Old Northeast Jewelers — Attraction in Saint Petersburg

I've brought one watch to Old Northeast on 4th Street and had it serviced fine. It was an Omega Seamaster, and this would have been about 5 years ago. However, every time since then that I try and bring a watch to them for service, they want you to leave the watch with them before they can even give you an ETA for the work requested. Every time, they estimate the time way beyond what is reasonable, we're talking weeks for basic stuff. I get that they're busy, but at some point they should realize they are understaffed or there is some other issue with the operation. Also, I use the term "service" loosely because it seems like they don't even bother to service watches on site, instead they just ship them out to the manufacturers and act as middlemen, which leads me to wonder what their watchmaker actually does?

So, what prompted me to write this review? I just got back to the office after stopping by to see if I could get some dust removed from the back of the crystal of my Christopher Ward Trident Pro. Unsurprisingly, the front of house lady wasn't aware of the brand, but immediately began trying to dissuade me from having the watch serviced by them. I had to explain that it has a fairly common ETA movement (any competent watchmaker could take the movement out within minutes). She on first glance thought the watch was a Choppard, to which I explained it is a Christopher Ward, at which point she borderline began to insult the watch, though it wasn't blatant nor do I think it was intentional, but calling it a "fashion" watch when she didn't know anything about the brand was exceedingly insulting. "Oh, we don't service fashion watches".

Some thoughts on that statement:

1. Even if it was a fashion watch, any watchmaker worth keeping around can service a common Swiss automatic movement, which you see in all kinds of brands, including Omega and Hamilton, both are brands they sell in store.
2. If you don't know what the brand is, don't assume it's even remotely similar to something like Fossil or Guess, because that, regardless of if you're aware of it or not, is insulting.

Anyways, after further persuasion and explaining it's a simple task, she reluctantly called her "watchmaker" who then, again without knowing anything, clearly began listing excuses and caveats. Oh, if there's dust under the crystal it must be a bad seal! I get the sense this is a common attempt at upcharging unwary customers. Having owned many watches from many brands, dust gets under the crystal from the factory. It just happens. It is not immediately indicative of a seal failure and making that assumption is highly unprofessional without seeing the condition of the watch (which is nearly new). The conversation ended after she said it could be a week before I get an ETA and it could be around $100.

So my parting thoughts here: Get more watchmakers and keep an eye on their workload. If they're outsourcing work to the manufacturers, I don't see how they can have such a massive backlog unless they're literally rebuilding every watch they get in. To the management, I suspect your watchmaker(s) may be milking you. Your front of house representative shouldn't be so quick to dismiss potential paying customers, and should handle unknown watch brands with more dignity. You should have bandwidth to handle a quick job like this. I know the work for this can be done in less than 30 minutes, probably closer to 10 for someone who's worked with this movement before. Given my experience the last few times I've come in, with "huge" backlogs and outragous quotes, I'm effectively done bringing my watches...

I brought my genuine Akoya High Luster 9mm and 10mm white pearl necklace to Old Northeast Jewelers, AKA Hess Fine Art, to be restrung. This was an heirloom strand measuring 48 inches which I have owned for over 45 years. In fact I have numerous photos of myself wearing said pearls at special and sentimental moments in my life. Thus, this loss is not only about monetary value it's about sentimental value. It's about trust rewarded with deception, denial, and disrespect. When I delivered the necklace to the store it was measured to be exactly 48 inches in length and a total count of 129 pearls. I was quoted a price for the restringing service of $5 USD per inch. And the service was to take 2 weeks. The morning that I went to retrieve my necklace an employee and Ms Katrina Hess surrounded me exclaiming they had very much enjoyed working with my pearls, as they were uniquely lustrous and beautiful. I thought this behavior was a little odd. Further, I was told that there was one less pearl because the stringer broke a tool inside of one and the count is now 128 in the necklace and one loose pearl. I took the necklace home, measured it, and found that the strand had now been shortened to a total of 42.75 inches long, and counted in at 127 pearls. I immediately returned to the store to claim the differences. One of the first questions I was asked was whether I had any historical pictures to validate my claims; I confirmed that I have multiple photo records of the necklace. After that I was told that Ms. Katrina Hess would call me. Ms. Hess called and arranged a meeting with her stringer, Laura. I was then asked to show the pearls that I was given? Laura had a few pearls in her hand and matched the string with smaller yellowish low luster pearls. Her explanation for the different color was that the pearls had been cleaned [pearls do not change color] and the 5.75 inch reduction in length was because they were restrung. The micrometer was now measuring the pearls at 7mm and 8mm. I left frustrated and humiliated. My string of pearls has now become a chain of lies. The following Monday morning I called Ms. Hess to appeal for the loss. "These are not my pearls and I want my pearls returned to me." I was informed that Ms. Hess had left for Switzerland and would return in 10 days. Now Ms. Hess refuses to return my calls and hides behind a receptionist. My loss is not easily measurable. Memories, self-esteem, honor, respect, and value are...

I had quite the experience trying to get my Breitling serviced. I own several Bretlings, and in the past, through a different dealer, the watches have been returned to the Breitling service center in Connecticut. Breitling will then inspect the watch and contact the dealer, who will then contact the owner to approve repairs. In the past, that takes about 90 days.

I took my Bretling in to Old Northeast in February 2023. I was encouraged to buy the insurance for $68.00. After about 60 days, I started calling monthly on the status of my watch. I usually had to leave my name and number, with a promise of a prompt return call, which never came. Finally, in September 2023, I called again, and got a manager who told me Breitling returned the watch because Breitling never received approval from the dealer to repair the watch, and if I wanted to send the watch in again, Old Northeast would make a substantial credit to me because "we don't do business this way."

I agreed to send the watch in again. I started calling again in December, again to be told someone would call me back, which would never happen. Finally in February, 2024, I got the estimate and sent approval to have the watch repaired. In May I started calling again and was told to expect my watch in September, 2024. I thought I would never see my watch again, and asked about making a claim on the insurance I was encouraged to buy. I was told it would be denied because the insurance "is not worth much"

Finally in late July 2024, 18 months from dropping it off at Old Northeast, I had my watch back. Almost $900 in repairs and the owner agreed to not charge me shipping.

I spoke to the Breitling Service center in Connecticut and they said my watch was shipped to them in March of 2023, then returned because they never received approval to repair from Old Northeast, then they received it again in July 2023, and returned it again because again they never heard from Old Northeast. Neither of these times did I ever hear from Old Northeast about the repair estimate. Finally the service center received the watch for the third and final time in December of 2023. If the manager had told me in September they had received the watch back from Breitling twice, I would have gone and taken my watch back....