Paylak TS-CH300 Metal Watch Repair Tool

Simple design and very sturdy, the only complaint is that the holes are not drilled out perfectly so you have issues moving the nylon bumpers to other holes depending on the size of the watch. It gets the job done and it's not a major issue but it is a pain if you switch out sizes a lot

A well constructed vise that will hold any size of wrist watch for back removal. I bought this larger vise to hold my Swiss Army watch which was too large to fit the vises sold in the other kits. Very heavy construction keeps the watch in place perfectly when removing the back with a pin wrench.

Purchased in conjunction with an Amazon sourced XL "Watch Case Back Opener Wrench." This device holds watch cases very well during initial opening or final closing of the case back when the most torque is being applied by the wrench. Material is solid and feels rigid/heavy duty. Holds watches from movement and protects them from being scratched as a result. Also frees hands to manage the Watch Case Back Opener Wrench. Please note that this review is based on repair of men's watches only. Women's watches, which tend to be much smaller and often open differently, have not yet been tested. This device has been used a total of 9 times as of this writing. To utilize, I placed the Paylak TS-CH300 Metal Watch Repair Tool in the bench vise. The vise jaws were opened just ever so slightly larger than the Watch Repair Tool base width to allow for easy insertion and to minimize damaging the Paylak TS-CH300 tool's finish. (To help accomplish this, I had sized the Paylak TS-CH300 tool to the watch case freehand before placing it into the vise.) Once in the vise, it was quite rigid and makes easy work on removing the watch case back. The only issue here - and this is really minor - is that the adjustment screw's spring in the Paylak TS-CH300 tool used to establish width could have been a bit stronger for my taste. That's a subjective call though and others may not find it an issue. Nonetheless it works, just not as deliberate as I would like for precise response to movement of the adjustment screw. I gave it 4 vs. 5 stars because of this but 4.5 stars is probably a more accurate score. The Watch Case Back Opener Wrench used to screw off the case back has three adjustable pins that are sized to fit into milled slots on the watch back. However, watches have different case diameters so there's an initially sizing effort with the case back opener wrench that you must go through to triangulate the three pins properly for a snug fit into the watch case back slots. It's easier to do this outside of the Paylak TS-CH300 tool. Once everything is lined up, you place the watch face down into the Paylak TS-CH300 tool, position the Case Back Opener Wrench into the watch case back slots, bear down to keep the wrench from popping free and scratching the case back, and then apply torque until the case back breaks free. In doing this procedure, the Paylak TS-CH300 tool performed flawlessly. I had complete confidence in the device on my first try. Given the torque required on my watch, I would strongly recommend NOT trying to do this freehand or with some other ad hoc fixture unless of course a scratched watch back isn't a big concern for you. Btw, I leave the metal one piece watch bands on while doing the above procedure to speed up the battery replacement process. As such, there is only a small amount of room where you can utilize the JAXA case opening wrench when the watch is mounted in the Paylak TS-CH300 tool. Its adequate though and the option to remove the band is always there. Wrench movement is also limited by the 4 white nylon Paylak watch retention pins. Once the case back breaks free, it's easily rotated free by hand. I just remove the watch from the Paylak TS-CH300 tool for the remainder of the battery replacement process. Once done, its back to the Paylak TS-CH300 and the case back is given its final tightening. All in all, it's a simple process after your initial learning curve and takes all of approx. 5 minutes if that. I did the first three watches in under 30 minutes. Now for the benefits. The tooling cost (both the TS-CH300 tool and the Case Back Opener Wrench) was approximately $35. Watch batteries were under $1.50 via Amazon.. (I buy in paks, they have a relatively long shelf life.) As you're probably aware, a typical watch battery replacement is anywhere from $10-25 commercially (cir. 2014) depending on watch size. So, with the repair of the initial three watches, I had paid for the equipment and supplies and still realized a small savings. But it's more than that. The convenience in doing this on my schedule was the greatest benefit of all.

Good tool.

Stable and sturdy, held my large pilot watch for a battery replacement. I used plastic wrap over the vice and pressed the watch case in place to make sure I didn't scratch anything.