White antistatic floor. Separate rooms for clocks and watches. Specialist tools, most of them no longer made. The setup tells you what to expect before the conversation starts.
From the outside it is unremarkable. Inside it is a horological laboratory — a room that exists for one purpose, kept that way deliberately.
The watch room has a white antistatic floor, LED lighting throughout, and very little else on the surfaces. Watch movements are unforgiving of dust. The fewer surfaces in a workshop, the cleaner the bench.
Clock work happens in a separate room. Polishing happens in a third. Ultrasonic cleaning happens in a fourth. Every specialist tool kept in its own drawer, where it stays where it belongs and where it stays clean. There is a customer lounge for a coffee while a battery is fitted or an estimate is written.
The standards expected for the repair of fine watches are not improvised. The room is the first thing a serious watch needs.
Watch and clockmaking is one craft with two specialisms. Glen practises both, in dedicated rooms, with tools dedicated to each.
Servicing, repair, restoration and battery work on mechanical, automatic, chronograph and quality quartz pieces. Pressure-tested, timed on the machine, finished by the watchmaker himself.
Restoration and repair of mechanical clocks of every kind, from a grandfather clock that has stopped to a boxed ships chronometer in need of attention. Twelve-month warranty on every clock that leaves the bench.
Church tower clocks, post office clocks and council clocks — restoration, ongoing maintenance plans, and the unglamorous, important work of keeping a public timepiece reliable. Free quotes; Glen will come to the clock.
Plus Omega, Rolex, Kieninger and most quality mechanical movements made in the twentieth century.
A watch repair is a sequence. There are short cuts, and there are watchmakers. Both exist. Only one of them sends your watch back working.
Overall assessment of the piece by a qualified watchmaker. The state of the case, the movement, the dial. A free written estimate before any work begins.
Movement removed from the case. Hands and dial off. The movement is taken down to its component parts so every wheel, every pivot, every spring can be inspected.
Ultrasonic clean. Every part checked for wear or breakage. Replaced from stock where stock exists. Hand-made to original design where it doesn't.
Movement put back together, lubricated with Swiss watch oils and Swiss watch greases. Each pivot, each jewel, by hand. Nothing else has the consistency that the trade depends on.
Movement timed on the machine. Adjusted in beat and rate until it sits inside specification. Then onto the winder, which replicates the motion of the wrist, to confirm it holds.
Case cleaned, polished, glass and seals fitted. Pressure-tested if the watch should be water-resistant — dry vacuum first, then wet under pressure. Final QC. Then it goes home.
A small timepiece has stood on the corner of Elizabeth and Burnett Street since 1919. Made by Fritz Ziegeler of Melbourne, it is one of the few public clocks of its kind in Hobart. When it stopped, we brought it back.
Hobart has kept time the long way for a long time. Governor Davey requisitioned the city's first public clock in 1816 — "to better regulate the hours and habits of the inhabitants." Two centuries on, the mechanical clocks of Tasmania still pass through few hands. The trade is small. The standards are not.
We receive watches for repair from across the State and across the country. The instructions below are deliberately plain.
Pad the parcel adequately. The watch should be protected as if the parcel will be sat on, because in transit it will be. Please don't include the original presentation box — we won't return packaging.
Insure and track the parcel through your courier of choice.
Address it to:
We assess the piece free of charge. We agree the price with you before any work begins. The watch is fully insured while it's with us. Twelve-month warranty on every repair. Several payment options when the work is done.
Any question, ring the workshop or send an email.
Some clocks travel by post. Others travel in the back of a workshop van. Free pick-up, repair, and delivery for clocks across Tasmania — including the moving and setup of grandfather clocks, which is rarely a one-person job.
House calls by arrangement, to homes, clubs and offices.
“Highly recommended. Glen is professional and friendly — with an amazing turnaround with watch restoration. Being the only Omega certified watch repair/service person in Australia gave me the confidence to hand over a family heirloom…and what he did with that piece is nothing short of amazing. Will be back again!”
“My mother had a family clock made in 1876 that had not been going for at least 60 years and probably much, much longer. I didn't think it would be repairable but got Glenn to have a look at it.”
“Glen is your go-to man for any clock or watch repairs. He has vast experience in both vintage and modern clocks and watches. Plus only uses the best equipment to do the job. He is professional & friendly. Best repair man in the state, if not the country. Highly recommended.”
“Watch and Clockmaking is our trade and our livelihood. Not a hobby, not a backyard sideline.”— Glen Nutting
21 Cologne Drive
Oakdowns TAS 7019
Fifteen minutes from the Hobart GPO, on the Sunny Eastern Shore. Free parking near the door.
Mon – Fri
9am to 5pm
Visits by appointment outside hours by arrangement. Workshop tours welcome — just call ahead.
Free estimates by phone or email. Send-by-mail address as above. Pick-up and delivery across Tasmania by arrangement.