Watch Shopping in Boston: A Collector's Guide to Newbury Street

Boston is the closest big city to where I live, and it's where I spend most of my time. It's also home to one of the most concentrated stretches of watch retail in America, and almost nobody outside New England talks about it. So... let's fix that.

The Street

There's a stretch of road in Boston, Massachusetts called Newbury Street. It runs roughly one mile from the Public Garden at Arlington Street west to Massachusetts Avenue, with cross streets that work through the alphabet as you go: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth, Exeter, Fairfield, Gloucester, Hereford, then Mass Ave.

The eastern end, right at Arlington Street, is where it gets interesting for collectors. Within a single block of roughly 500 to 600 feet, you'll find around eight authorized watch stores, maisons, and boutiques, ranging from IWC to A. Lange & Söhne and everything in between. This one block is where I've spent years building relationships and have tried on hundreds of watches.

Urban planning and commercial development are working in the collector's favor here. You can spend hours on this single block and enjoy an incredible amount of horology.

Photography by @midlifecrisiswatches · © 2026 · All rights reserved

Shreve, Crump & Low: The Anchor

One store on this street is a multi-brand boutique, and it's the anchor of the whole block: Shreve, Crump & Low. This is the home of Parmigiani Fleurier, Laurent Ferrier, Chopard, Breguet, Czapek, JN Shapiro, and other brands you won't find standalone stores of. They also carry a highly curated, medium-sized pre-owned inventory, so there's something new arriving whether you're shopping fresh or second hand.

Shreve is no stranger to the watch world. They just celebrated their 230th anniversary, just shy of the big anniversary of the United States. Many of the pieces in my collection have come from the great team there, including my Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda Minute Rattrapante, my Laurent Ferrier SportAuto and Classic Moon Silver, and my Zenith Lapis Lazuli, among others.

The Purchase That Defined My Collecting

Shreve was one of the first stores I walked into, and candidly, I loved the variety across the salon. They introduced me to two brands I love to this day: Parmigiani Fleurier (which, full disclosure, my wife purchased 14 years before I bought mine; she's the trendsetter in the house) and Laurent Ferrier.

I'd been drawn to the newly released Tondas, a very understated luxury, IYKYK line from Parmigiani Fleurier. Shreve had several in the case, including one in Sand Grey with Grain d'Orge hand-guilloché finishing and 18ct gold rhodium-plated appliques. The barleycorn guilloché catches light differently every time your wrist moves. It's the kind of dial that rewards close inspection, which is exactly what I collect for.

The team let me explore the collection, we spent hours talking through the pieces, and they even gave me the PF brand book. I ended up purchasing that Tonda Minute Rattrapante, and it's one of the top three watches in my collection based on wrist time. And frankly, love.

The kicker: Glenn later surprised me by pointing out I could swap the steel bracelet for a PF rubber strap. I did, and it's been on that strap ever since. Incredible call by the team. It gives the watch a sporty, everyday stance.

How Relationships Actually Work

If you're in the market for limited editions or extremely sought-after pieces, you already know you need relationships with the people at the watch stores. Relationships are built with both time and money, not just one or the other. Whether you like it or not, that's how it works, and I'm just sharing it.

If you don't have the time, or you'd rather skip the line and pay a premium, there are people for that: Jeremy at Pucks & Timepieces, Gary and Curtis at Dial Society, or the 1916 Company. I have relationships with the first two. You'll pay above retail, but you won't wait, or at least not as long as you would buying direct from the AD.

But relationships are about more than acquiring a piece. When I walk into the second-floor watch salon at Shreve, Crump & Low, I'm greeted by Glenn, always with his hand out and a smile on his face. We exchange Instagram DMs when I see something I like. I flip it to him, and sometimes I'll visit the store and he's got that exact piece waiting. Tai, Susan, Spence, and the rest of the team there have been fantastic with me, and I genuinely like them. Customer service goes a long way with me, and it's no wonder they've been in business for 230 years.

