The Luxurious New Montco Flagship of a Family-Owned Watch Company

Precision’s glam new headquarters / Photography by Ali Waxman for Precision Watches

If you’ve driven around Lower Gwynedd lately, chances are you’ve seen it: a beautiful behemoth of a building perched at the intersection of Bethlehem Pike and Welsh Road, its champagne-colored metal roof glinting in the sun. It’s the new headquarters of Precision, the family-owned luxury watch company that for the past decade operated from a 2,000-square-foot retail space in Willow Grove Mall.

The flagship, opened in July, is a grand departure from the mall setting — 11,000 square feet spread out over two floors and a mezzanine. (It’s also a far cry from Precision’s first store, a humble watch repair shop in Feasterville that opened in 1991.)

The Rolex mini boutique at Precision Watches

“It was important for us to move to a location where we can really plant our flag and expand our brand offerings, and offer our clients the luxury experience,” says Precision president and third-generation watchmaker Roman Murat. (His grandfather, Michael, became a watchmaker in Ukraine in 1946.) To help craft this aesthetic,­ he called upon architect (and Temple grad) Alex Zilberman, whose eponymous Manhattan-­based firm has created retail spaces for brands including Versace and Aston Martin.

Zilberman swathed the exterior in limestone and Roman brickwork; anchored a two-story atrium with a floating steel staircase and suspended alabaster light fixtures; and created four mini boutiques on the first floor for Rolex, Cartier, Omega, and Tudor, some with their own private VIP rooms.

Watches by Cartier

The second floor houses a multi-brand and certified pre-owned sales gallery (they’ve more than doubled their pre-owned inventory; overall, Precision’s offerings have tripled). There’s also a service­ lounge — with a crew of on-hand watchmakers­ and refinishers — and full bar. The latter will come in handy as Murat plans to host events here, now that he’s free from restrictive mall hours. Still, for all its luxury, Precision isn’t pretentious; appointments aren’t needed to shop any of the collections, and salespeople are guides for new shoppers and seasoned collectors alike.

But in the end, says Murat, it’s not just about having more space or fancier fittings:­ “It’s a place where we can control our own destiny.”

1612 North Bethlehem Pike, Lower Gwynedd.

Published as “Right on Time” in the September 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.