Tic Toc Man Hatton Garden Watch Repair Shop: £18 Batteries

Tic Toc Man takes watches over the counter without an appointment, five days a week from 8:30am, in the Colonial Building at 59-61 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8LS. A battery starts at £18.00 plus VAT and is fitted while you wait, using Renata cells, and the workshop will pressure test the case afterwards if you ask. That early start makes it the rare watch repair shop in Hatton Garden you can reach before work rather than after it.

Hatton Garden has been the centre of the London diamond and jewellery trade for well over a century, and Tic Toc Man works inside it rather than from a shopfront on a retail parade. The firm describes a long-established workshop in the district and more than ten years of expertise. Its watchmakers are Swiss-trained, with over 140 years of combined experience between them, and the regular brands it names include Rolex, Omega, Audemars Piguet, TAG Heuer, Breitling, Tudor, Cartier, IWC and Panerai.

It also runs as a support service centre for many brands. When a job cannot be done in-house, the team says it can process the watch through its authorised trade accounts instead of sending you off to find the manufacturer yourself. That is useful for a discontinued movement part or a dial that needs factory attention, because you keep a single point of contact on Hatton Garden while the watch moves through the trade.

The FAQ page is unusually specific about turnaround once you have a quote. Batteries, strap swaps and pressure tests are done while you wait. Bracelet repairs come back the same or the next day, dial swaps the next day, and new glass in one to two days. Replacement seals take two to three days, a case refurbishment alone is done within a week, bespoke straps take one to two weeks, and a full service runs about three to four weeks.

A full service here is the complete strip-down: every part is inspected and cleaned ultrasonically, worn components are replaced with brand-correct parts, the movement is rebuilt and oiled, timing is regulated in several positions, the case and bracelet are refinished unless you ask otherwise, gaskets are changed and pressure tested, and the watch goes through multi-day quality control. The workshop recommends doing this every four to five years.

Two policies are posted up front. First, if you get a quote and decide not to go ahead, there is a gesture fee for the assessment time: £10 for mechanical and quartz watches, £20 for chronographs and £45 for rusted watches, communicated before work starts. Second, any repair over £100 needs a 30% deposit before the watchmaker begins, and you confirm the job by email or WhatsApp rather than with a nod at the counter.

Every watch is fully insured while it is on the premises. If you cannot get to Hatton Garden on a weekday, the firm sends a free pre-paid shipping kit, insured up to £15,000 on the way in, which usually lands by 1pm the next working day. Return postage is charged at £24 for watches under £2,500 and £48 above that, covering packaging, handling and full insurance.

The strap range is the playful part of the business. Each design is named after a corner of the city: The Piccadilly in black at £55.00, The Baker Street in orange at £50.00, The Kensington in brown at £55.00, The Waterloo in black or black and red at £65.00, and The Wembley in black and grey at £45.00. A strap swap is one of the while-you-wait jobs, so you can choose one at the counter and wear it out.

For something made to measure, bespoke straps take one to two weeks, and the team will tell you how to measure the lug width and your wrist if you are ordering by message. The shop also supplies strap and bracelet parts, though case parts generally need fitting by its own technicians, which is worth knowing before you buy a spare crown or pusher online.

This workshop suits owners of a Swiss mechanical watch who want a price before they commit, and anyone with an expensive quartz piece that needs a proper reseal rather than a quick battery change. It is also the natural stop for people working in Farringdon and the City who can drop a watch at half past eight and collect it at lunch. Reviews on Trustpilot, Google and Yell sit at 4.6 stars or above, by the firm's own count.

Skip it for a cheap fashion watch that only needs a cell. At £18 plus VAT, the battery price reflects the luxury-watch tooling and the reseal option, and a high street kiosk will do a basic swap for less. If the quote for a vintage piece comes back higher than you hoped, AMJ Watch Repair is a two-minute walk away on Kirby Street, and you have only paid the gesture fee.

The FAQ lists Farringdon station as a five-minute walk, Chancery Lane seven minutes and Holborn about twelve. Drivers have NCP London Saffron Hill five minutes away and Hatton Garden Parking two minutes away. Walk up from Chancery Lane past the long run of jewellers' windows and you will see engagement-ring shoppers comparing stones, couriers buzzing into upstairs workshops, and trade dealers who never stop at the street-level displays.

Once the watch is on the bench, slip down the narrow alley into Ely Court for Ye Olde Mitre, a tiny wood-panelled pub hidden between Hatton Garden and Ely Place. Next door, St Etheldreda's is the oldest Catholic church in England, with a medieval crypt below the nave. Leather Lane, one street to the west, fills with weekday lunch stalls that are faster than a sit-down meal when you are due back to collect.

Address: Tic Toc Man Watchmakers, 59-61 Hatton Garden, Colonial Building, London EC1N 8LS. Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm, with different times over bank holidays and festive periods. No appointment is needed for a walk-in, and the firm will email a written quotation before anything beyond a battery or strap goes ahead.

Bring the watch, its papers if you have them, and a note of any symptoms such as losing time overnight or fogging under the glass. Budget for the gesture fee if you might not proceed, and for a 30% deposit on bigger jobs. Ask the Karpo APP for a Leather Lane lunch stall or a quiet Ely Court pint while the battery goes in.