William Barthman

Tried to have two watches serviced here. I called before coming over with them to see if they could perform a standard service on a Tag Heuer and a Bell & Ross. They told me yes, they could.
I arrive, and after a few short minutes of mumbling behind the counter, I’m told that in fact, no, they can not or would not service the Bell & Ross… But the Tag is fine. It’s Friday. They take my information, and let me know that someone will be calling «early next week» with an estimate.
Needless to say, no call is received. I call them 1 week later on Friday, and ask about it, and I’m informed that in fact no, they couldn’t service my Tag Heuer either.
So glad I called ahead to ask.
You’d think a company selling high end watches would actually strive to earn new customers… They’ll not be getting any future business from me.
I was under the assumption that this store was a «New York institution,» the way Katz’s is for Pastrami.
I’d have been better off trying to have my watches serviced at Katz’s. At least I could’ve had a sandwich.

I went into William Barthman the other day because the diamond in my wedding ring felt a little bit loose. On top of that, my watch had stopped working that very morning so it made sense to take care of both at the same time. I met Connie who was extremely pleasant as well as efficient. I couldn’t have asked for better customer service. My diamond feels secure and my watch is working again, but on top of that, they were so clean they looked brand new! The turn-​around time was extremely quick, I’m very pleased with the service she provided.

Extremely helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable staff. They (she) helped me pick out the perfect graduation watch for my wrist. I liked the attention to detail shown, and how attentive she was with me. I recommend this shoppe to anyone in the market for a respectable timepiece!

Connie at William Barthman made the entire process of designing an engagement ring as comfortable and welcoming as possible. I felt completely at ease as soon as I stated talking with Connie. I had been to a few other jewlers before which left me discouraged and skeeved out. Enter Connie, I never thought this process could be as good as it turned out to be. I, as well as my fiancé, could not be happier with how the ring turned out and service provided. I will be going to William Barthman for all of my jewlery needs from now on. Connie is so sweet and caring, I truly adore her. She made sure I was completely comfortable and happy with everything, it was very reassuring. The craftsmanship, quality, and service is second to none, Thank you Connie and everyone at William Barthman.

As they are a certified Rolex dealer, I walked in to inquire about a discontinued Rolex model and how I might acquire this particular watch. Richard Granatoor was the gentleman to help me. At first, it didn’t even seem like he wanted to help, really — his body language was all off and he was kind of brusque. He did walk me through the process, and I did get some good information from him, but seemed to take a long time to get there, and he has this sort of impenetrable wall of arrogance. Given the size purchase one would make in this store, I would expect only the highest touch, most client intensive customer service.
Basically, I just felt like I was being big-​timed, and my lack of knowledge around watches was being exposed, as opposed to a committed customer service experience. Bottom line — when you’re spending $ 8k minimum on something, I want to come away feeling good about who I’m dealing with; and I certainly did not with Mr. Granatoor.

I visited the store in 2007 to get my Tag Heuer Formula 1 quartz watch serviced. The price to overhaul and fix the crown of my watch was cheaper than going to Tourneau to fix it. It took them 4 weeks to service my watch because they said they have to order a part. (Seems very long to wait for a repair).
Upon receiving the watch; the glow in the dark dot on the bezel (on top of 12 o’ clock mark) was missing. The Watchmaker had the guts to say that it was missing when I first dropped off the watch. I refused to accept the watch and pay for their unprofessional service. The Manager and Watchmaker had to fix the watch to my content. I waited approximately 20 minutes for them to fix my watch. I paid and left the store immediately and WILL NOT be coming back to patronize their business.

I went in to get a battery for a costume jewelry watch, a little shocked at sticker price of $ 20 but ok, figure while I am in there I would get my wedding band and engagement ring cleaned. They take my ring away and tell me that they are going to steam and ultrasound it clean… ok, then I get the bill. OMG!!! $ 45 FOR THE CLEANING. Most places will do it gratis if you spend money there. I will NEVER EVER GO BACK and want to warn all of this total ripoff place!

rudest employee ever! would never come back again! they lost a big sale.

Had my wife’s engagement ring re sized and rhodiumed here. Very pleased with the results of both.

In the interest of transparency, the individual I was referring to in my earlier review is one Richard Granatoor, General Manager of William Barthman. He was previously employed at Tourneau’s Westchester location. And evidently, I wasn’t the only one who experienced dismal and rude service from Richard.

I had my engagement ring re-​sized here. The service was really fast and they did a nice job.

Good selection and staff was knowledgeable but pricing is not competitive. I stopped in to buy one of the DJ2 models they carry. R. Granatoor assisted me and was friendly but he was very stingy negotiating price. He seemed uninformed about what price other AD’s were selling this model for. I ended up purchasing at another AD for less money.

Very friendly. Quick service. Charged me $ 20 to replace a watch battery, which is kind of absurd.

I need to have my hubby’s vintage Rado watch battery replaced a while ago. It is an old one, passed to him from his elderly, so he takes a very good care of it. He usually change our watches’ batteries himself, but that Rado needs a special tool, which we don’t have.
I take it to WB since it’s been around since 1884 and they sell nice watches, so they should have known how to care for nice watches properly.
When I go there, they tell me to pay $ 25, leave it with them and pick it up the next day. Other store will change the battery while you wait usually, so I just make sure they CAN replace the battery and HAVE the special tool for it before I leave it with them.
The next day when I pick it up, I find the back of the watch is bent and dented in a couple of spots. It proves that some idiot have opened it up without the proper tool required or even know how to do it.
Just for a $ 25 fee that they want to keep, they have totally ruined a precious vintage watch that you can’t just buy another one in store.
They could have called me and asked to have it done somewhere else because they can not do it, do not know how to do it and do not have the tool to do it properly.
All I get from them is only ‘It is like that when you leave it’, which is not true at all since we take a very good care of all our watches. The main and only reason we bring it to a professional, and willing to pay for their supposedly professional fee in the first place is because we do not want to ruin it by trying to open it up ourselves.
They denied they have ruined it, declined to fix it and do not even say any apology, even IF they have not ruined it they have made me upset and made my first and last experince with them a very unpleasant one.
I never have to photograph a watch, the front and back of it before I leave it with a watch store just to have the battery changed. However, I will do it next time.
Btw, Kenjo in Wall Street is so much better. At least he tells me upfront when they can not change it themselves, so if I still want it done by them, they will send it to an authorized repair center for my other watch.

Their clock is still embedded in the sidewalk at this address, but their store has moved a few doors away to:
176 Broadway
New York, NY, 10 038
(212) 732‑0890
The corner location was –much– cooler.
Now, it houses a GNC.