Simon's Shoe Repairs

Simon's Shoe Repairs is a long-standing repair shop on Burlington Street in Crows Nest, run by a craftsman customers refer to as Tommy. Despite the name over the door, the business is as much a watch and clock repair workshop as it is a cobbler's, with one reviewer describing Tommy as "an experienced and qualified watch and clock repairer" in the same breath as praising his shoe repair, key cutting, engraving and knife sharpening work. On the watch side specifically, a reviewer calls Tommy an "exceptionally skilled watch maker" with expertise servicing and repairing Swiss watches, naming Tag Heuer, Cartier and Rolex among the brands he has worked on. Another customer brought in a watch with a damaged button and a strap that needed fixing and came away with what they describe as their favourite watch looking "like new again." The picture that emerges from reviews is of a genuine all-rounder tradesman: shoe repairs sit alongside watch and clock servicing, key cutting and jewellery repair under one roof, a combination that's increasingly rare on the North Shore. Not every review is glowing — one customer disputes a shoe repair outcome — but the watch-specific feedback is detailed and consistently positive. For Crows Nest locals with a Swiss watch that needs a strap, button or movement looked at, Simon's offers something unusual: a single tradesman equally comfortable with horology as he is with leather and metalwork, in a shop that has clearly built a loyal local following over time.