Little Watch Shop — Local services in Houston

In my two years living in Houston so far, I’ve brought 4 timepieces by this shop to have them worked on and repaired.

The first was a vintage Omega from the 1960’s. The second was a vintage Seiko from the 70’s, both of which being heirlooms. The second 2 were both vintage Seikos, and both had problems. The first one had a gouge in the side of the case from an errant tool.

The most recent issue I had with this store was a vintage Seiko 5 Speedtimer that I’d bought originally for its pristine, untouched dial. The case had some wear, and that was to be expected with a watch of this age. However, the movement worked on it, and it needed a service. I took it by here earlier in July, and had told them about a previous experience I’d had at this location regarding another watch that was “fixed” by them that left the shop in arguably worse shape than when it came in.

They reassured me that this wouldn’t happen again, and yet the same thing happened, but even WORSE. The dial had a gouge in it by the 10:00 index that can’t be removed without major work, and the case is in more rough shape than before I came in. I can forgive a slight case scratch because it’s bound to happen by the movement of my own wrist anyway, but a scratch due to an errant tool on a dial that was UNTOUCHED in the first place is inexcusable, especially on a watch of this age where a dial will be hard to source another part for. They tried to make it right by not charging me, but you can’t fix a dial that is scarred unless major refinishing takes place.

If you were considering this shop for a vintage watch repair, I’d highly, HIGHLY recommend going somewhere else or sending the watch off to a different watchmaker than to come here. For a place that displays all of the certifications of their watchmakers on the walls, it seems a few could use retraining, at the very least.

The only reason my review isn’t lower than one star is because of the kindness of the people working the front desks. Pictures of the before the repair and after are attached for anyone...

As someone who always promotes buying local at brick and motor businesses, The Llittle Watch Shop is a great example of why it's so important to buy local when you can. I have a watch that was sitting in my jewelry box for over five years, broken band, and at a minimum it had a dead battery. Rather than buy online, I wanted to find a local place where I can find out if my watch is working, and see watch bands in person before I buy because sometimes things look much better online. I went to The Little Watch Shop, when I walked in I was greeted by a friendly person who worked there. I showed him my watch, he immediately gave it to one of the technicians to take a look at it, and while I waited he handed me a box of watch bands, there were over 50 to choose from. Before I got a chance to pick out my watch band, the technician checked out my watch, she said it was working fine, and already inserted the new battery and set the day, date and correct time. I chose my band, they attached it and I was in and out of there in about 15 minutes!. Excellent service, more convenient than shopping online, friendly people who are experts in what they do and the best part is I got it all in the same day! That is the difference when you go to a locally owned place that has pride in what they do. Thank you Little Watch Shop. I highly recommend your place to anyone who needs watch repair, parts or a new watch too. You guys have a great selection of watches...

Lovely sales process, despite being busy. Bought a daily wear mechanical watch, nothing too fancy or expensive. Wife wrapped it and put it under the tree for a couple of weeks.

Upon wearing it regularly, I noticed a defect that would stop the second hand at the 37 second mark, one to three times a day. Returned the watch for observation, shop confirmed the issue, a watchmaker looked at it, and parts were ordered.

The manufacturer's supplier was slow to respond; four weeks slow. The shop offered alternative paths forward: my choice of a full refund or the purchase price applied to another watch.

I really liked the watch, so I asked if the movement could be sourced from another supplier. The phone staff confirmed it was a standard ETA, but after checking with the watchmaker, realized it has a custom module that couldn't be independently sourced.

So it was time to exchange the watch or obtain a refund. Before that happened, the module arrived, the watchmaker installed it, and the shop asked for a couple days of observation. After those days, the watch was still running strong and has given me no issue since.

When things go right, one can't tell good service from bad. My watch troubles were clearly exceptional, and the shop offered me an early exit should I not be patient enough to get what I wanted, I'm glad I stayed the course, and even more glad I have found a...