The German Watchmaker

I had an antique pocket watch that the second hand had fallen off. I emailed him on a Sunday night about a rough quote and he responded quickly (within 3 hours). I was surprised as I thought I would get the response on the next business day. I went to his store the next day and found the store to be very clean and organized, shows his pride. There were 2 people ahead but I didn’t have to wait long at all. He took a look at my watch and repaired the second hand without charge! He gave me some good advice on my pocket watch (it’s had a hard life) which I had appreciated. It was my first time here, and will be back.

My friend and I have been here a few times and each time the service has been great and the prices fair. I highly recommend.

The German Watchmaker knows his stuff, is very honest and offers really prompt service: he responded to my Unilocal message within a few hours and repaired my watch over the afternoon for less than he had quoted me because it turns out the problem was minor. The dial of my watch had become foggy: it is an inexpensive skagen, but 20 years old and belonged to my now deceased mother so very valuable sentimentally. Now it is good as new and I am very relieved.
What more can you ask? The shop is accessible, and it’s also really neat. Its more of a workshop actually. You can tell that watches are this man’s passion and craft. It is really refreshing to find a legitimate, unpretentious, artisan in this city. I will be only coming to this shop from now on. What a gem.

The only place in town that had the screw I needed. He was very knowledgable. Of course not the cheapest since he works downtown, but excellent service.

Took a watch to him which had a higher end movement in it. Was running a bit slow each day, more than what’s acceptable for an automatic. I was a bit nervous handing over the watch, but he adjusted it for me on the spot.
I watched him work and saw that he indeed knew exactly what he was doing, taking care to open the watch properly and keep everything clean and tidy while he worked. After adjusting he told me to come back for another adjustment if there were any issues. This was a few months ago and the watch continues to run well. I wouldn’t hesitate to bring him your mid tier or even higher end watches for work.

I haven’t found a better, more dedicated, more detailed watchmaker in town. My friend and I brought in two vintage Tudor watches, both in questionable shape. One was rusty and scratched up. The other had a missing hand, another one bent to what I thought was beyond repair, a worn out dial, cracked and dislocated crystal, rusted movement, to the point where I questioned if it was worth trying to salvage. Over nearly two months, Norbert gave them a new life. Cleaned up the dial (without removing the vintage look), un-​bent the bent hand, matched and replaced the missing hand, cleaned up the rust in the movement, and polished the crystal. The Tudors were re-​calibrated and run more accurately than a new Rolex!
Norbert is truly dedicated to his craft. Very helpful with questions and concerns, and will let you know up front if a watch is not worth fixing. He is my go-​to man for anything to do with watches.
I highly recommend the German Watchmaker to anyone who is in need of a watch servicing, especially if you have a vintage Rolex or Tudor that you want to keep looking vintage. The official service centres will replace all the old parts with new ones and remove any signs of «vintage» from the watch, which is great if that’s what you’re looking for, but Norbert will restore your watch without damaging its history.

I had so much trouble over the years at various jewelry shops trying to get batteries replaced in my Timex Expedition, but once I found Norbert at the German Watchmaker my problems were solved! He’s fixed my watch multiple times and I am so glad that he’s there. Thanks Norbert!

A tiny shop nestled in Yaletown Shops at Homer and Davie, Norbert has taken great care to make the space very organized and welcoming.
I brought in a 40 year old Seiko watch to see if it could be repaired. Norbert took a look at it, but first advised me to retire the watch and not invest money into it any further because other parts could fail in the future and not be replaced. I very much appreciated his honesty and expertise, because I know nothing about watches. Any other shop could’ve taken my watch and charged me $ 100+ for repairs and I wouldn’t have had a clue!
I will be back for any other watch issues!

Took my omega to the omega boutique on Granville to only have a few small parts serviced. Right away without even looking at the watch they quoted me a $ 600 charge for a full service, and a 4 – 6 week turnaround after being shipped to Toronto. Norbert replaced only the key elements that needed replacing, polished the bracelet and casing, and did a full inspection and pressure all for ¹⁄₃^rd of the cost in only a weeks time, he was also very thorough and explained in detail what was done and why. Very impressed with the way the watch looks and functions, his speedy service and great customer service. Would recommend to anyone who needs anything from a timex to a Rolex serviced!

