Lentz House of Time, LLC

Went in to have a couple of watch batteries replaced. Turned out for some reason, they were able to get both watches running without new batteries. They refused payment saying they did nothing. WOW!

They were very pleasant.

I will gladly give them all our timepiece business

As with many of the other bad reviews, I had the same experience of being ripped off. Charged. $360.00 to replace a $12 clock assembly on an$80.00 clock that I was told was broken. THE BIG KICKER AND FINAL INSULT--the old assembly that they so kindly returned to me is working perfectly!! Chiming inside the plastic bag..
Biggest RIP-OFF IVE EVER experienced IN MY 55 years of life

This is my second review of Lentz - both very unsatisfactory. The first review was related to a quote of $2000+ and an estimated time of several months to repair a floor model clock (a grandfather clock). I received free advice from a clock repair shop in the same neighborhood and fixed the clock myself at no cost. The clock has run fine since and is accurate within ~1 minute per week.

This review is related to a ladies wrist watch which Lentz described as being "very nice" and certainly worth repairing - for $585 (to replace the inter-workings). The watch was sent to the US office of the manufacturer and was repaired for $285. Does any more need to be said?

This group of professionals have high marks in all areas: Knowledge, business ethics, experience, attention to details, proof in their results.

The repair of my Rolex was beyond my expectations and exceeds the specifications of Rolex requirements windows.

They seem to relish in being better than your expectations.

I am pleased to have found such a valued contact for my watch repairs.

If you have a real timepiece, this is the only place to go. Very refreshing to see skilled craftsmen that take pride in their work. Thank you guys for the fine work on the restoration of our families piece. My daughter absolutely loved it!

I've been searching the web for several weeks trying to find a particular type of watch. Unfortunately, the type of watch I want doesn't exist. Since I live in Gainesville, I emailed my local watchmaker (Lentz) asking for help in my search. I also emailed other watchmakers and businesses who specialize in making individual watches. Only Lentz replied, and did so same day. (And since I never mentioned in my original email that I lived in Gainesville, their response could have only come from a genuine desire to help.) The reply, and subsequent in-store conversation, has helped point me in the right direction. And while at the store, their watchmaker took time from his schedule to discuss with me my thoughts (including looking at the print-outs I brought of watches I liked), and offered excellent suggestions. He neither scoffed at what I wanted, nor pressured me to buy any of their watches. In sum, I found my experience with Lentz to have been top-notch, and fully recommend them.

At the recommendation of a friend about the quality of work and "fair" prices at Lentz house of time I decided to utilize them for a simple battery replacement on a wrist watch. Upon my arrival the staff was friendly and quoted me a reasonable price of $14 to change the battery. One of the jewelers began to work on the battery change immediately. After about one minute, the jeweler informed me that one of the screws on the back of the watch was stripped and they would need to keep the watch until the next day. The jeweler went on to say they would be able to take care of the screw for no extra charge. I returned the next day after receiving a call that the watch was ready to be picked up. I met with another employee and provided her my receipt. Much to my chagrin, it was at this time the employee notified me the cost of the battery change was as quoted $14 and that they were charging me an additional $17 for a single screw approximately 1mm long!!!

I was just disappointed they did not honor their word from the previous day of not charging me additional cost for the screw. At a bare minimum, a phone call notifying me that the repair was going to incur an additional charge would have been appreciated. After all, this was a Fossil watch with a screw that probably cost less than one penny to make. I understand that the repair would take extra time to fix but don't offer to complete the repair at no charge if you have no intention of honoring your word!

I will probably utilize other service providers for simple watch repairs in the future.

The kindest people with the best prices. Quality service, incredibly honest. To put it in perspective, it is the best service I've had anywhere. I trust them with all of my watches, and they are FAST.

I have purchased watches, and have had numerous watches serviced by Lentz House of Time. My Lentz serviced watches (quartz and automatic) have never had any problems, and run with amazing accuracy (well within chronometer specifications). This business takes pride in giving honest estimates, work and customer service. Their prices are the best I have ever encountered within the timepiece / clock industry (over 11 years experience).

