Ross Shard Watch Repair Shop: 7am Starts Monday to Thursday

Ross Watch Repairs opens its London Bridge counter at 7am from Monday to Thursday, early enough to drop a watch before work, and you do not need an appointment. It sits at 306 The Shard Retail Arcade, London Bridge St, London SE1 9BZ, a few steps from the station concourse. Battery replacements start at £9.95 plus VAT, and the firm says most repairs are finished in about an hour, so a watch dropped on the way in is ready by mid-morning.

The story on the About page is a modest one. Ross Watch Repairs began with Mr. Ross, a watchmaker who learned his trade working for some of the industry's larger repair companies before setting up on his own in a living room, doing postal repairs. That was in 2015. The business has since grown into two London branches, this one under The Shard and another at Cabot Place in Canary Wharf, plus a UK-wide postal service.

The firm calls itself independent, and its brand list is long, running from Accurist and Casio through Longines, Omega and TAG Heuer to Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe and Rolex. Fashion labels sit alongside Swiss names, so the counter suits a commuter whose Michael Kors has stopped as well as a City worker whose Tudor needs a reseal, or a visitor whose watch dies on the first morning of a trip.

There are three levels. A standard battery replacement fits a fresh Swiss-made cell and checks the watch over. A battery reseal goes further: the seals are inspected, the case is resealed where suitable, and the watch can be pressure tested to make sure it is closed properly. A premium battery reseal adds a premium battery and an ultrasonic bracelet clean to that, and suits a steel sports watch that has collected a summer of sunscreen.

The battery guide gives a price range of £9.95 plus VAT up to £195 plus VAT. The high end is for complicated cases: some Jacob & Co models take several batteries, and the Breitling Emergency needs specialist handling because of its distress beacon. You get a clear estimate before any work starts, nothing proceeds without your approval, and the firm states that you pay on completion, with no upfront costs.

The shop's own blog shows the pace. On 19 October 2026 it wrote up a gold-tone AARK quartz watch, an Australian design brand it rarely sees, that came in for a battery and reseal at the London Bridge workshop and was finished the same day in around 30 minutes. By coincidence two AARK watches arrived at the branch that day. The case was opened carefully to avoid marking the plated finish, the contacts were checked, and the watch was resealed.

Beyond batteries, the service list covers a mini service, part repairs, pressure testing, a full service and overhaul, ultrasonic cleaning and polishing, bracelet repair and straps. A full overhaul is not an hour's job, so ask for the estimate and a collection date at the counter. For watches posted in from outside London, the postal page says the repaired watch comes back within three working days.

The Shard branch keeps commuter hours. Monday to Thursday it opens 7am to 7pm, Friday 9am to 6pm, Saturday 10:30am to 4:30pm, and it is closed on Sunday. That makes the first hour of a weekday the obvious window: you can hand over a watch before the office, pick it up at lunch, and avoid the Saturday crowds heading for Borough Market. Friday mornings are the exception, so do not plan a 7am Friday drop.

You can also send photos and the model name by WhatsApp or email for a free estimate before travelling, which saves a wasted trip if the job turns out to need a part that has to be ordered.

Skip Ross for a full service on a watch you want stamped by the manufacturer. As an independent, it cannot give you brand service papers, and for an Omega or TAG Heuer that you plan to sell, an official service centre such as SwissMade in Hatton Garden is the better route. Similarly, a rare vintage chronograph deserves a specialist bench with time to source period parts rather than a counter built around one-hour turnaround.

For everything else, the format is the point. The quick battery, the strap swap, the reseal before a holiday and the bracelet link removed so a gift fits properly are exactly what a busy station arcade is for. Bring the box if you have spare links, and know your watch's water rating if you want it tested, because a dive watch and a dress watch are resealed to different standards.

An hour is enough for a loop around Southwark. Borough Market is two minutes from the station, with its Victorian iron roof and stalls of cheese, bread and hot food that are busiest on Saturday. Southwark Cathedral stands next to it, the oldest Gothic church building in London, with a memorial to Shakespeare inside. Keep west along Clink Street to the replica of the Golden Hinde, Francis Drake's galleon, moored in St Mary Overie Dock.

Head the other way and Hay's Galleria, a converted Victorian wharf with a glass roof, leads to the riverside path towards Tower Bridge and the moored warship HMS Belfast. On Borough High Street, The George Inn is the last galleried coaching inn in London, owned by the National Trust, where you can sit in the yard with a pint while the battery goes in.

Address: Ross Watch Repairs, 306 The Shard Retail Arcade, London Bridge St, London SE1 9BZ. Hours: Monday to Thursday 7am to 7pm, Friday 9am to 6pm, Saturday 10:30am to 4:30pm, Sunday closed. Email: enquiries@rosswatchrepairs.co.uk. London Bridge station is beside the arcade for the Northern and Jubilee lines and national rail.

No appointment is needed. Batteries start at £9.95 plus VAT, with payment on completion. Estimates are free by email, WhatsApp or phone. The Karpo APP can find a Borough Market lunch or a riverside coffee to fill the hour while the watch is on the bench.