I’ve been taking my watches new and old to Norbert for years. He is simply the best in Vancouver!

Just went to The German Watchmaker to change batteries for 4 watches– 1 Tag Heur, 1 French watch and 2 accessory watches. Nobert was really efficient. Although he underquoted for the Tag Heur over the phone because he was not aware that it was one with some special features, he still honoured the price of $ 15 for the Tag Heur battery. $ 10 each for the rest. The french watch battery leaked and Nobert was not able to repair because it used some special parts that was not typical for German, Swiss and Japanese watches. He was honest and told us that he was not able to get the parts to repair it. We were in and out of the store less than 10 mins. He even gave us a card and write down the services performed and asked us to look for him again with this card if we have any problems. German efficiency with customer service. This is a stark contrast to the more than 2 hours wait for a battery change for my other Tag Heur @ Oakridge Centre for way more than $ 15 and ended up with some scratches on my watch. We are so happy that we found Nobert. :)

Quick and knowledgeable service! I’m going to definitely continue coming here for all my watch repair services.

Outstanding service and servicing of our Rolex watches. Norbert is truly a watch master. Faster and less expensive than going through Rolex repair center, highly recommend.

I had my Omega for 12 years and never got around to servicing it. After a couple of years of it always running slow, I took it to Norbert and he replaced a few key parts, services it and polished it. Now it looks and runs like new. All at a reasonable cost and timeframe. Thanks Norbert! Highly recommended.

My entire family brings their watches to Norbert, «The German Watchmaker» because he’s honest, quick and does an amazing job. Most of the time he’s able to fix me up while I wait but regardless, all of his work is done on site so there’s no unnecessary delay. I would highly recommend using Norbert over any other watchmaker, especially any high end jewelry stores which always outsource and charge an arm and a leg. Just be sure to bring cash with you, as I don’t think he takes debit/​cc.

I RECOMMEND YOU GO TO GERMAN WATCHMAKER ON HOMER/​DAVIE STREET if you want quality work and great customer service… Very reasonable rates.
He fixed my watch today but I forgot he is a cash only establishment and I didn’t have any cash. I said I would come back and get the cash for him… instead he let me take my watch after he fixed it (without paying) and said to come back when I can when I have the money. You don’t see service or trust like that too often these days. So get your watch fixed by Norbert, the German Watchmaker in Yaletown… you won’t be disappointed.
As an aside… don’t even bother going to John Hiew repairs on Granville… they have the worst service I have ever seen.

I stopped in today to get batteries replaced in two watches, one for my wife and one of mine. Both are relatively inexpensive ($ 250 or so). Both were taken care of while I waited in less than 10 minutes for $ 25 plus tax. I don’t know much about watch repair but he did some cleaning as well as set the time. I paid cash as cards are not accepted. I much preferred this experience over going to the Bay twice to drop off and pick up, paying twice as much and waiting a week. Highly recommended for routine items.

Came here to buy a set of spring bar (spring bars are small pins to hold bracelet to the case), he gave it to me for free. Awesome ! not that it’s expensive but he could have charge me 5 bucks and i don’t care. Will come again to buy Nato strap, he has a decent strap collection. and possibly service my german watch (a sinn) in the future.

I have a Seiko 7S26 automatic movement that I tried to regulate myself and ended up bumping the hairspring. I couldn’t regulate it to save my life after that. I took it to Norbert and left it with him for a day. When I got it back it was completely fixed and regulated. It now keeps time within 2s/​day which is outstanding for this movement. Norbert knows his stuff and anyone who has negative things to say about him either hasn’t given him a chance to fix a little mistake which everyone makes from time to time or they have no clue what they’re talking about. Thanks Norbert.

I visited Norbert again 2 weeks ago to change a battery. When I walked in, he was already working on another customer’s watch and told me the wait time was going to be at least 30 minutes.
However, Norbert was different this time.
The customer had to step out for a moment and Norbert switched over to my watch and quickly changed the battery and did a cleaning on my watch too which really surprised me! I was impressed with his ability to prioritize and even more impressed with his ability to provide quality service under such time pressure. I gave a $ 6 tip in appreciation and gratitude for getting my watch serviced in 3 minutes rather than waiting around for 30 minutes.
Thank You! I highly recommend Norbert!