniquely mine.

The Plan

The plan is simple: buy all the necessary components from a marketplace like AliExpress, assemble them, and hope for the best. This approach should also be significantly cheaper. The Timex is around €280, and the Hamilton is €750. My DIY version should come in at just over €100.

Of course, there’s a trade-off in precision. The Timex is rated to be off by about 30 seconds per day, the Hamilton around 10 seconds, and the Seiko NH35 movement I’ve chosen is rated for -20 to +40 seconds per day. It will be interesting to see how the final build performs in practice.

The Parts

Here are the parts I used for the build:

Why the Seiko NH35? The Heart of the Beast

Every watch build needs a reliable companion, and for this watch, that’s the Seiko NH35 movement. After some research, it became clear why the NH35 is the go-to choice for so many DIY watch builders. It’s known for being a reliable and robust workhorse, often lasting for years without maintenance. More importantly for a custom build like this, it’s affordable (around €50), widely available, and boasts a vast ecosystem of compatible aftermarket parts. This makes it incredibly flexible and forgiving for a beginner.

Key features that sold me on the NH35 are:

• Automatic and Manual Winding: It winds itself with the motion of my wrist, but I can also wind it manually.
• Hacking Second Hand: This allows me to stop the second hand when setting the time, for perfect synchronization.
• Proven Reliability: It’s a movement that has been tried and tested in millions of watches.

A quick note on the date function: the NH35 movement I chose does include a date complication. While I won’t be displaying the date on my chosen dial, I opted for the NH35 over the dateless NH38 because the latter is surprisingly more expensive. Since the mechanical movement doesn’t account for varying month lengths, I’d have to manually adjust it every month to keep it accurate. Given that commitment, I’m perfectly content not showing the date and just letting it run its course behind the dial.

You can read more about the NH35 on Sternglas and Rotate Watches.

Movement Comparison: The Heart of the Matter

A watch is more than just its case and dial; the movement is its beating heart. Here’s a comparison of the movements in the inspiration watches and my chosen DIY movement.

The Hamilton H-10 is the clear winner on paper, with an impressive 80-hour power reserve. This means you can take it off for a whole weekend and it will still be ticking.

The Miyota 8215 in the Timex is a reliable, budget-friendly movement, but it lacks the “hacking” feature, which means the second hand doesn’t stop when you set the time.

My chosen Seiko NH35 sits comfortably in the middle. It has both hacking and manual winding, and it’s a well-respected, reliable movement that is perfect for a DIY project. While the official accuracy is broad, many builders report getting much better performance. It offers the best balance of features, reliability, and affordability for this project.

The Tools

Besides the watch components, I’ll also need a few specialized tools to assemble everything correctly.

With another €10-20 for these tools, the project should be complete.

What Could Go Wrong?

I spent some time researching the common mistakes first-time watch builders make. Here’s what I wanted to avoid:

Q: What if I use too much force? A: This seems to be the number one rule: be gentle. Watch components are incredibly delicate. Applying too much force can bend the hands, damage the movement, or break the stem. The key is to be patient and let the parts fit together naturally.

Q: What about dust and fingerprints? A: A clean workspace is crucial. A single speck of dust under the crystal or a fingerprint on the dial can ruin the final look. I’ll be using a dust blower and wearing finger cots to keep things pristine.

Q: What’s the most common irreversible mistake? A: Cutting the crown stem too short. The stem connects the crown to the movement, and if it’s too short, it’s useless. I’ll need to measure twice (or maybe three times) and cut once.

Q: How do I avoid messing up the hands? A: The hands, especially the second hand, are notoriously fragile. I’ll need to be careful not to bend them during installation. Also, it’s important to set the date to change at midnight before installing the hands, to avoid the date changing at noon.

You can find more tips and tricks from other builders on Instructables and in this Reddit thread.

Assembly

The parts arrived and I got to work. I’d braced myself for tiny screws flying across the room and hands bending under the slightest pressure — I’d read enough cautionary tales from other builders.

It went better than expected. The trickiest part was setting the hands: they need to be perfectly aligned, and too much pressure can damage the movement. I had to reseat the minute hand a couple of times to get it right — the kind of fiddly iteration that feels familiar if you’ve ever debugged something you can’t just hit ‘undo’ on. But overall, each component clicked into place satisfyingly. Less delicate surgery, more LEGOs.

I documented the full build on video:

YouTube Link

The Result

The watch has been on my wrist daily since. It keeps time well, and there’s something genuinely satisfying about wearing something you put together yourself — for me, especially so given my grandparents’ background.

If you’re thinking about building your own, I’d encourage you to go for it. It’s more approachable than it looks, and the result is something entirely yours.

Updates After Wearing It

The Custom Winding Rotor — Skip It

If you’re planning your own build, save yourself the €10 and skip the custom winding rotor. It sounds appealing in theory, but in practice it’s one of the parts you’ll almost never see — it lives on the back of the movement, hidden behind a solid case back. Worse, the aftermarket quality is noticeably poor: mine rattled, wobbled, and I could actually feel the imbalance on my wrist. It was genuinely annoying. I wore it like this from when I first built the watch until today, when I finally swapped it back out for the stock Seiko rotor. Quieter, better balanced, and it just works. Not worth it.

The Strap — Upgrade It

The original strap I linked looks great in photos, but it didn’t hold up with daily wear. If you want something that lasts, I switched to this one — also 20mm and also just €4, so no real cost difference. Much better quality.