Burdeen's Jewelry — Local services in Chicago

Brought a brand new Grand Seiko for resizing and Patrick worked on it. The bracelet completely fell apart due to incorrect reassembly of the links (red flag #1). Luckily that happened when I got home and the watch landed on my bed. Mistakes happen was my thought at the time and since no harm was done I originally rated this place 5 stars since they did not charge me for the work and were friendly at the time. A couple of weeks ago I brought a friend to Burdeen's since he was on the market for his first luxury watch. As we were about to ring the bell to be let in, Patrick was escorting another customer out and we stepped aside to make way before we go in. Right as we were about to step in, Patrick slammed the door in front of our faces pretending that he didn't see us (red flag #2). Both of us were in shock with what just happened. Another client advisor poked Patrick to go back and open the door. A third client advisor came and asked us what we were interested in and we let him know that my friend would like to try on some Grand Seikos. We went to the Grand Seiko area and the client advisor immediately took his mask off and suggested that we do the same since they "have all been vaccinated" (ref flag #3 if you are immunocompromised). Later on he proceeded to show us watches and he pointed out that one of those was a limited edition Grand Seiko. I asked him what the quantity was and then I asked if it was 2000 pieces total and he started making fun of me (red flag #4) that Grand Seiko makes only 30-35000 pieces a year and no way in the world they can dedicate 2000 pieces to 1 limited edition watch only. If he knew his watches, he would have not made such an ignorant remark to try to belittle me. One example is SLGA007 which is a limited edition watch that is being released in a quantity of 2021 pieces (which does not mean that they will all be produced in the same year). He was also not aware that GS makes exclusive models for the US market only. For all the above reasons I'm changing my review from 5 stars to 1. Avoid at all cost!

P.S. my friend did not make a purchase with Burdeen's because of this experience and ended up buying his first luxury watch...

Fixed up appointment and went into store 06/21/2021. There was a Sepia brown complete calendar listed on website for around 36k. When appointment was fixed there was a confusion and I walked into the Buffalo Grove store. I came to know that the appointment was in Michigan st...just 40 miles away downtown. Parked in Hancock center and walked into the store.... only to be told that the cost was 40.5k for the watch. I pointed out the discrepancy in their website. I was refused and I just left disappointed. I guess there was some sensible manager up the chain- they called me on my way back and honored the pricing. They also dropped the watch in my house. I am happy to have bought the watch. But, the sales event was botched, my experience was in the dumps. I have bought Pateks, Audemar and Rolex in the past.... This was comparably the worst buying experience. If not for some sensible person up the chain- I probably would have told all my friends or family to never set foot in Burdeen again. They realized their fault and have tried to do better. Hopefully their service will improve and I get to change my mind completely. EDIT: My experience today was great. Aaron the boutique director was great. Bought a UN Cape Horn and it was a great...

What a lovely experience at Burdeen’s x Vacheron Constantin. Went in to order a bracelet for a watch and was extremely impressed with the care the team took. Zachary, the new store Director is the best. It’s clear he understands watch nerds in Chicago (he’s definitely one himself!) The team were able to triple-confirm for me that the bracelet was compatible with the case type on my watch (the leather and stainless steel heads on this model are slightly different dimensions) and placing the order was simple. Not a bad afternoon sipping espresso, talking watches and getting this errand off my list.

When I stopped by to pick up my order a few weeks later, I was greeted by Zach again and he was able to show me some truly incredible pieces they had just received. In a town where every watch-shop is “eyes only” it was really great to be able to get hands-on with a number of stainless steel and precious metal models from Vacheron and other brands.

They even had a Vacheron 222 to try on, an extremely limited re-release from the 70s that helped kick off the sports watch craze.

Truly fantastic service, very welcoming and gimmick-free experience. Will continue building my collection with their...