Watch Retail and Repair Licences: Two Trades, Two Files

What watchmaking covers and what it does not

Selling the watch in the window works to the same arrangement as selling any durable consumer product. Changing a strap, fitting a battery, opening a case and servicing a movement are interventions in the product.

The distinction is legal, not technical. From the moment you intervene you carry part of the responsibility for how the product behaves; your identity as seller stays, and a second is laid on top of it.

The two banks of the line

The table below shows on which heading the two banks part company. The detail can move from district to district and from brand to brand.

Moving into the right-hand column is a choice. Service turnover is steady and brings the customer back through the door; the responsibility it brings should be seen from the outset.

Where the warranty duty rests

A warranty rests not on one party but on a chain. The manufacturer or importer stands behind the product; the seller is the party the consumer deals with directly.

In practice the customer comes to you. So handing over the warranty certificate in full, entering the serial number in the sales record and keeping the importer’s details on file are what protect you.

Authorised service and independent service

An authorised service is the party empowered by a brand to carry out that brand’s warranty work. An independent service offers repair without any tie to a brand.

Both are lawfully possible, but unauthorised work on a product under warranty opens the customer’s rights to argument. Tell the customer of this distinction in writing beforehand.

Battery, strap and opening the case: where small jobs sit

Changing a battery and fitting a strap are not treated as a separate service in most shops. Yet opening the case bears on the claim of water resistance, and the greater part of customer complaints comes from exactly there.

1. Establish the watch’s present condition together with the customer before the work
2. If the case is to be opened, tell the customer about water resistance
3. Enter the part replaced and the work done on a written form
4. Hand a copy of the form to the customer

All four take a minute of your time. Left undone, the argument they cause takes days to settle.

Typical items in the licence file

The district municipality grants the basic permission: the workplace opening and operating licence. In this branch the following headings are typically asked for; the final list appears on the municipality’s own form.

• Application form and declaration
• Lease agreement or title deed
• Occupancy permit and information on the zoning status
• Tax certificate and chamber registration document
• Identity document and photograph
• Condominium consent in a residential building
• A competence certificate for the trade if servicing is to be offered
• Social security workplace notification if staff will be employed

What you see here is not a promise but a skeleton for preparing before you apply. The difference between district practices usually shows itself in requests for further papers.

Mastership certificate and vocational qualification certificate

These two papers do not stand in for one another. The mastership certificate comes out of the vocational training arrangement; the vocational qualification certificate (MYK) evidences a competence defined within the MYK system.

Which is asked for varies with the scope of your activity and with district practice. Put the heading to the municipality in writing before a service bench goes in; do not take on staff on a spoken answer.

If a watch containing precious metal goes on the shelf

Watches with gold cases or set with precious stones are not merely another product group but a separate scope. Once these goods reach the shelf, the duties attaching to precious metal trading come into play.

In practice that means customer identification, transaction records and the reporting of any transaction seen as suspicious. Thresholds and the reporting procedure are set and renewed under the rules of MASAK, Türkiye’s financial crimes investigation board; take confirmation for your own activity from the legislation as it stands and from your accountant.

Taking in second-hand watches and watches on consignment

Buying and selling second-hand watches, or taking one in on a customer’s behalf, calls for a record discipline of its own. A record showing where the goods came from protects you and the customer alike.

For every item taken in, keep the date, the identity details, the description of the product and the serial number. Without that arrangement, the risk of goods of unclear origin rests squarely on the business.

Consumer information, the receipt and the service form

The first places an inspection looks at in this branch are not the large headings. The visibility of the price label, the delivery of the warranty certificate and the order of the service form are asked about first.

Standardise all three in one folder. Giving the same form to every customer both speeds the work and ends the argument before it starts.

The one certainty about fees and schedules

Items like the licence fee and the signboard tax are tied to the municipality’s own schedule and set afresh each year. Do not move a figure you have heard into a budget line.

Before the file is opened, ask the revenue department of the district municipality for the schedule in force. For the capital and expense bands look at our jewellery and accessories sector page.

Which branch you move into as the scale grows

When the service work grows, the shop stops being a bench and turns into a workshop. At that point the premises, the ventilation and the competence headings all grow heavier.

To see the general order of the authorities look at the business licence roadmap; if you will concentrate on repair alone read our watch repair article, and if you are turning towards older pieces our antique and second-hand jewellery article. Deciding which branch you see yourself in lightens the file by half.

In Short

• Two separate trades live inside watchmaking: selling, and work on the movement
• Crossing the line lays a second identity on top of your identity as seller
• Under a selling-only arrangement it is typically assessed towards a sanitary establishment
• A warranty rests not on one party but on the chain of maker and seller
• Hand over the warranty certificate and enter the serial number in the sales record
• Tell the customer in writing how authorised and independent service differ
• Opening a case bears on the water resistance claim; put the work on a form
• The mastership certificate and the vocational qualification certificate are not interchangeable
• A watch containing precious metal brings separate duties into play
• Keeping an intake record for second-hand and consigned goods protects the business
• Fee items are tied to the municipal schedule and renewed each year

Quick Glossary

Authorised service: the business a brand has empowered to carry out its repair and warranty work. Warranty certificate: the paper handed to the consumer setting out for how long and within what scope a product will be repaired. Vocational qualification certificate: the evidenced form of a competence defined within the MYK system. Service form: the record showing the work done on a product, the part replaced and the date of return.

Next Step

Let us separate the selling and servicing sides and settle which file you will build: consultation request form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Updated: September 2026