This is a topic I have have been willing to post already for some time now...well as most of you guys already know, time is not always on my side ;-)

How do most of us watch-collectors open our precious vintage (and non-vintage) watches, to see what's inside, to check the condition of movement, to admire the technic?? I realize there is also a big part of us collectors which don't open their watches themselves (and often that's also the smartest choice).

I really don't know howmany watches I already held in my hands, howmany casebacks I've opened. I'm still very young but I think I can say I do have some skills in opening watchcases. When I get a watch in my hands I obviously first check condition of dial and hands and almost immediately after checking those I verify the condition caseback. In at least 75% of the watches I held in my hands, the watches had some marks of opening the caseback...and that's such a shame!! For me a perfect watch with just a small mark/scratch due to unprofessional handling is very frustrating...

And let me be clear. Opening a watchcase has nothing to do with the actual value of the watch (ofcourse this influences our behaviour but in fact it shouldn't)...whether it is a $20 watch or a $20000 watch. When you do something...try to do it right, always try to achieve perfection and not leaving any marks/scratches on the caseback after opening and closing it back again.

I'm sure most of you guys know the frustrating feeling of a ruined caseback.

I always try to imagine how people actually can abuse these casebacks so much, there are some real watch-butchers out there...be carefull!!

So, let's get out our camera's and let's take some pictures of the tool we use to open our watches...let us learn from eachother and see which tools there are available and wich tools we really should avoid to use.

For me personally, I have only 1 tool to open a watch (in fact 2 if you also take the holder in account)...one tool that enables me to open 99% of the watches available worldwide...more details and pictures later...

I already look forward to see your watch-opening-tool and to learn your way of dealing with this ;-) I hope this will become a usefull topic...

Cheers,
Abel.