Rick Colman repairing a watch at his kiosk. (Photo by Matthew J. Mowry)
Watches and malls may seem like relics of a bygone era but both have proven successful for Rick Colman, who has worked at the Fox Run Mall in Newington since 1995, the year he took a job running the Sun Glass Hut where he worked for 10 years. In the years that followed he sold Lindt Chocolate and later jewelry. Today Colman owns The Watch Stop, a kiosk in the mall where he applies years of customer service and sales experience to take care of his customers’ watch repair needs.
After a long slump, mechanical watches—and old-school Casio and Timex digital watches—have been trending over the past few years, Colman says. One reason is “it’s also a fashion statement,” he says. “We’re seeing more people buying entry level watches like Omegas and Tag Heuer. There are also more collectors and more demand for luxury watches like Rolexes, Hamiltons, and Grand Seikos.”
Prior to owning The Watch Stop, Colman worked for various jewelry stores including G.M. Pollack and Sons, Zales, and eventually Naser Diamonds. His education in watch repair really took stride when he began working for Jewelers Work Bench, owned by Tony and Elie Naser of Naser Diamonds, repairing 20 to 40 watches a day. “I had eventually realized after 5 or 6 years that selling wasn’t my thing,” he says. “I was better at mechanics than jewelry sales.”
When the Nasers sold the Jewelry Work Bench 15 years ago, Colman saw an opportunity to apply his skills and to tap into a niche market. Today, The Watch Stop focuses on changing crystal faces, batteries, and watch band sizing. “Like anything else in life, when you do it over and over it becomes second nature,” Colman says.
While the flow of customers visiting the mall is slower than it was 15 years ago when he had two or three people working for him, business is still good, Colman says. Today he has one part-time employee and typically works on five to 15 watches per day. About 10% to 20% of his business, which includes simple soldering and other mechanical work, is done off site.
Colman says the thing he enjoys most about the work is the gratitude from clients. “And to be honest, not to sound like a snob, I’m good at what I do,” he says. “And our clients truly appreciate our work because no one else is doing it.” For more information, visit thewatchstopnh.com.
