The 1916 Company — Local services in Philadelphia

Up Front, Govberg is the best in the business regarding quality of product and service!

I began my watch experience with a Breitling Montbrillant Datora I purchased from Govberg several years ago; great product, impeccable service and a reasonable price. I was hooked. I have since purchased and traded in several watches over the ensuing 3 years; the Montbrillant and several others were traded for my "grail" watch I will discuss in a moment. Each and every time I worked with a polite, professional, extremely knowledgeable staff - Justin Rix - who was very patient with my questions and demand for excellence.....he exceeded all expectations. Each trade was fair and I received a quality product backed by the Govberg service guarantee and warranty. Regretfully in pursuit of my grail watch I had the opportunity to test the warranty....when I received the IWC Perpetual Calendar the day was misaligned with the respective calendar date....an impossibility if you know the watch and can only be adjusted by a qualified horologist. Without skipping a beat, Justin apologized for the discrepancy immediately initiated FedEx return and placed me in touch with Ms Christina Teixeira to guide me through the warranty process. Again, impeccable customer service... she kept me appraised of the process insisting Govberg go above and beyond (fully overhauled at IWC Schaffhausen) to ensure I have a quality product. Ultimately I received a - Like New - fully refurbished timepiece with an IWC guarantee, fully exceeding my expectations and providing me value far in excess of what I paid for. Part three and final segment....I tried a competitor chasing after a "good deal". I had been on Chrono 24 looking to round my collection out with an IWC Pilot chronograph and found an at-market priced product with a Midwestern jeweler I had not previously used. Regretfully, the good deal was too good to be true; the product, service and support were nonexistent. However, the story ends well, I was returned my money via Chrono 24, contacted Justin at Govberg and purchased an IWC Big Pilot. As expected the product is in perfect -like new- condition with impeccable service to match. For anyone pursuing a watch collection, just an every day watch or the grail watch, don't bother with other shops just do your on line research and go to Govberg. I will remain a life long customer.

UPDATE November 2020 Recently I discovered an issue with my IWC Portugese Perpetual.....if you are familiar it is an extremely complicated watch.....the day lagged the actual calendar day; there is no way to independently set any calendar function due to the complication. I immediately contacted Ms Christina Teixeira, referenced above, who sprung into action to assist. I can't say enough about the attention to detail and customer support at Govberg. Regretfully this is a repeat issue with this watch, however I feel confident in talking to the Goverberg staff this will come to a successful end and grateful for the WATCHBOX warranty and now IWC factory warranty. Again.....as I stated above Quality company that stands behind their product, customer focused, diligent and supportive staff...Christina...

TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE.

Unfortunately, after a string of recent events, I have to update my review from 5 stars to 1.

Never have I been to an establishment where my business is valued so little as Govberg. I've been a customer here for more than 4 years, and in that time, probably spent upwards of close to $40k on watches. However, despite this business, I cannot seem to get any workers to answer text messages, questions or inquiries about anything watch related.

Nearly 3 years ago, I put my name on the proverbial "list" for a highly in-demand timepiece they sell. I was told my an employee there in 2021 that "I can't get you this watch this year, but next year (2022) definitely." Here we are, end of 2023, and silence. I moved out of the city a few years ago, and after having just moved back, I went back in to Govberg to visit the new store. The new worker I talked to, Eric, acted as though I had never done business at the store, and when I informed him of my past transactions and continued interest in said timepiece, he said, "I'll go ahead and reactivate you on the list." What? Reactivate? Why was I deactivated in the first place.

Govberg has strayed so far from what they were in the past that it's sad. Now, it seems they value the ultra-spender, top 1/2 of 1/2 %, and are completely disinterested in anyone they don't deem to be a whale.

I took a timepiece purchased there by my wife for my wedding to get it engraved. I was quoted 7-10 days for return, and I asked at the time for it to be sent directly back to my house. After 11 days and never hearing anything, I finally reached back out to Eric to ask for an update, at which point he asked what typeface I wanted. Translation: it hadn't even started. I asked for a print typeface, but was never given a confirmation that 1) he received my request or 2) it was transferred to the engraver. This took another 48h for confirmation (I guess text messaging has the same delay as snail mail at Govberg). A full one week later, I reached out again asking for an update and was informed the watch was sent to the brick and mortar store, again neglecting my original request of it being sent to my house. 3 full days pass once again before I annoyingly reach out to Eric a 3rd time and demand it be sent to me, only then do I finally receive a shipping label. I will receive my enrgaved watch back after 23 days. I should underscore here that all the updates had to be self-directed, as getting Eric to respond to a text was extremely difficult, unprofessional, and frustrating.

It's safe to say Govberg can keep their list, as I'll never purchase another watch from their store or WatchBox (the 1916 company) again. I suggest you take your business elsewhere as well, unless you plan on spending $100k +, at which point you'll be welcome with open arms...no promises on how they treat you after,...

I don’t usually write reviews, but I felt compelled to share the amazing experience my wife and I had at The 1916 Company (Philadelphia location), thanks to Eddie Colon.

We walked in on a Saturday after submitting an online inquiry about Rolex Certified Pre-Owned watches. We had a general appointment, but not with any particular associate. Fortunately, we were paired with Eddie — and I’m very glad we were.

From the start, Eddie was warm, personable, and genuinely interested in getting to know us — our hobbies, careers, and what we were looking for in a new watch. After some conversation, he showed us a few new Rolex models and then walked us through the Certified Pre-Owned program. We spent time looking at some beautiful pre-owned options we could’ve walked out with that day including a really nice Submariner and a great mid-90s Sea-Dweller. As we looked, we kept talking about what we were really after, and Eddie offered some insight that completely shifted our expectations.

Like many people, I had heard that stainless steel Rolex sports models like the Submariner, Sea-Dweller, Explorer, or Yacht-Master typically have waitlists of one to three years. Eddie explained that this isn’t always the case, and for the models we were interested in, he could likely make the wait much shorter — possibly just a few months.

With that in mind, we turned our attention to new models. We tried on a few, narrowed down our preferences, and Eddie took note of the specific watches each of us were interested in.

Just 11 days later, I got a call from Eddie, he had secured the exact Rolex I was hoping for: an Explorer II.

I drove back down to Philly that same day. Eddie greeted me, walked me through the features of the watch, registered it in my name, made sure it fit perfectly, and made the whole experience feel just as special as the watch itself.

I left that day with my dream watch and a real appreciation for Eddie... he is just a good dude and very easy to talk to and work with. What I expected to take months — or even years — turned into a smooth, memorable experience that is truly unbelievable how quickly he found my watch. You can tell Eddie genuinely enjoys what he does and takes pride in helping people obtain a watch they may have been thinking about for years. If you're in the market for a Rolex, Patek, Grand Seiko, Cartier, Omega, Tag or anything from The 1916 Company, I can not recommend enough that you should be...