The shop: Klockmaster Globen

Klockmaster in Globen and Fältöversten are two of the most popular watch shops in Stockholm. Among watch enthusiasts the owners, in the form of the sibling pair Anna and Svante Nilsson, are perhaps best known for their great commitment to the Japanese brand Seiko. In today's shop presentation we meet Svante who tells us more about the family business and his almost unique passion for the big brand from the east.

The foundation for what is today Klockmaster Globen and Klockmaster Fältöversten was laid in the company Gunnar Nilsson Urhandel which was founded by Svante Nilsson's grandfather who opened the first proper shop at Slöjdgatan 6 in Hötorgscity, before that it was pure watch workshops. Svante and his sister Anna's father Åke bought the company and opened Fältöversten in 1973/1974 and Globen in 1989. They have belonged to Klockmaster since 1974 and since 2002 both shops have been run by the siblings Anna and Svante.  

– When I started working our shops were called Klockmaster but were also affiliated with Stjärnurmakarna which back then was more of an industry organisation that vouched for professional knowledge, Svante tells us.

– Running two watch shops has been fantastic but at times it has been tough, he continues. Unfortunately we in Globen have been subjected to several robberies & break-ins that have threatened the business, but we have always aimed forward and it has mostly been absolutely fantastic.

First with Grand Seiko

Above all Svante wants to highlight the fine collaborations they have built up over the years with different brands.

– The start with Breitling in 1993 has been really fun through all the years. Likewise when we as the first privately owned shop outside Japan started with Grand Seiko in 2008 was a big highlight in our history.

– Grand Seiko is pure watchmaking porn, Svante continues. But Seiko is so much more with its diver models and the presage series. Then we of course also have the LX Series. It is a fantastic brand on all levels. And the feeling of working with both Casio & Seiko and Japanese business ethics is almost like a marriage. It is a lifelong give & take in order to develop together.

Svante is also proud of the investments they have made in their own service workshop.

– Yes, that is something we have invested heavily in over the years and today we have a fully certified watch workshop where we can repair and service most watch brands ourselves. We are for example an authorised workshop at the highest level for Omega. That means we have full access on many other brands too. We can solve most things ourselves, often both faster and cheaper for the customer.

Tough times but hope for the future

In the current situation, where retail trade has taken a hard blow from the corona crisis, it is important to think ahead, Svante reckons. And new thinking and adaptation are the only way forward.

– The corona effect will hit the non-everyday goods trade hard, he says. The effects will linger for a long time. My philosophy is that we shall develop during this time and become even better, so that when it turns in the future we shall stand in the front starting row. For example we today have help from the Klockmaster chain with the webshop, which is extra important at the moment.

– We have always worked for the long term and have not invested in things with borrowed money, which means we have a reasonably good situation compared with many others. We focus on the solutions and not the problems, because we cannot influence those anyway.

Svante's passion for watches shines through in everything he does.

– I usually describe being a watchmaker and a self-employed businessman as a bit like being an alcoholic, You are dependent on your job and have to like it, otherwise you will not succeed, he says.

Despite the pandemic crisis and an unfortunately increasing degree of fraud and crime against watch dealers, Svante is positive and the level of ambition is high.

– I am completely convinced that personal service, knowledge & security will become important competitive tools in the future. We also get on very well within the Klockmaster chain which makes us nationwide with collaborations for guarantees and marketing. We are going to be number one in Sweden!

Brands and news

– In the Globen shop's broad range you today find models from Grand Seiko, Seiko, Oris, Breitling, Victorinox, Tissot, Maurice Lacroix, Luminox, Gul, Garmin, Daniel Wellington, Gant, Casio (G-Shock, Edifice, MTG, MR-G have a lot) as well as the newly established brand Norqain. But ahead of 2020 more is happening in the range.

– We will be starting with Sjöö Sandström, Svante tells us. It feels tremendously fun and it will be a good complement to our other brands with a Swedish quality manufacturer.