John Gowing Jewellers

I've used this jewellers twice, once to value my jewellery and once to fix a chain. Each time they were professional, kind, quick and were a reliable and competent store

Excellent selection of rings along with great advice and support. Very good value for money. Highly recommended

I give the highest praise to this family run business. Absolutely charming customer service and a lovely selection of products. My experiences so far have been limited to watch strap purchase and watch battery replacement which have been attended to whilst I wait. Should I be due a treat in the form of a piece of Jewellery this would be my first port of call. You could not find a better shop of this sort in Oxford. Thank you to The Gowings. Meredith Wilson

Brilliant service from John Gowing Jewellers. The high Street jewellery retailers didn't want to help us but referred us to John Gowing for watch batteries, servicing and strap replacement for our watch collection. Excellent, would definitely recommend

I have a Royal Oak that needed to have an extra link put in. Rather than drive all the way to an official Audemars Piguet boutique in London, I thought I'd go to this local high street jeweller.I dropped off the watch and wasn't given a receipt, which appears to be a concern that's been expressed by multiple reviewers here. I was told to come back in an hour.Link added, I paid and left. A few hours later whilst looking at my watch I was shocked to find that some of the hexagonal bolts that hold down the bezel were completely misaligned. The gaskets between the bezel and case was overly compressed and also misaligned.These bolts go right through to the back of the watch and hold it together. There is no reason to undo these other than to take the watch apart. Something that's certainly not required when adding a link to the bracelet.Thankfully they'd misaligned the bolts, otherwise I could have not noticed they'd taken it apart and ruined the watch further in water…At this point all sorts of thoughts were running through my head, trying to figure out why they had taken my watch apart. Was it just curiosity or had they tampered with the movement for some reason?I went back to the shop hoping for a reasonable explanation. What I was met with was a liar. I was told that he hadn’t taken apart the watch. I had a complete and utter sense of humour failure.One of the very defining features of Gerald Genta’s design is the aligned bolts, there is no way they were misaligned before. The watch had only ever been in my hands and of those of Audemars Piguet for servicing up until the point this jeweller had it.But it was my word against theirs, so I called Audemars Piguet and they were more than helpful and sympathetic. They explained to me as suspected that a minor service and water resistance would need to be carried out to ensure the waterproofness of the watch. Whilst it was there, I had the watch refinished. A courier showed up, with made for application packaging to safely wrap the watch and off it went back to Switzerland.Thankfully they found that the mechanism hadn’t been tampered with and the cost of the works was very reasonable at £ 330 + VAT.I imagine it was out of curiosity that this high street jeweller opened the watch, as the watches they stock and trade are cheaper offerings from the lower end of the watch market – Omega, Rolex, Tag being their top line brands.I suspect it isn’t very often if at all that watches from the top end of the market enter their premises, so curiosity got the better of them.This jeweller trades on its long establishment, if after over 70 years they’re still dealing in the low end of the market something isn’t working, perhaps...

A rather strange experience this afternoon at this shop.As a long time collector of vintage Rolex I was interested in seeing one they had in the window.All seemed to be going well, until I asked to see the engravings between the lugs on the watch. As any vintage watch collector will know, this is an extremely important part of inspecting the provenance of any watch, especially when it is without box/papers.The owner became extremely defensive and said it was not necessary and I would have to ‘buy the watch’ before disassembling it’. I tried to explain what I was looking for, but he started acting rudely (perhaps because I’m only in my mid 30s). He insisted he couldn’t do it, which I find very surprising for a watchmaker. I was soon ushered out of the shop.As an experienced vintage watch collector I would urge you to avoid any shop that will not show you the engravings between the lugs of a vintage Rolex. A lot can be learnt about the watch and is very much necessary before any purchase.

Had a fantastic experience using John Growing Jewellers.Annie firstly helped me find a engagement ring which was perfect.We then returned and purchased our wedding rings. Annie was brilliant and helped us purchase the best custom ring to go with the engagement ring and a amazing ring for me.The service we received was excellent and would highly recommend for engagement or wedding rings.Thanks again

Choosing a local jewellers over buying a watch online is something I would now never go back on . I decided to purchase a lovely Tissot men’s watch and I can only commend the service that I was offered . I was looked after by a gentleman called Andy who guided me through different options and offered me the best advice in a truly professional and well educated manor. I’d like to thank Andy and the rest of the shop for my buying experience with them. I shall be returning in the future.Regards Ben

I was greeted with a warm welcome as I entered the shop and it was no problem for the team to help provide me with a new chain and make the necessary alterations for some tricky pendants to be threaded on! I was advised on which chains would suit the pendants but were strong and I felt like time was taken to ensure that I was happy with the chain and length. I'm over the moon that I will once again be able to wear this necklace where other jewellers had told me it wasn't worth fixing and that I would be better off buying a new one - which was not what I wanted as the pendants are sentimental. Thank you so much!