A family owned business staffed by caring, professional and responsible individuals who can always be trusted.

My name is Eugene Hatley Jr and I am a former resident of G'ville now stationed at Ft Campbell KY. I purchased an Omega Seamaster Professional secondhand via Ebay just prior to redeploying from Iraq in November of '08. The watch was in decent shape physically, but ran slightly slowly and since it came with no original purchase or service information, I decided to take it in and get it a good once-over. My decision to patronize Lentz was based on the recommendations of both my aunt and uncle who have had various family heirlooms serviced there. I took the watch in while on xmas leave in G'ville and told them it's history as far as the online reseller had told me, and they agreed to look at it in detail. A week later they called and said that the movement was in pretty bad shape, having not been serviced in a while and being badly in need of an overhaul and some replacement parts; their estimate was about $390 and about 3 to 4 weeks to wait for parts and to do the work. They shipped the watch back to me at Ft Campbell, and despite very considerable care in packaging, I can only surmise that someone had decided to play volleyball with the package because although both the packaging and the watch appeared inviolate, the watch couldn't keep time properly and couldn't hold a reserve for more than 4 hours. I shipped the watch back and they fixed it. As they couldn't find anything wrong inside, it must have been badly mishandled in transit by the postal service, so I had them ship it back via my UPS Store mailbox there in town. To date, the watch runs like a champ and keeps near-perfect time. I'm about to send my "Bond"-style seamaster that I bought right after this one to have it serviced, as it's original documentation indicates it is due for one. I have no idea if they are an "official" service center or not, but as popular sentiment on most Omega forums generally give the few "official" service centers in the states very poor marks, I would have had to send the watch back to Switzerland, and that would have probably cost significantly more in time and money. To me as the owner of two used seamasters, the concern over Lentz being an authorized repair center or not is irrelevant, as the watches are both long since out of warranty anyway. I look forward to doing business with them in the future as my mechanical watch collection continues to grow. I currently own and use 2 Omega SMPs, various Seiko Divers of the SKX00n family, as well as the new 6r15-based Seiko Prospex 200m Diver, and I am looking at the Oris Titan TT1 Diver. As for their breadth of service, I know for a fact they work on Rolex and Omega as well as Seiko and Citizen watches. They also work on a wide variety of clocks and other watches, both modern and antique. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for mechanical horology service local to north central FL; their service is excellent and their prices are quite reasonable.

UPDATE Apr2010: I have had my second Omega Seamaster Professional (James Bond) serviced a little over a year ago, and I have just had my Breitling Superocean Professional (post 2000), my Breitling Superocean Steelfish (2004), my Oris TT1 Titanium Diver, and my business partner's Oris Artelier Chronograph serviced by Lentz, and including my partner's watch, all are running like new timepieces. I will be taking several antique family clocks to Lentz when I have time and sufficient funds available. I continue to highly recommend Lentz House of Time for all horology concerns, mechanical and otherwise.

I took my 1966 Rolex to Lentz House of Time for repair. They "claim" to be an "Authorized Repair Center" for Rolex watches, which is not true. The result was they returned my watch, a GMT Master, with the bezel ring so loose that it will not stay in place when set to a specific time zone. Lentz's claim the bezel ring should only rotate counter-clockwise, which is not true. I purchased the watch new from an authorized dealer in Bermuda and the bezel ring was designed to rotate in both directions. These people are not to be trusted with a valuable watch---take it to a an authorized dealer and let them repair it.

Small, family owned it seems.....we love for their honest service and fair prices....repairs are made in a timely manner Can be an inconvienent drive depending are where ou live...but worth it .

PROS: Honest good service
CONS: Out of the way....

Nice little local business. Friendly folks and great service. They get stuff back to you in short order and the prices are reasonable for repairs. They also offer a variety of time pieces for sale from grandfather clocks to watches. Good place to go.