Masahiro Kikuno, Japanese Independent Watchmaker

I would start with books by Fried. If you feel comfortable with 90% of Practical Watch Repair in a year, or two; go for Daniel's book. I guarantee most will not get through Practical Watch Repair, but might come back to the hobby/profession later in life. When time is more cherished?

George Daniels was a brilliant Watchmaker. The book is o.k. There are parts of the book where it seemed rushed. George expects the reader to have a working knowledge of basic watch repair, and know exactly how a mechanical watch function. There's not much on repair, cleaning, or oiling.

I really liked Kikuno's workshop. That is years worth for tooling too. It's not cheap stuff either. My point is don't go out and spend a fortune on tooling until you can clean, oil, and time a 17 jeweled wristwatch with under $500 worth of tools.

It's a really a good feeling resurrecting an older watch, and knowing how to fix it if it breaks down, or runs slow.

That said, I'll get political. Many of the major watch houses will not sell you parts for your watch. You buy a $10 grand Rolex, and can't buy a new crown. They claim it's for quality assurance, but it's a money grab. That's it. The govenemment knows it violates The Sherman Anti-trust Act, but they have bigger fish to fry--I guess? They said it was a rich man's problem? This said while they wearing Rolexes(couldn't be gifts?), with Lobbyists scurrying around in the chambers.

If you do get good at watch repair, you will look at watches, maybe the world, differently?

Since I got into watch repair, I stopped looking at the outside of many mechanical things. It just happened? Maybe because I used to be an auto mechanic, but I believe it was the watch repair that changed me.

I don't know if Roger Smith literally makes everything from scratch, but if I recall correctly Philippe Dufour and FP Journe are approximately as "in-house" as he is (though Journe is becoming relatively mainstream these days).

I would say Dufour is approaching the same legendary status Smith has, especially considering the waiting list (and auctions) for Simplicity models.

Every independent watchmaker has to deal with repairs, but once you pass six figures or so for a single timepiece you don't see them outright returned much anymore (statistically speaking).

Even at high five figures you don't see them returned very often, but you do see a valley of returns at the low five figure mark ($10-$30k), or at least a lot of reselling. This is the ceiling at which a watch is "affordable" for people who aren't wealthy if they are well-paid, have few to no obligations and are fiscally irresponsible, which often results in buyer's remorse. This is one of the reasons why it's comparatively easy to find a mint or near-mint preowned watch at a significant discount less than two years out from original production year for a lot of "entry level" timepieces from the most high end brands (Lange, Vacheron, Patek, etc). You won't find similar discounts at the mid, high or ultra-high tiers within these brands, because they circulate less.

Moreover, buyers who are more likely to regret their purchase typically buy more recognizable brands. Buying from an independent takes a higher commitment to the art of haute horlogerie because virtually no one is going to recognize, even among people who recognize more than just Rolex. The market for reselling an independent-made timepiece is also lower (though in the case of someone like Smith or Dufour, this is probably not a concern).

Source: Watch hobbyist, I own an A. Lange & Söhne and Nomos Glashütte, frequent watch forums and read watch blogs.