Time well spent
Last month, I was in New York City at a novelties event with Longines. It was held at the beautiful Equinox Hotel in Hudson Yards. Like many press trips, it was a whirlwind affair with a 48-hour turnover. Despite the schedule, on the day I was to leave, I found myself with 3 hours to kill before my flight.
Did I go people watching in Times Square? Shopping in Soho? Relax with a ShackBurger in Madison Square Park? Nope.
In true watch nut fashion, I strolled down the High Line and into Greenwich Village. There, on 115 Greenwich Avenue, I visited the Brothers Aminov—Rueben B and Albert—at the family-owned Timepiece Watch & Jewelry Repair.
Timepiece Watch & Jewelry Repair
Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a common pilgrimage. In fact, Rueben B was more than a little surprised to see me—a random Canadian journalist he was most certainly not expecting—pushing at the doorbell on a Thursday afternoon. Once he buzzed me in, you might even say he was even a little confused.
“You want to do what?”
“Um, take a few pictures. Maybe ask you a few questions about what it is you do?”
After a brief exchange with his brother, Albert, Reuben B shrugged. “I guess it can’t hurt.”
Timepiece Watch & Repair has been around since 1979. It was founded by the brothers’ grandfather Mikhail, and eventually passed down to their aunt Chris, and their father Michael. But it has been under their direction since 2009.
Reuben B, also known colloquially as the Doctor of Time, restores and builds watches. He works alongside his brother, Albert—a professional jewelry designer—in an unassuming shop in Lower Manhattan that cannot be more than 350 square feet, partitioned by a glass counter. Amongst the jumble of desks, machinery, and workbenches, the two could stand and shake hands from almost any location in the shop.
Needless to say, I loved the place.
The men’s initial suspicion melted quickly and then the stories began. “I once made a jeweled, scale model of the Taj Mahal for Donald Trump,” Albert tells me. “It was just after he completed construction on the casino.”
“I never met him,” he continues. “Everything was negotiated through his lawyer. I was young and crazy, then,” he adds.
“If I were to do it today…I’d charge him five times more!” he laughs.
The display cases of Timepiece Watch and Jewelry are populated by vintage Tissot, Waltham, and Mont Blanc—victims of time that have been restored and are awaiting fresh wrists. Reuben B is working on a Panerai when I arrive, but the first watch he pulls out for me is an elegant Hamilton Ventura from the 1960s that required a new movement. The pièce de résistance, however, is a Cartier that he built from the ground up. It was a process that took four months as he searched for the right dial, the proper case, a suitable bracelet. He even applied his own numerals. The diamond encrusted piece looks like it walked off the red carpet.
Albert shows me a stunning wedding ring he just completed. It is fashioned from rose gold and inset with heart-shaped rubies that he cut individually, himself. “You can’t source anything like this,” he says. The groom is set to arrive by end of day to pick it up.
While the shop may be situated in New York, it handles business from all over the world. And not by mail. Clients from Europe and the UK show up just as I did. They ring the doorbell and pay a visit. OMEGA and Rolex are the hot items. “Rolex in particular,” says Reuben B. “They don’t service much before 1995, anymore. So, people come here.”
“You’re actually lucky, today,” he chuckles. “Sometimes, clients are lined up outside the door.”
In fact, a young woman shows up with her dog and a vintage ring from her grandmother while I am there. When she enters, there is almost no room to move on our side of the counter. She needs the gold band made smaller. “How long will it take?” she asks.
Albert looks at the ring. “Can you come back at three?”
“Today?” She is incredulous.
I couldn’t help think about the brothers as I walked up 8th Avenue to meet my car. Earlier in the day, I had been speaking with Yannick Jenni, Vice President Sales International for Longines, as he presented the brand’s intended releases for the coming year. He spoke with excitement and enthusiasm about the upcoming launches. The watches gleamed as we passed them around in gloved hands. Just over a mile away, at Timepiece Watch & Jewelry Repair, two men spoke with equal enthusiasm and care about watches thirty, forty, and fifty years further down the line—scratched and cracked.
Our time is in good hands, I thought.
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About the author
Brent Robillard is a writer, educator, craftsman, and watch enthusiast. He is the author of four novels. You can follow him on Instagram.
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OMG Love this article. A look into a world that many of us never get to see. Old New York, gorgeous timepieces, interesting people like the “Doctor of Time”. Absolutely LOVE IT! Thanks for taking the time😉…and preparing this gift.
I am really glad you like it. We’ll be doing more and more articles like this in the future. Cheers