Here's my favorite example. I had them service my wife's Parmigiani Fleurier, a piece about 15 years old. Service took about six months, the watch came back near brand new, and the team did a FaceTime call to unveil it to my wife. How cool is that?

Another example: the IWC store at the top of the block. A few years ago I stopped in right after buying something at Shreve. The F1 movie had just come out and the Ingenieur Sonny Hayes edition was all the rage. I mentioned (and showed them) that I owned two Ingenieurs, a black and a white, and would love the green. After talking amongst themselves, the store manager came over and offered me the green: highly limited, extremely sought after at the time. He didn't have it in the store, but could have it within 72 hours. For some dumb reason, I turned it down (I'd already bought a watch that day) and I instantly regretted it.

But here's the thing about that relationship: it survived the no. When the gold Ingenieur with the black dial came out, I asked if they had it, and they brought one in for a private viewing. I tried it on and enjoyed every minute. I ultimately passed, since north of $40,000 has a lot of competition in that range.

If you are wondering, I was recently able to pick up a brand new Ingenieur F1 from Curtis at Dial Society, who was able to source a beautiful one for me as the major boutiques have all sold out.

The Rest of the Block

Walk out of Shreve, Crump & Low and the block unfolds fast. Directly across the street is a recently opened Omega, plus Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre boutiques (I've been told Shreve owns those two as well). As you head down the block, you hit Breitling, A. Lange & Söhne, Richard Mille, Rolex, Panerai, and IWC.

Back on Shreve's side of the street is a relatively new Patek Philippe boutique from my friends at Long's Jewelers, who also own the Rolex boutique across the street. And across from the IWC is a Tiffany & Co., which carries a selection of timepieces as well.

There's also a shop I've yet to visit called Material Good, which carries higher-end pre-owned pieces, on this same stretch. It's on my list.

Photography by @midlifecrisiswatches · © 2026 · All rights reserved

European Watch Company

If you venture further up Newbury Street, you'll eventually hit European Watch Company, which frankly has a sales setup that's kinda klunky and wonky. But hey, I guess it works. You sit at one of five or six tables, browse an iPad with current inventory, and your associate pulls pieces as you want to see them.

As someone who browses to be inspired, I prefer perusing cases the way I do at Shreve. You can scroll through the iPad easily enough, but it's just not the same. Watches are meant to be analog, not digital, so evaluating them on a screen right before purchase kind of defeats the purpose for me.

Beyond Newbury

Veer off Newbury Street and there's more. A Grand Seiko boutique sits in the Copley Place mall, a short walk away. In the Prudential Center, you'll find a TAG Heuer and a Bucherer 1888, the latter of which I've never had good experiences with.

Logistics: Parking, Appointments, and Timing

Candidly, parking around Boston is not the easiest, but there are lots interspersed throughout the area. I park near my office at the 100 Clarendon Street garage, which puts me a six-to-eight minute walk from the block. If I'm picking up something of real value, I'll Uber in and out. Same if the weather's bad, which in Boston is a coin flip on a good day.

You can usually just walk into these shops. But if you're serious about building a relationship, an email or phone call ahead of your visit goes a long way. Don't expect to walk in and walk out with a piece from Rolex, Patek, A. Lange & Söhne, or Vacheron. You will, however, get to see and explore much of the line, and put your name down on the applicable wait lists. I quiver every time I hear that phrase.

Is Boston a Real Watch City?

I think this street is perfectly sized for Boston, which is a large city but absolutely not the largest of cities. What I'd like to see is more quality pre-owned locations that don't just shill the latest Rolex to make a buck. There are a handful of shops around town selling gold chains and the latest iced-out AP or Rolex. Every major city has these.

But this strip of Newbury Street? It's perfect for what it is. One block, eight-plus boutiques, hundreds of watches to try on, and if you put in the time, relationships that pay off for years... and I've found to be genuinely good.

If you are headed to Tokyo (Japan) any time soon, I wrote a similar piece a few months back.