Watch Building Experience with Kartel Scotland Edinburgh: Learn History and Design Your Own Watch
4.5
6 Ratings
Quarter
Immerse yourself in the rich history of watchmaking in Scotland at Kartel Scotland Edinburgh. Design your own bespoke watch and enjoy a truly Scottish experience with fine food, drink, and materials.
Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • St James Quarter - You will be met by our master watch builder from our workshop in St Andrews for a warm welcome. Local whisky, beer and wine is the order of the day along with fresh local fruit and Scottish tablet.

We will begin by sharing the history of local watch manufacturing and the story of our brand to help give you inspiration for the build of your own timepiece.

You will then be guided through our range of components, beginning with the options of case designs, to determine what best suits your style and needs.

Once the watch case has been selected we move onto our vast range of straps, available in leathers, cashmere and wool by Scotland’s Johnston’s of Elgin, as well as authentic Harris Tweed options.

Next the master watch builder will guide you through the assembly of your chosen components to create your finished wristwatch.

Finally, you can further personalise your watch with a bespoke engraving. Adding text or even a handwritten message to the case back. You will operate the engraving machine and watch your timepiece come to life.

And there you have it, a unique watch designed & made by you to keep forever.

What's Included
Additional Information

Our lavish prime shop, located in the historic center of St Andrews, provides an ideal backdrop to understand Scotland’s watchmaking heritage and our role in it.

The utilization of our One of One design service allows guests to construct a custom watch by choosing preferred components, topped with a personally engraved message.

Supplied with the best Scottish food and drink, and displaying a variety of Scottish material used for our straps, guests are certain to savor an authentically Scottish afternoon that will linger in their memories, not to forget the personalized wrist watch they’d get to keep.

Location
Kartel Watches
Saint James Square
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.5
(6 Ratings)
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Christinedumbarton
Feb 23, 2024
Fabulous watches - Didn't know this existed! Lovely watches in the St James centre. Couldn't do the full watch building experience as we were on way to dinner but was still able to choose strap and buckle with option of engraving. Really nice watches too! Staff soooo welcoming and made our visit very enjoyable. Hope to book into full experience on our next visit to Edinburgh.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Samantha1703
Jan 29, 2024
Best birthday gift ever - Booked this as a birthday gift for my fiance, he absolutely loved it Jordan was very knowledgeable and patient throughout the process. Couldn't thank him enough for his customer service! Highly reccomended
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Steven_l
Sep 2, 2023
Excellent experience for wrist watch lovers! - If you like watches and enjoy customizing things to make them yours, this tour is for you! We had so much fun learning about the company, seeing all the options to build our own customized watches while sipping scotch the entire time! I own many watches, but I have been wearing my Kartel watch every day since we made it! Highly recommend this experience!
Review provided by Viator
Hospicenurse71
Jan 30, 2023
Excellent service, quality watches - I enjoyed meeting Jordan at Kartel. He patiently helped me select components for two separate watches and worked to make sure I was satisfied. One item needed to be mailed to me after I left, but they gladly did so. I would recommend this unique experience to anyone visiting the area.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mrmarkjohnstone
Jan 28, 2022
Watch Building Experience - I had been bought a watch building experience by my wife, and I am afraid to admit it, it took me ages to get round to utilising it. My tardiness aside, my visit to the Kartel Showroom in The St James Quarter, Edinburgh, was absolutely spot on! My experience was faultless, from the initial warm welcome given to me by Dale, all the way through to leaving with my new timepiece. I was made to feel part of the Kartel concept, through being introduced to all the options that were available to produce my own bespoke watch. The watch building experience is ‘hands on’ but through being given expert guidance and information, very relaxed, so I felt comfortable in the showroom environment. Needless to say, I am incredibly happy with my new watch and will certainly be back to invest in another at some point in the future. Thank you, and all success Kartel!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Thomasrm7776pb
Aug 10, 2023
Generally underwhelming experience - I purchased a watch here in March 2023. The process in store actually went find, although the watchmaking experience essentially involves picking a case, picking a strap then getting the back engraved if you want it. When finalising the sale I was told the strap wasn't in stock, and would take a few weeks to arrive. Fine I thought, no problem. However, from this point onwards it took a long time to sort everything out, and the customer service on the Kartel side wasn't great, in fact it was practically non-existent. I was initially told it would take a 2 or 3 weeks to come back in stock. After hearing nothing after 3 weeks I called, to be told the same thing again ("a few more weeks"). After a month a manager intervened and told the shop to give me a different strap so I could at least wear the watch I had paid for. Over the next four months numerous deadlines passed, with no updates from Kartel; I was never contacted on their initiative, and every time I had to call them for an update. Each time I was told "a few more weeks". I was eventually guaranteed delivery by a certain date, otherwise I would be provided with a refund. That deadline came and went, and when I called for news (again, they didn't call me, I called them), the manager I had previously spoken to was on holiday and hadn't left any instructions. So nobody had a clue what I was talking about. Eventually in mid-July, four months after the purchase, I received a call from a manager (after prevouisly phoning the shop that day and asking to be contacted) to tell me the strap would arrive imminently - and it finally did a few days later. On that call, I was promised a refund as a gesture of goodwill, but that hasn't materialised, which I suppose reflects the rather loose management they seem to have of customer service as they have no doubt forgotten about that promise. The watch itself is nice. I'm not sure if it's worth the £215 I paid for it, but it has the novelty value of being a Scottish watch. Less than six months later, the same watch costs £265, a price hike of more than 20%. However, it would have cost £175 had I bought it in the autumn of 2021, and even today it is being sold online in the USA (by aristorwatches) for $130! I'd give an extra star to reflect the enthusiasm and friendliness of the staff, but in general the customer service doesn't seem to have developed in line with the company's growth, and what should have been a fun experience has only been a source of hassle.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 8 guests
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April 2024
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