John Hiew Watch & Clock Repair Centre

I was hoping to get my Smith Empire mantel clock serviced at this place but I received such attitude from the lady behind the counter, it put me off almost immediately. I understand that estimates on work is variable, but she made no attempt to secure my business. In fact she was just plain rude. I tried to show her pictures of my clock both mechanism and front, but she dismissed them outright. I guess they make too much money to want my business. The worst customer service I have ever received… even Canada Post provides better service, and that isn’t saying much.
IF YOU WANT CRAPPY SERVICE WHICH MIGHT BE INDICATIVE OF THE TYPE OF WORK THEY DO, THEN GO TO THIS PLACE… OTHERWISE STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE AND RUN!!!
I RECOMMEND YOU GO TO GERMAN WATCHMAKER ON HOMER/​DAVIE STREET INSTEAD… NOT TOO FAR FROM jOHN HIEW.
I went to German Watchmaker at 1208 Homer/​Davie street. He fixed my watch but since he is a cash only establishment and I didn’t have any cash. 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… you won’t be disappointed.

veteran watch repair place. Although it is tucked away in a random floor of a building on granville where you’d expect to find the door from ‘being John Malkovich’, once you find it you’ll take all your watches here. I’ve taken many different watches in for battery swaps that they finish within a few minutes. and a few watch repairs that they figured out. They always clean out my watch when they swap the battery and the price is reasonable.

I was charged 15 dollars for a battery replacement and waited there for about 30 minutes. I expected the price to be be about 10 dollars as other reviews said so a bit suprised. If you need their service, it is better to check the price in advance. But anyway, my watch works perfectly now and I appreciate John for dusting the time and date for me even before I asked.

i brought my omega planet ocean and rolex date to john on separate occassions. My PO was running fast and my rolex stopped working. John took both watches and within 1 week fully fixed both watches. He is an old school skilled watch maker. Highly recommended!

I will write a follow up review on how long the batteries will last. he said it costed $ 10 for each battery for each watch. not sure if that’s the normal rate? oh well …

This guy gets my vote. 4 stars for now, but possibly more when I have a more complicated watch that will require battery replacement.
I’m a do-​it-​yourselfer when it comes to simple watch battery changes. Pop-​off or unscrew the back, buy it from someplace, replace. Simple.
$ 2.50 for a Renata replacement battery. It’s a Swiss made battery. That’s pretty hard to beat, when I know even the cheapest places charge $ 5 min.

Uses no name brand batteries that don’t last as it should and bad for watches.
If your watch is cheap and don’t care, go here.
If you have medium or better watches, go elsewhere.
Owner is untrustworthy and not worth your $ 5 or $ 10.
You get what you pay for or just do it yourself!

I don’t know about you but I’m ALWAYS late taking my birth control pills which is why having a working watch is ever so important. Am I glad I’ve found this little clock shop in the most obscure of places. It’s tucked in the corner of a floor on a building that nobody ever notices. Regardless of it’s location, John will replace your watch battery in a mere 5 minutes for $ 10. While it’s not all that special, I did really appreciate how he re-​adjusted my watch to the correct time AND date after inserting the new battery (very keen on details).
Note: cash only.
Way to go, John. I’m giving you a prestigious 5 stars *****

* Old school *
This is an old school watch and clock repair centre. The place that I normally get watch batteries replaced seems to have disappeared, so I was searching to find a new spot that was reasonable and knowledgeable.
This little shop, which is located on the 10^th floor of an office building with no visible signage from the street was exactly the type of place I wanted. You enter the little business and there are dozens of clocks on the wall, with a pretty wide variety — some kind of interesting ones.
The battery swap was inexpensive ($ 8), done right away, and the kind person behind the counter also cleaned my watch.
Thank you, John!

I have 3 vintage Omega watches, and this place is a godsend. One time, the metal clasp on my daily watch broke off. Since the watch is a 1970’s Omega Seamaster, parts would have been impossible to get, unless I lucked out on ebay and paid an arm and a leg. I went into the shop, asked John to take a look at it, he went in the back, and in 5 minutes he was back with my watch repaired. It turns out he had a spare part that matched my watch exactly! I don’t remember how much it was, but it was less than $ 15 for sure.

A hidden gem off Granville. Extremely pleasant staff, amazing service and great prices. He adjusted my watch quickly on the spot and fixed my friend’s watch who hadn’t previously been able to find anybody capable of fixing it.
I’ve never written a Unilocal review but loved the experience so much I decided to let everyone know Hiew John Watch & Clock Repair Centre is the best.

John Hiew was great for me. Broke a Tag Heuer crown — very expensive to replace at Tag and virtually anywhere else (Time & Gold and any watch store in the malls were asking upwards of $ 300), and the parts are virtually impossible to source if you are not connected with the dealers. Finally risked it and brought it to John who repaired it within days and charged $ 80 for the parts and labour.
While the watch stopped running within a day after the repair, I quickly brought it back to him who fixed it in 5 minutes, of course free of charge. Only thing that keeps this from being a 5-​star experience was this particular incident which I am certain was connected to his repair job, but since he fixed it so willingly I see it more as a positive than a negative in the end.

I phoned for an estimate on what it would cost to clean my battery-​operated clock (I’m sure a good clean is all that would be necessary to fix a slightly sticky second hand). The snippy person who answered refused to put me though to «service», refused to give me an estimate, and told me my Seiko clock could probably not be repaired, but if I wanted to bring it in — fine. I DON’T THINK SO!
My advice to everyone is to go to Chen’s Watchmaker on Main & E. Hastings — who cheerfully said he could clean and fix my clock for $ 40.