In lieu of the post I want to write, you’re getting this one instead. The other one will have to wait a while. But you might find it interesting to know that the other post inspired this one, in a slightly roundabout way.
So, the S has hit the F, good and hard. However, we’ve avoided a full-on nuclear armageddon, which is a plus. We lost a couple of big cities, and a lot of our infrastructure isn’t working so well now. It appears to you that someone used a few EMP weapons. Hey, it could be worse. A lot of central Europe doesn’t need nightlights to find their way in the dark.
While a lot of things don’t work, people still need to tell time. You need to be at your guard post at a certain time, or you need to time how long you’re in a certain unhealthy area. Maybe you’re doing some sort of work where you need to time a certain process, like boiling water to purify it. But your cell phone doesn’t work, the electric clocks don’t work and all the battery-powered watches are now paperweights.
A lot of folks still have Grandpa’s or Grandma’s old wind-up watch. Except it doesn’t work. Something’s wrong and it needs to be fixed. And you, with your tools and skills, are the one who’s going to fix them.
There aren’t a lot of watchmakers around these days. In my AO, I know of one, and he has one of my “nice” watches for a regular service. I might get it back in a month, maybe two. When I was in his shop last Saturday there were four of us bringing in timepieces to be serviced or repaired. The guy is in demand.
Imagine how much demand you’ll be in after something Big Bad happens. Best of all, this can be a good paying side gig right now. The tools aren’t too expensive, and a huge supply of parts will fit in a cubic foot on a shelf.
Something to consider.
I just had my father-in-law’s watch repaired and serviced last month. Family lore says that he won it in a poker game in the South Pacific during WWII. It’s a nice winder. You are right about it could be a nice side gig. It cost me $130 for a service and new watch spring. It took six weeks from drop off to pick up for the service.
If you are interested in watching a watch being serviced, a content creator on YouTube is interesting to watch. https://www.youtube.com/@WristwatchRevival
Watching him is what lead me to get the wristwatch repaired and serviced.
Yeah, except that, like most stuff, parts won’t be a phone call away….so if it needs a mainspring or a crystal, yer fucked.
That’s why I mentioned the number of parts that will fit in a cubic foot of shelf space. Plus some will come in that can’t be fixed. Buy those as parts watches.