Good starter project

[joshua]

What's a good mechanical starter watch to take apart and put back together?  Something inexpensive I don't mind messing up, but with a movement that is a good foundation to master?  Thoughts and advice?  Thanks!

Joshua

[Fergus]

A 6309. You don't need to buy an expensive diver's look for a cheaper dress watch.

[tritto]

I suggest a manual wind HMT out of India. They can be had very cheaply and they're based on a Citizen movement. No auto and no calendar mechanism to make things more difficult.

[aac58]

6309 is a good option, and 7005 is even simpler. Lots of information on the web to guide you, for example or friend Mike_B has very good disassembly/assembly videos of both movements (and many others) on his youtube channel "My Retro Watches", and you can get the technical sheets in this forum.