The Fix Is In: Is WatchCheck’s Online Platform the Future of Watch Servicing?

You may remember Watchonista’s coverage of the current watchmaker shortage. You may also recall Linden Lazarus as one of the honorees on Watchonista’s inaugural 30 Under 30(ish) list in 2022.

Lazarus made our inaugural list because before founding his e-boutique Oliver & Clarke, which aims to offer more transparency and better prices to the inflated world of vintage timepieces, he started selling watches out of his dorm room at the age of 15 when he realized his classmates were an untapped market. Basically, Lazarus is a problem solver.

Continuing with his commitment to all things horological and digital, Lazarus and business partner Will Haering have just launched a new WatchCheck, a website dedicated to providing repairs and maintenance for more than 202 brands and 38,721 models.
 

Here’s how it works: The client goes to the website, selects the repair and maintenance required, and then pays for the service online. WatchCheck then sends the customer a kit that includes a padded gold-embossed box for the watch and a discreet brown box for shipping (in the United States).

The service itself is centralized. Repairs and service are carried out by Stoll & Company, based in Dayton, Ohio. This trusted outfit, founded in 1982, is an authorized service center for Baume & Mercier, Frederique Constant, and more than 25 other brands.

It seems like a godsend for folks who live in watchmaking deserts or have no idea where to start when their timepiece needs service. Still, a white glove service center without a brand affiliation is also a new business model, and folks have questions.

Fortunately, Lazarus agreed to sit down with Watchonista to answer some of them.

When we look at the services WatchCheck provides, it feels like the team there has been listening in on every collector conversation of the last 10 years. Services range from repairing and resizing a leather strap to a full-service overhaul on a highly complicated watch that requires complete disassembly. Also, WatchCheck provides at least $35,000 of insurance for every watch during shipping. And clients with more expensive pieces can get supplemental insurance.

But WatchCheck takes the experience one step further by offering a personalized, white glove treatment.
 

“One of our core principles is to deliver a service experience on par with the care and quality within watches themselves,” Lazarus explained to Watchonista. “It started with the realization that the true value proposition of watches was their ‘lifetime quality,’ the fact that, unlike most luxury goods, the point was for them never to be thrown out.”

“While many collectors received a white glove service while purchasing, that’s when that care ended and was replaced with the exact opposite in so many instances. Distrust, opaqueness, and frustration littered the service industry,” he added. “It was our goal to bring the highest touch service back to the entire experience of ownership, whether you purchased your watch 6 months or 60 years ago.”

Another frequent collector complaint these days is dealing with the brands themselves. We all know someone who has been told their watch has to go to Switzerland for a repair, only to have it returned eight months later and over-polished.

“This is a constant concern for many collectors and one of the driving narratives that brought WatchCheck to life,” Lazarus told us. “Part of the meaning of ‘white-glove servicing’ is that the client’s needs and wants are the absolute top priority.”
 

Lazarus knows that trust is crucial in getting clients to use the platform. To get this trust, transparency is key: “If you use the platform, you’ll notice that beyond our services, we offer each client the option to tailor their treatment to their specific needs, tailoring we take extremely seriously.”

He continued: “As soon as an order is confirmed, those customizations are reviewed by our expert watchmaking team through that watch’s entire journey.” In fact, in the future, WatchCheck plans on adding even more personalization options like enhanced tracking and personal notes – all sensitive touches to add to your timepiece’s history.

Collectors keep hearing about the watchmaker shortage (it’s one of the reasons it can take up to eight months to get a watch back from service). So, we had to ask about WatchCheck’s long-term plans to help alleviate this crisis.

Agreeing that the watchmaker shortage was a real and important issue, Lazarus told us that, by partnering with America’s largest and most important independent service center, he feels WatchCheck can provide support for its clients all across the United States. “However, in the long run, this issue will not be wholly solved from [our service] alone,” he caveated.
 

WatchCheck is committed to investing in people just as much as its platform. “One of our missions is to make sure everyone can receive incredible treatment and support, and that includes watchmakers,” Lazarus told us.

“From compensation to balance, we strive, with our partners, to create an optimal environment for our customers to have wonderful experiences and for our watchmakers to have wonderful careers,” he add. “We hope that with the advent of digital servicing, watchmakers will be inspired to dream of the future of our industry, from Daytona and beyond.”

There’s a saying about people being in the same boat but rowing to different parts of the shore; this sums up most watch enthusiasts well. We all want to take good care of our babies; however, some collectors prefer their timepieces unpolished, while others want them returned to factory condition.

For WatchCheck, the goal is to make you fall in love with your watch again. “Bringing distressed watches back to their original glory are some of the services we enjoy the absolute most,” Lazarus told us.
 

On a personal note, I have a vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre Etrier that belonged to a smoker, but I don’t wear it as much as I would like because the tobacco-stained dial bugs me. Still, I have been hesitant to make a decision on what to do with it because I know many collectors frown upon dial restoration. Fortunately for me, WatchCheck is a judgment-free zone.

“We offer a number of specialty services per request,” explained Lazarus. “Right now, you can speak with our concierge to arrange your bespoke service, but in the coming weeks, you’ll be able to arrange that specialty service and much more right through [WatchCheck’s online order form].”
 

Sadly, the service is only available in the United States…for now. Please visit the WatchCheck website for more details.