Romer Schmuck

Romer Uhren und Schmuck is a family-run jewelry and watch shop at Marktgasse 42 in Winterthur, founded in 1934 and now in its third generation. For couples, its main draw is a wedding ring selection that the shop says is known well beyond the city, backed by two goldsmiths who make a ring from scratch when nothing in stock fits.

The wedding ring offer

The wedding ring page opens with a confident line: "Weit über die Winterthurer Stadtgrenzen hinaus ist bekannt, dass die Firma Romer eine der grössten Auswahlen an Trauringen besitzt." (It is known far beyond Winterthur's city limits that Romer has one of the largest selections of wedding rings.) The rings come from a range of manufacturers, and the page says almost all of them are available in yellow, red and white gold, some also in platinum, palladium or silver. They are made individually for each couple, and the page's own title sums up the offer as "Ehering nach Wunsch" (a wedding ring made to your wishes).

If the manufacturers' range does not have what a couple wants, the shop makes the ring itself. The page puts it this way: "Sollten Sie trotzdem aus dem vielfältigen Angebot unserer Hersteller nichts finden, zaubern wir Ihnen einfach Ihren Trau(m)ring selbst." (Should you still find nothing in our manufacturers' varied range, we will simply conjure up your wedding ring, or dream ring, ourselves.) Under the motto "Nichts ist unmöglich" (nothing is impossible), "zwei erfahrene Goldschmiedinnen" (two experienced goldsmiths) create wedding rings to the couple's wishes.

That combination is useful. A couple can start by trying on a wide range of finished designs from different makers, and only move to a custom piece if none of them works. The page also mentions friendship rings in titanium, which it says are still very much in fashion. The site's menu has separate sections for engagement rings (Verlobungsringe), gemstones (Edelsteine) and the shop's own creations (Kreationen), plus lists of the jewelry and watch brands it carries.

A family business since 1934

The about page gives a clear history. Anton Romer senior founded a watch and jewelry shop in Baden in 1934. A timeline on the page adds a branch in Davos around 1938, a shop on Metzggasse in Winterthur around 1950, and the move to Marktgasse 42 around 1957, when the family bought the building. The page says the business has been run by the second and third generation, and the timeline names Anton Romer junior and Jürg Romer around 1991.

The shop credits its reputation to a flexible, customer-focused range and comprehensive service since 1934. It lists qualified training in watchmaking, goldsmithing, diamond and gemstone appraisal, and commerce. For a couple buying an engagement stone as well as wedding bands, a gemstone appraiser on the team is worth knowing about.

Repairs, piercing and appraisals

The service page describes an in-house jewelry repair service. The shop says it keeps an almost endless stock of spare parts, that the skilled hands of its experienced goldsmith repair everything that can be repaired, and that because jewelry is fixed in its own workshops, repair times are kept to a minimum. For a couple, that means a repair after the wedding is handled in the shop's own workshop rather than sent away. The shop orders parts online and says they arrive within a very short time, ordered today and here tomorrow, so that customers wait as little as possible for a favorite piece. One point to note: the same page says the shop cannot currently offer a watch service ("Zur Zeit können wir keinen Uhrenservice anbieten").

Ear piercing is offered Tuesday to Saturday without an appointment. Children from 3 years old are welcome, and both ears are done at the same time so a child only has to sit still once.

The shop also appraises old gold, mainly gold jewelry, platinum and palladium. Checking the fine metal content takes from half an hour to 2 days depending on the size of the job. The owner can then choose to sell the piece as old gold or have it valued. For an insurance valuation, the shop adds a surcharge of around 10% to the replacement value to allow for price rises in the coming years. This could matter to a couple who want to insure new rings, or who are thinking of melting down family gold.

Hours and contact

The shop is open Monday to Friday 09:00 to 18:30 without a midday break, and Saturday 09:00 to 17:00. Contact details are the same on every page: Marktgasse 42, CH-8400 Winterthur, phone +41 52 213 87 51, fax +41 52 213 76 62, and email info@romerschmuck.ch. The contact page has a form (first name, last name, email, phone and message) and a location map.

Continuous opening through lunch and a Saturday until 17:00 make it easier to fit in a visit around work or a short trip.

What the site does not settle

• Prices. No prices are published for wedding rings, custom work or appraisals.
• Lead times. The site does not say how long a custom wedding ring from the goldsmiths takes, or how long a ring from a manufacturer takes to arrive once ordered.
• Language. The site is in German only, and it does not say whether the team advises in English.
• Getting there. Apart from the address and a map, the site gives no directions, parking or public transport information.
• Appointments. The piercing service is explicitly walk-in; the site does not say whether a wedding ring consultation should be booked ahead.

Who it suits

Romer suits couples who want to see a lot of wedding rings in one place and like the security of a shop that has been in the same building since 1957. The fallback of two in-house goldsmiths means a couple is not limited to the manufacturers' catalogs, and the appraisal service is handy for insuring new rings or putting old gold to use.

It is best for couples living in or near Winterthur, or who can make more than one visit for fitting and collection. Couples from abroad should ask about English and lead times in their first email, and anyone hoping to have a watch serviced at the same time should note that the shop says it currently offers no watch service.