SERVICING TIMEPIECES SINCE 1994

A trip to Student Job Search in 1994 sent me down a new and different path in life than the one I had planned. A part time job changing batteries at Citizen Watches would see me turn my back on Law School for a workshop surrounded in clocks and watches.

Blair and Leah Shallard

Law School wasn't really me. I could do it ok, but I didn't get the joy out of it that I did from taking a watch that didn't go and repairing it. After several years working part time at Citizen learning the basics I made the difficult decision to quit university and pursue a career repairing clocks. Jim Mackinnon, owner of Precision Watch Company in West Auckland took me on, and in his busy workshop I quickly found out what real repair work was. Under Colin Hollingsworth's patient tutelage I learned how to restore antique clocks. After several years I moved to Lancaster Jewellers in Mission Bay before moving again to The Geneva Connection in Takapuna. Marcus Bossert, a graduate of the famous WOSTEP school of watchmaking encouraged me to apply myself to watches again, and taught me how to service high grade and mechanical watches.

In December 2008 my wife Leah and I opened our own shop, Watches on Broadway Ltd, in Newmarket, Auckland. Since our premises had for the previous 25 years been a Rolex dealership we were inundated with high grade, mostly Swiss watches from day one. While Leah quickly found raising our young family kept her busy at home, I spent many hours at the bench developing my knowledge and expertise, and built a great customer base.

By 2017 we were getting a bit tired of the Auckland lifestyle, so we rolled the dice, left Auckland, and started all over again in Rotorua. Time Central opened its doors in September, Rotorua's only specialist watch and clock repair shop. The extra space of our workshop in Rotorua allowed me to spread out and start working on clocks again, something that had been difficult in the confines of our cramped Newmarket workshop. I now enjoy working on a wide range of watches and clocks, but I enjoy clocks particularly.

In 2018 Wellington clockmaker Doug Tucker asked if he could start referring his customers to me, as he was looking to retire, and wanted to refer his customers to someone he was confident would perform the level of workmanship his customers expect. I was happy to oblige, and I now make regular trips to Wellington collecting and delivering clocks, occasionally returning through the Wairarapa. I also still make the occasional trip north to Auckland, and I am happy to visit other areas if need be.