Saw a great article about Dimitrie Vicovanu in the New York Times a few days ago.  Vicovanu is really a master watchmaker who specializes in complicated restoration work.  His secret?  He bought out an old jewelry store many years ago and has over 14,000 movements that he keeps meticulously cataloged.  When a rare vintage watch comes in, it’s pretty common not to be able to locate replacement parts from any of the supply houses.  Vicovanu uses his stock of movements to supply those spare parts, enabling him to work on stuff that others must turn away.  He’s a very nice guy in person too.

Here’s the link and a PDF of the article for when they archive it.