Where to buy watch parts in the UK
Which sellers suit which parts, what UK import VAT and courier fees really cost, and why this site never links to parts carrying a brand’s name or logo.
Most guides to buying watch parts are written for American readers, which isn’t much help when your parcel is sitting at a UK depot waiting for you to pay VAT and a handling fee. This guide covers where I’d look for each part of a build if you’re in the UK, what kind of seller suits which part, how import VAT and customs work, how to spot a listing that won’t fit, and why this site never links to parts carrying a brand’s name or logo.
If you haven’t built a watch before, start with my guide to building your first watch. It explains why the movement has to come first, which makes the rest of this page make a lot more sense.
What you need to buy for a build
Every build needs the same handful of parts, and each has its own pitfalls:
- Movement. The starting point. A 2813, 2824/2836 clone, Miyota 8215 or Seiko NH35. Buy it first and buy everything else to fit it. My movement reviews cover the 2813, 2824, 2836 and Miyota 8215.
- Case. Must name your movement in the listing, ideally with the matching movement ring, stem and crown included.
- Dial. Look for unbranded (“sterile”) or homage dials with the feet in the right place for your movement and the date window in the right position.
- Hands. Sold by hole size. Check them against my watch hand sizes chart before ordering.
- Crystal. Usually comes with the case. If you’re replacing one, you need the exact diameter and profile (flat, domed or box) and the right gasket.
- Strap. The easy bit. Just match the lug width of your case.
- Tools and consumables. Hand pressers, tweezers, case openers, Rodico, gasket grease. My tools page lists what I started with.
The main types of seller
eBay and AliExpress
The cheapest and widest choice: the case for my first build came from eBay and the hands from AliExpress. You can find movements, cases, unbranded dials, hands and straps for very little money. The catch is that quality and accuracy of listings vary hugely: the same photo may appear on a dozen listings from different sellers, and fitment claims are often copied rather than tested. Check feedback, read the reviews with photos, and message the seller to confirm which movement a part has actually been fitted to.
Most of my parts have come from eBay and AliExpress. eBay UK sellers usually arrive in two to four days. AliExpress takes two to three weeks, sometimes longer around Chinese New Year. The one thing that’s turned up wrong was a set of hands with the wrong hole sizes for my movement, which is why I now always check the sizes in the listing or message the seller first. Once I find a seller whose parts fit, I go back to them.
Singapore mod-part specialists
A handful of Singapore-based shops specialise in parts for modding the Seiko NH35 family. Quality is a step above the marketplace sellers, and their listings tend to be clear about which movement a part fits, often with detailed notes on dial feet and date windows.
The downside for this site’s kind of build is that they’re NH35-focused, so there’s much less for the 2824, 2813 or Miyota 8215. Also bear in mind they ship from outside the UK: you may have to pay courier duties on delivery, and returns to Singapore aren’t cheap.
UK specialist suppliers for tools and consumables
Specialist UK watchmaking suppliers stock tools, consumables and genuine movement parts. They’re the obvious place for Rodico, oils, gasket grease, case openers and better-quality tools, and buying in the UK means no import surprises. Big overseas suppliers can sometimes be cheaper for branded tools, but once you add international postage and import VAT they often aren’t.
For cheap starter tools, Amazon UK is perfectly fine for a first build. These are the ones I use:
Where I’d buy each part
| Part | Good places to look | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Movement | eBay, AliExpress; UK specialist suppliers for genuine Miyota/Seiko | Old stock, missing stems, unknown factory for 2813/2824 clones |
| Case | eBay, AliExpress; Singapore specialists for NH35 | Listings that don’t name a movement; missing movement ring |
| Sterile dial | eBay, AliExpress; Singapore specialists for NH35 | “Fits all” claims; wrong date window position |
| Hands | eBay, AliExpress | Hole sizes not listed, or listed for the wrong movement |
| Crystal | Usually with the case; specialists for upgrades | Diameter and gasket must match exactly |
| Strap | Anywhere, including UK sellers | Lug width |
| Tools and consumables | Amazon UK for starters, UK specialist suppliers for upgrades | Very cheap hand pressers that wobble |
If you’re buying a movement, these are the ones I’ve linked from my reviews:
UK import VAT and customs: the £135 rule
Since 2021, how you pay VAT on parts from overseas depends on the value of the consignment (the whole parcel, not each item):
- £135 or less: 20% VAT is charged at checkout by the seller or the marketplace (eBay and AliExpress do this for you). You shouldn’t get a bill on delivery, and there’s no customs duty at this level for ordinary goods.
- Over £135: VAT, plus any customs duty that applies, is collected when the parcel arrives, usually by the courier. Couriers add their own handling fee on top, often roughly £10 to £40.
Whether customs duty applies to watch parts above £135 depends on the exact classification, which isn’t always clear-cut, so check the commodity code for what you’re importing on the UK Trade Tariff before placing a big order. The rules on low-value imports also get reviewed from time to time, so it’s worth a quick look at gov.uk’s guidance on goods sent from abroad if you haven’t ordered for a while.
In practice, splitting a build across several small orders under £135 keeps things simple. Bundling a whole build from one overseas shop into one big parcel can be cheaper on postage but more expensive on fees.
On AliExpress and eBay, the 20% VAT on orders under £135 is added at checkout, so the price you see is what you pay. I’ve never been charged a courier fee on a small parts order.
How to spot a bad listing
- “Fits all movements” or “fits NH35/2824/8215”. Dial feet sit in different places on different movements, and “universal” dials often fit none of the movements listed. Treat any multi-movement claim as unproven until the seller confirms it.
- No hand hole sizes. A good hands listing gives the hour, minute and seconds hole sizes in millimetres. If it doesn’t, ask.
- Stock photos only. If every listing for a part uses the same image, you have no idea what you’re getting. Look for reviews with buyers’ own photos.
- No movement ring or stem mentioned. A case without the right spacer for your movement is a problem you’ll only discover at the casing stage.
- Dial thickness not stated. A thick dial can leave too little clearance for the hands.
- Too-good-to-be-true prices on “genuine” parts. Particularly Swiss or Japanese movements. Clones are fine when they’re sold as clones.
Why I don’t link to branded parts
You’ll find plenty of dials, cases, bezels and crowns online carrying the names and logos of famous watch brands. This site doesn’t link to them, and won’t tell you where to find them. Here’s why.
A dial or case bearing a brand’s name or logo, made without that brand’s permission, is a counterfeit. In the UK, selling or dealing in goods carrying a registered trade mark without consent is a criminal offence under the Trade Marks Act 1994, and counterfeit goods can be seized at the border even when you’ve ordered them for yourself. This isn’t hypothetical: Trading Standards in Sussex took a dealer to court over fake dials and paperwork, and he received a suspended sentence. I’m not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice, but the line is simple enough for a hobby site: homage designs are fine, copied trade marks are not.
The good news is that you don’t need them. The fun of building is in the design, the fit and doing it yourself, and an unbranded or sterile dial lets a homage stand on its own. It also means you can sell or give the watch away later without passing on a counterfeit.
When I started building, I spent a lot of time on watch forums where branded parts were the norm, and it took me a while to see the problem with them. These days my homages use unbranded or sterile parts, and when I build a franken the branded parts are genuine ones.
Once your parts arrive, head back to the first build guide, and if anything doesn’t fit, the problems and fixes page is the place to start.
