---
title: Watchmaking & Horology
description: Horology is the science and craft of timekeeping. You will learn how mechanical movements work, from mainspring and gear train to escapement and balance, how to service a watch, and the history of clock and watch design.
category: trades-crafts
subcategory: specialty-crafts
difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced
url: /subject/watchmaking-and-horology
---

# Watchmaking & Horology

Horology is the science and craft of timekeeping. You will learn how mechanical movements work, from mainspring and gear train to escapement and balance, how to service a watch, and the history of clock and watch design.

## Available Resources

3 Books • 1 Websites

## Books

### 1. Watchmaking

**Author:** George Daniels

Canonical text for making watches rather than repairing them, completing the arc from understanding to servicing to building. Step-by-step account of making a complete precision watch by hand, with detailed line drawings: tools and lathe work, wheel and pinion cutting, escapements including the co-axial, balance and spring, cases and dials.

**Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0856677043?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** watchmaking, horology, escapements, lathe-work, independent-watchmaking

### 2. The Theory of Horology

**Author:** Charles-André Reymondin, Georges Monnier, Didier Jeanneret, Umberto Pelaratti

Swiss school textbook on horological theory: gear train calculations, escapements, the balance and hairspring, isochronism, lubrication, shock protection, automatic winding and complications. The theory text for the WOSTEP 3,000-hour watchmaker course. For learners going past hobby servicing, this is the rigorous engineering explanation of why movements work — the professional standard.

**Difficulty:** Advanced | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/2940025495?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** horology, watch-movements, escapements, gear-trains, balance-and-hairspring

### 3. Practical Watch Repairing

**Author:** Donald de Carle

Classic illustrated bench manual assuming no prior experience. Covers workshop setup, tools, cases and dials, barrel and mainspring, train, escapement, cleaning and oiling, and springing and timing, with over 550 line illustrations.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1602393575?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** watch-repair, horology, watchmaking-tools, escapements, mainsprings

## Youtubes

### 1. Watch Repair Channel

**Author:** Mark Lovick

About 180 free bench videos by a working watch repairer, showing full strip-downs, cleaning, lubrication, reassembly and regulation of vintage and modern movements, including chronographs such as the Seiko 6139, filmed in close-up HD with commentary. Seeing hand technique (tweezers, pegwood, oiling) is essential and books can't show it.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://www.youtube.com/@WatchRepairChannel

**Tags:** watch-repair, movement-servicing, watch-oiling, vintage-watches, horology

## Websites

### 1. Mechanical Watch (interactive explainer)

**Author:** Bartosz Ciechanowski

Free interactive article that builds a mechanical watch piece by piece with manipulable 3D models: mainspring and barrel, going train, escapement, balance and hairspring, jewels, motion works, keyless works, date mechanism and automatic winding. Best possible on-ramp: makes the function of every major movement component visible before a learner touches tools or reads dense texts.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://ciechanow.ski/mechanical-watch/

**Tags:** mechanical-watches, watch-movements, horology, escapements, interactive-explainer

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