Last Christmas, my favorite niece and nephew by default surprised me with an Apple Watch. I was infatuated with watches growing up, but it was limited to Swatch, Casio and Timex. I wanted to #payitforward so I surprised them by allowing each one to select a TAG Heuer of their choice within my budget range.
I ordered their watches online and now it was time to have the watch band links adjusted, as well as have my Omega watch battery changed. In the past I've gone to Ben Bridge Jeweler Timework at Ala Moana Center for these services, but I took the kids on a Monday afternoon. Who would have known that on Mondays, the specialists at both Ben Bridge stores at Ala Moana Center have the day off?
We then went to Omega Boutique also in Ala Moana, but they only will touch Omega watches and not my TAGs. The Omega staff suggested I go to Macy's but because these watches cost pretty pennies, I wanted a reputable business to perform these transactions. I asked fellow Elite Lyla D. and her recommendation: Honolulu Time Company (HTC).
Located in the Hawaiian Life Building on the corner of Piikoi St and Kapiolani Blvd, HTC is one of the tenants that shares the parking lot with other businesses such as Hawaii National Bank, International Mid Pac College and Envy Hair Salon. They are a family business that has been servicing Honolulu since the late 70's specializing in vintage and contemporary watches. Lyla is a good friend, so I trust her and decided to try here instead after multiple visits to Ben Bridge. The attitude and service at Ben Bridge were so disappointing that a change was needed.
Prior to coming here, I called in advance and was advised no appointment was needed and was quoted the price for watch band adjustment and battery change. I picked up the kiddos and brought our watches. We were advised they needed about 1 hour to service our 5 watches, so I dragged the kiddos to a grab a drink in Kaimuki to kill time.
We came back shortly after the quoted hour and the watches were ready. Everything fit well with the exception for one of my watches as it was too snug, so the jeweler added back on another link. When it was time to pay, the amount was higher than what was quoted over the phone. On the phone, the female staff had an accent which was difficult to understand, but I repeated her quotations and knew what to expect. I looked at both kiddos who were so happy with their new watches, so I chose not to make a scene and just paid the bill of $146.55.
Overall, I have mixed feelings with HTC as they indeed perform the watch bank link adjustments and replaced my watch battery but was charged higher than what was quoted. Not sure what I'll do the next time I need to have my higher end watches serviced. If I were alone, I'd question the discrepancy prior to paying but just didn't have the heart to ruin the kid's excitement and happiness over $10.
2022 #45 read more