This is the Build-Your-Own Watch Movement Kit from the US-based team at Rotate Watches. Each kit ships with a complete, working Seagull ST3600 movement with 17 jewels, as well as a movement holder, and all the tools you need for the job.
These kits were developed as an affordable way for watch aficionados to learn how movements actually work, as well as the function of each specific part, and how to both disassemble and reassemble them into working movements using their newly acquired skills.
These kits were developed as an affordable way for watch aficionados to learn how movements actually work, as well as the function of each specific part, and how to both disassemble and reassemble them into working movements using their newly acquired skills.
History Speedrun: Rotate Watches
Rotate Watches started out back in late-2017 in an entrepreneurship class at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. The project was run by Jennifer Zhang, who had spent five months assembling her first mechanical watch – but the vast majority of that time was spent on research and waiting for parts to arrive from over a dozen suppliers around the world.
She realized that if everything had just come in one box, then she would have been able to assemble the watch in a matter of hours rather than months, and so she set about developing that watch-in-a-box concept herself. She set to work finding suppliers for all the various parts that would be needed, founded the company Rotate Watches in Los Angeles, and then launched it on Kickstarter in 2019.
The Kickstarter campaign went better than expected, the funding goal was set at $15,000 USD but it had sailed past that within 48 hours, eventually reaching $91,840 USD.
The first kits came in three styles, called Galileo, Edison and Wright. Each used a 17-jewel hand-wound Seagull movement based on the Swiss ETA 6497, in a 44 mm steel case. The first batch was made that December, and the kits went on sale at Fry’s Electronics in March of 2020.
Rotate now sells two main kinds of kit – the watch kit supplies an assembled movement, and the builder fits it into a case with a dial, hands and strap. The Cabot, a 43 mm steel sports watch with an automatic Seiko NH36 movement, costs $255 USD.
A movement kit supplies a working movement for the builder to strip down and rebuild, learning how it works in the process. It comes with a movement holder, screwdrivers, tweezers, pliers and a guide that explains what each part does. Rotate says a first movement build takes four to six hours or more for a new builder.
The Build-Your-Own Watch Movement Kit
The Rotate Watches Build-Your-Own Watch Movement Kit was developed to introduce beginners to mechanical watchmaking, allowing them to disassemble and reassemble a working, fully mechanical, hand-wound watch movement. The kit contains more than 40 individual parts and arrives with the movement fully assembled and properly lubricated, ready for the owner to take apart and rebuild.
A detailed, beginner-friendly instruction guide walks users through each stage of the process, explaining the function of the various mechanical parts and components. The kit includes a movement holder, screwdriver, tweezers, pliers, magnetizer, finger cots, and a leather storage case.
Each kit ships with a complete, working Seagull ST3600 movement with 17 jewels, as well as a movement holder, and all the tools you need for the job.
Rotate Watches also provides 24/7 customer support for troubleshooting and replacement parts. The kit is intended as both an educational introduction to traditional mechanical watchmaking and a hands-on project for watch enthusiasts interested in learning how a mechanical movement works.
They’re now being stocked by Huckberry here with an affordable MSRP of $150 USD, and they come with free US shipping and free US returns.
Images courtesy of Rotate Watches + Huckberry
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
