Second Time Around Watch Repair Shop: Vintage Since 1976

Second Time Around Watch Company has been buying, selling, and repairing watches in the Los Angeles area since 1976, and its Beverly Hills showroom sits at 160 S. Beverly Drive, at the corner of Beverly Drive and Charleville Boulevard. It is first a vintage dealer, with hundreds of collectible wristwatches and pocket watches in stock, but the same in-house watchmakers who service every piece it sells will also take in your own vintage watch for periodic service.

The company's owner, Jon Goldfarb, is described on its site as a longtime collector and enthusiast, and the business frames its repair work around collecting rather than convenience. Every watch it sells is completely disassembled, cleaned, oiled, and recalibrated before it reaches the case, then sold with a two-year warranty, a year longer than the typical warranty on a new watch. The watchmakers who do that work are the ones who see customer repairs.

That background shapes the advice you get at the counter. The shop's stated goal is to keep a watch original, using genuine parts rather than swapping components to raise the bill, which it calls far too common in the trade. If you bring in a 1950s chronograph with its original dial and hands, the conversation will be about how to keep them, not how quickly a modern replacement can be fitted.

Second Time Around's FAQ recommends servicing a mechanical watch every three to five years, to re-lubricate it and keep out dirt, dust, and moisture. It also argues that any mechanical watch can be repaired in competent hands given enough time, and that older pieces are often found damaged by careless watchmakers. That makes it a sensible second opinion if another shop has told you a vintage movement is beyond saving.

Quartz is a different story. The FAQ is candid that the circuitry in quartz watches eventually dies and may be beyond repair, which is one reason the shop leans toward mechanical pieces. If your heirloom is an early quartz model, ask frankly whether parts still exist before paying for a full inspection. If it is a manual-wind or automatic watch, the odds are on your side, and a service every few years is what keeps them there.

No repair menu is published online, so the price comes from the watchmakers after inspection. The site describes its servicing as very competitively priced and says customers typically save hundreds of dollars compared with sending a watch elsewhere. For watches bought from the shop, there is a clear rule: once the two-year warranty ends, routine servicing or repair is done at the company's wholesale cost.

If you are browsing the inventory as well as repairing a watch, the policies are straightforward. Every watch for sale is in the store and ready for immediate delivery, and purchases can be returned within seven days for a refund minus costs incurred. Domestic shipping, insurance, and handling on a purchase is a flat $75. The company belongs to the NAWCC, the International Watch and Jewelry Guild, and the National Association of Watch Dealers.

Out-of-town owners can send a watch rather than visit. The shop ships insured via UPS Overnight within the United States and FedEx International Priority abroad, and you can call to arrange a service before packing anything. For a local repair, though, walking in with the watch and its history is the better way to start. Bring the old receipts, any replaced parts you were given, and the box if you have it; for a collector's piece, that paper trail matters almost as much as the movement.

The retail showroom is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm, and the shop says it is also available by appointment. Sunday is not listed. Bring the watch in person, ideally with any old service papers, and expect to try on a few pieces from the cases while you wait for the watchmaker's first look.

The store is one block south of Wilshire Boulevard and two doors north of Charleville, at the spot the shop calls the Four Corners. Parking is easy by Beverly Hills standards: metered spaces line Beverly Drive, two public garages a block north and a block south offer the first two hours free, and the residential streets on either side allow one-hour parking.

An honest judgment: this is the right counter for a mechanical watch with some history, such as a gold dress watch from the 1960s, an inherited pocket watch, or a vintage chronograph you want kept original. It is not where you go for a two-minute battery swap on a fashion watch. Go in expecting a collector's conversation, and leave the watch only once you understand the estimate.

South Beverly Drive is the more relaxed side of Beverly Hills shopping, a run of low buildings with cafes, bakeries, and independent boutiques between Wilshire and Olympic. After the drop-off, walk north across Wilshire into the business triangle toward Rodeo Drive, or stroll the leafy residential blocks east and west of Beverly Drive, which still feel like a small town.

Several Metro bus lines run along Wilshire Boulevard and stop at Beverly Drive, a block north of the shop, so you can come without a car from Koreatown, Westwood, or Santa Monica. If you drive, aim for one of the free-for-two-hours garages rather than circling for a meter. Phone ahead on (310) 271-6615 if you plan to bring several watches, so the watchmakers can set aside time to look at each piece while you are there.

Second Time Around Watch Company, 160 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90212, at Beverly Drive and Charleville Boulevard. Phone (310) 271-6615; toll free (800) 977-7615; email info@secondtimearoundwatchco.com. Showroom hours: Monday to Saturday 10:00 am to 5:30 pm, and by appointment. Repairs are handled by in-house watchmakers, with prices quoted after inspection. Watches bought here carry a two-year warranty and later service at wholesale cost.