Started in 1918 by Arthur Goldsworthy in Ottery St Mary. Carried into Exeter in 1950 by his daughter Vera and her husband Ivor Doble, watchmaker. Run today, 108 years on, by their grandson Roo. Fine jewellery, antique pieces sourced and reworked, vintage watches, and a goldsmith bench upstairs at 24 Sidwell Street that has been in continuous use since 1958.
Four lines, one bench. The Sidwell Street workshop on the top floor handles everything except the most specialist Swiss movements, which go to dedicated watchmakers offsite.
Modern fine pieces worked at the Sidwell Street bench. 18ct yellow, rose and white gold, platinum, silver, or any combination. Opals, diamonds, emeralds, yellow sapphires. Bespoke commissions designed in person, drawings retained for life so anniversary bands match the original years on.
EnquireSignet rings, brooches, tiaras, cufflinks, lockets. The whole second and third floor at Sidwell Street is given over to antique stock, sourced and verified in-house. Plus the reworking service that no chain offers: a Georgian brooch becomes a necklace, a single mismatched earring becomes a ring, the family material stays in the family.
EnquireVintage and pre-owned Cartier, Omega, Universal Geneve, Rolex, Patek Philippe, Tudor and Seiko, hand-picked for the Sidwell Street vintage watch room. Every piece serviced through the workshop before it goes on the floor. The Watch Lounge runs as a separate floor with private viewing on request.
EnquireThe top floor at 24 Sidwell Street has been a working goldsmith bench since 1958. Three-week standard turnaround on most repairs. Complex Swiss movements go offsite to specialist watchmakers; everything else stays at the bench. Indicative pricing given before any work starts; nothing surprise-billed.
EnquireIn 1918, Arthur Goldsworthy opened a small jewellery shop in Ottery St Mary, twelve miles east of Exeter. In 1949, his daughter Vera married Ivor Doble, a young watchmaker who had trained at St Loye's College in Exeter and had spent the late 1940s repairing pocket watches he bought broken from arcade owners. The next year they opened the first Doble Jewellers together at 153-154 Cowick Street, Exeter. Ivor worked the bench upstairs; Vera ran the shopfront. Eight years later they took the bigger Sidwell Street premises, three floors, the workshop that is still in daily use.
Their son John joined in 1970 and trained at Plymouth. Their grandson Roo joined in 2015 and trained under both his father and his grandfather before taking the Exeter shops. Roo's sister Nancy joined in 2019 to help with the Sidwell Street renovation. Four generations of one trade, in the same county, 108 years on.
Top floor · 24 Sidwell Street · bench in continuous use since 1958 Ivor Doble trained at St Loye's College in Exeter on the Watch and Clock Making course in 1942 and ran the workshop upstairs at Cowick Street from 1950, then Sidwell Street from 1958. The same bench is in use today, with the goldsmiths who handle the reworking that no chain can offer: a Georgian brooch with no hallmark becomes a necklace; an inherited single earring becomes a ring; a Victorian mourning piece is cleaned and re-set without losing the material.
For bespoke commissions, antique reworking, and higher-value vintage watch viewings, a 30-minute consultation gives you time with the goldsmith or with Roo. After-hours slots available on request. Design notes are retained on file so anniversary pieces match the original years on. Nothing is shown to the floor during the appointment.
The Sidwell Street flagship in the central pedestrian shopping district carries the antique floors, the Watch Lounge and the workshop. The Cowick Street shop, where Ivor and Vera started in 1950, is a three-minute walk over the Exe in St Thomas and remains a working bench too.
24 Sidwell Street
Exeter, Devon EX4 6NN
John Lewis car park (EX4 6PD), 410 bays, two minutes on foot. Buses 1B, 46, 55, 9A and F1 stop nearby. Five-minute walk from Exeter Central station.
153-154 Cowick Street
Exeter, Devon EX4 1AS
Thirty minutes of free parking directly outside the shop, or two hours at the St Thomas Precinct three minutes on foot. St Thomas station two minutes away.
Standard turnaround at the Sidwell Street workshop is three weeks. Simple jobs (a re-tipping, a chain solder, a battery) often come back faster. Complex mechanical watch movements go to specialist watchmakers offsite, which can add a fortnight. Every drop-off receives an indicative price and a turnaround estimate before work starts.
Yes. Reworking antique and inherited pieces is one of the things the top-floor bench does most. The team can melt down, cast, set, and finish at the workshop. A consultation comes first to look at the stones, the metal, the sentimental anchor points, and to agree what will and will not change. We retain the design notes on file so the family record stays with the piece.
We do. The Sidwell Street workshop carries the equipment to test metal purity and grade stones, and the antique team has 100+ years of accumulated identification experience across Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, Art Deco and mid-century pieces. Valuations are prepared on shop letterhead with photographs and a detailed gemmology note. Walk-ins welcome for single items; larger collections by appointment.
The John Lewis car park (postcode EX4 6PD) is a two-minute walk from the door. 410 public bays, charges from £3.30 for the first hour up to £15 for the full day. Cowick Street has thirty minutes of free parking directly outside the shop, or two hours at the St Thomas Precinct three minutes away on foot.
The Doble Watch Lounge runs out of the vintage room at Sidwell Street. Stock rotates; current inventory is on the @doblewatchlounge feed and on the shop floor. Every piece is serviced through the workshop before it goes out, with provenance documented. Private viewings can be booked outside opening hours for higher-value pieces.