Sansom Watches

I had my grandfather’s 1940s watch restored by Sansom Watches earlier this year. While the watch turned out nicely, unfortunately I cannot recommend them for a number of reasons.
Pros: Andrew is a nice guy and a generally pleasant person; the watch turned out very nicely — it barely worked at all and now keeps excellent time; pricing seemed fair to me (especially compared to Govberg)
Cons: Andrew doesn’t do the repairs, he outsources to a «tech» and therefore doesn’t have detailed knowledge of what’s going on with the watch; poor communication — i wouldn’t hear anything for several weeks at a time and had to initiate all contact; he quoted 10 – 14 business days, but the watch wasn’t ready for nearly 3 months; finally, and most importantly, they had replaced the original signed crown on the watch w/​an unsigned generic crown without informing me. I would have said yes regardless if it was necessary to repair the watch, but the fact that both the tech and Andrew lied about it and insisted it had not been replaced is what I find most concerning. Look at the filtered reviews for Sanson Watches on Unilocal (below all the recommended reviews) — Andrew wrote a 5-​star review of his own shop which Unilocal was able to screen as an illegitimate review…
Yes, the watch turned out well, but I think it’s worth spending more if it means you trust the person doing the repairs. Also, it’s probably better if you can just work w/​a watchmaker directly and cut out the middle man. If you’re having a Rolex or other high end watch serviced, given their history with my restoration, I’d be worried they may use unauthorized generic parts to service your watch.

Stopped by Sansom because another watch repair place next door was closed. Not sure who I spoke with or who helped me (same person) but he was really helpful and fair-​priced. I just had my watch battery replaced but they offer a lot of beautiful watches for sale and photos of celebrities that use their services. I sat for about 2 – 3 minutes and I was on my way! Thanks so much.