Watch repair software

ServiceCenterSoft is job-tracking software that works well for a watch repair counter or a watchmaker’s workshop: battery swaps, strap and bracelet work, crystals and gaskets, water resistance checks and full movement services. A precise record of every watch at check-in, quick booking for the small jobs, quotes the customer approves before you open the movement, and stock of the small parts you use all day. It runs in the browser, on the counter computer or on a phone.

Who this is for

Independent watchmakers, repair counters in shopping centres, jewellers who do watch work in-house — any shop where a lot of small jobs sit alongside a few long ones. On a busy day you may fit twenty batteries, size five bracelets and change a handful of straps, mostly while the customer waits. Meanwhile mechanical watches sit in the safe for weeks waiting for a service slot or a mainspring.

And almost every watch matters to its owner far more than its size suggests. Some are expensive; others are a retirement gift or a grandfather’s watch. Customers expect you to hand back exactly what they handed over — down to the last bracelet link.

Where things usually go wrong:

• small jobs never get written down, so the day’s takings and the number of cells used are guesswork;
• a scratch on the crystal was not noted at check-in and turns into an argument at collection;
• a service was quoted verbally, the movement needed a part, and there is no record of the customer agreeing;
• the common cell sizes run out on a Saturday;
• finished watches sit in the safe for months because nobody told the owner.

Check-in: a record you can stand behind

While a customer’s watch is with you, it is your responsibility. The simplest protection for both sides is a detailed description written in front of the customer and printed on the job sheet they sign. The intake form has separate fields for it:

• model and serial number — the case number, if there is one; later it shows whether the watch has been in before and what was done;
• condition — scratches on crystal and bezel, dents and wear on the case, the dial and hands, whether the watch was running when it came in;
• accessories — bracelet and link count, spare links, strap and buckle, box and papers;
• fault — in the customer’s words: “stops overnight”, “fogs up inside”, “gains two minutes a day”.

Whatever is entered gets printed, right above the customer’s signature. You edit the job sheet template yourself, so your terms for intake, storage and your warranty on the work go on it as well. More on the repair job sheet.

Honestly about photos. You cannot attach a photo to a job in the software. If you photograph valuable watches at check-in — and you should — keep the pictures on your own phone or drive and note on the job sheet that photos exist.

Small jobs that take seconds to book

If booking a battery swap takes longer than doing it, nobody will book it. So set the routine work up once. In the Works list, add your standard jobs with prices — battery replacement, strap fitting, bracelet sizing, pressure test. A job can belong to one kind of watch (quartz, mechanical, clocks) or to all of them. On the job’s estimate you pick it from a list; the name and price fill in and can still be changed. A cell from stock is added the same way, and the stock count drops by itself.

Regular customers are found by a few digits of their phone number. Two watches from the same person? Make the second job a copy of the first: customer, kind of watch, accessories and notes carry over, the serial number does not. A “Last one” button copies the previous job in one click. If a watch comes back with the same complaint, set the repair type to “Repeat repair” and find the earlier one by serial number.

Above the job list, tiles show what is in progress, ready for collection, overdue, urgent and unpaid, and the search box in the table header finds jobs by number, customer or model.

Movement services: quote first, then open the wallet

What a mechanical service really costs is only clear once the movement is apart: a worn balance staff, a tired mainspring, a broken wheel tooth. So the order is diagnosis, a note in the work log of what was found, and an estimate in lines — “movement service”, “mainspring”, “gasket set”.

A button on the job sends the estimate by email or Telegram. The customer opens the link, sees each line and the total, and clicks “I agree” or “I decline”; the answer and date go into the job history. Agreed by phone? Add it as a comment on the status change. If you charge for diagnosis, give that kind of watch a diagnostic price and switch the job to “diagnostics only”. A refusal closes the job with the “Repair declined” status.

A job can take several payments — a deposit for an ordered part and the balance at collection — and the software shows what is still due. The customer’s card lists all their jobs and any open balance.

Water resistance: write down what you tested

Customers remember the depth rating printed on the dial. Once the caseback has been off, that rating depends on the gaskets and on how the back went on. So write in the work log what you checked and the result, and put the advice for the customer in the Recommendations field: “gaskets replaced, pressure tested”, “not tested — keep away from water”. Recommendations print on the completion report and stay in the watch’s history. The software does not store test protocols or pressure curves — only text.

Stock: cells, straps, crystals, gaskets

Stock is a movement log: goods in with purchase price and supplier, used on a job as an estimate line, written off with a reason, stocktake. The count updates itself in whole units, and each item has a selling price that fills into the estimate. Keep cells by size code, straps by lug width and material, crystals by diameter.

Set a minimum quantity for the fast movers and the “running low” tile becomes your reorder list. Parts for a specific watch are ordered from the job and emailed to the supplier, so you can see which watches are waiting on a delivery. More on spare parts tracking.

Ready for collection

When a watch is done, the customer gets an email or a Telegram message (they subscribe with the QR code on their job sheet); the alert can be resent at most once a day. Each finished job shows how many days it has been waiting, and a tile collects the ones past your free storage period. On request, a customer portal can be added (you then switch it on in the settings), where people see their own jobs, read-only. More on customer notifications.

What watch repairs typically cost

A rough guide only — prices vary a lot by city, watch and parts: battery replacement €10–25, strap fitted €20–80 including the strap, bracelet sizing €10–20, crystal €40–150, pressure test with new gaskets €20–50, quartz service €60–120, mechanical service from €150 and well beyond for complicated pieces. You set your own prices in the Works list and on each estimate.

What it does not do

• photos or file attachments on a job;
• SMS, a mobile app or online payment by the customer;
• label or barcode printing for envelopes;
• counter sales without a job — a strap sold on its own is booked as a job;
• links to supplier catalogues or ordering systems.

Pricing

One price for the whole shop — no extra charge per user or branch.

Off-the-shelf not enough — your own forms, roles, reports or workflow? We will build a program for you. How it works

Try it without signing up in the demo: check in a watch, describe its condition and send a service estimate for approval.

In short

• Model, case number, condition and contents on a job sheet the customer signs.
• Batteries and straps booked in seconds: priced works, job copies, phone search.
• Estimates approved by link before a movement service, deposits and balance due.
• Water resistance results on the completion report and in the watch’s history.
• Stock of cells, straps and crystals with a “running low” list.
• €20 a month for the whole shop.