Lieblingsstück

Lieblingsstück is a small watch and jewellery shop at Bahnhofstrasse 16 in Dietikon (8953), on the western edge of the Zürich agglomeration and a reasonable trip from Zürich HB by S-Bahn. For a newcomer settled on that side of town rather than in the city centre, it's a genuine local option: a family-style bijouterie rather than a chain outlet, run today by owner Malaika Weber, the kind of shop where you deal with the same person each visit rather than rotating staff.

The site's own copy describes Lieblingsstück as carrying on an 80-year Ehrler family dynasty and claims more than 40 years of specific expertise in watches and jewellery. Directory listings, and a Swiss commercial register entry found via search (the register page itself returned a 403 when opened directly, so this comes from the indexed snippet rather than the page itself), record the trading entity as Lieblingsstück Uhren-Schmuck-Geschenke Heimgartner Weber, a sole proprietorship, with Weber named as the sole owner everywhere the business turns up online. None of this contradicts the heritage story, a shop's trading name and ownership can change hands within a trade over decades, but the Ehrler name doesn't surface anywhere outside that one line of marketing copy, so it's worth reading as the shop's own account of its history rather than a documented lineage you can verify further.

What's on offer, in the shop's own words, is watches, jewellery, pearls and gifts (Uhren, Schmuck, Perlen, Geschenke). The site is explicit that most of its stock comes from small independent ateliers rather than mass production, framed as hand-selected favourites rather than a catalogue you'd find in every shopping centre. It also states that its suppliers manufacture in Switzerland, though it doesn't name which suppliers or which product lines that covers.

The strongest lead for a reader planning an engagement ring is the shop's custom-work offer. Under a section headed "Individualisierbar," the site says it will realise your own idea using its in-house gold and silversmiths, made specially and individually to order. That's real manufacturing capacity on site, not a middleman relationship with an outside workshop, which is exactly what a commissioned ring needs. What the site does not do is name engagement or bridal rings anywhere in its own text: the categories it lists are watches, jewellery, pearls and gifts in general, with no separate bridal or Trauringe section. That's not a red flag on its own, plenty of small ateliers work case by case rather than running a dedicated bridal page, but it does mean you should call or email before assuming a commissioned engagement ring is routine work for them rather than an unusual request.

Alongside retail and commissions, the shop also buys old gold: jewellery, coins and watches, including damaged pieces, spanning 9 to 18 karat, paid in cash at what it calls the day's top rate. It offers home visits on request for that service, or you can send items by registered mail or bring them into the shop yourself. It's a side line rather than the main business, but it's a reasonable sign of a shop confident enough in its own valuation skills to buy as well as sell, and it points at real in-house expertise beyond straightforward retail.

How it's organised

Lieblingsstück is a single storefront with an informational website rather than an online shop: there's no e-commerce, no published price list and no way to browse stock remotely. Contact is by phone or by a gmx.ch email address, meinlieblingsstueck@gmx.ch, which fits the picture of a small owner-run business rather than a corporate retail chain. Opening hours are published clearly: closed Sundays and Mondays, open Tuesday to Friday from 09.15 to 12.15 and again from 13.30 to 18.15, and Saturday mornings from 09.15 to 15.00. That midday closure is standard for small Swiss shops outside the big-city core, worth building into your plan if you're coming in from further down the valley.

The shop appears in Tissot's own dealer directory, listed among the over 200 jewellers and partner businesses the brand names as official dealers, which is a concrete external check that this isn't a fly-by-night operation. On search.ch, the listing carries a 4.9 out of 5 rating from 7 reviews, a small sample but a consistently strong one, and other regional bijouterie-comparison directories carry similarly favourable ratings for the same address. None of this substitutes for visiting yourself, but it's a consistent picture across independent sources rather than a single glowing review planted somewhere.

How it compares and who it suits

Within the Baden, Wettingen and Limmattal grouping, several of the standout names sit in Baden's old town itself, a longer trip if you're based in Dietikon, Schlieren or further down the valley. Lieblingsstück's appeal is convenience for that western slice of the agglomeration plus a genuine in-house workshop, rather than the kind of long, documented pedigree some of the Baden shops can point to. It suits a reader who wants a personal, small-shop relationship for a custom piece and doesn't need an English-language storefront to feel comfortable, since none of the site is offered in English and there's no indication staff work in anything other than German day to day. If English service matters to you, confirm it by phone before booking a consultation.

For someone new to Zürich weighing this shop against others, the gaps matter as much as what's published. There are no prices anywhere on the site for a commissioned piece, no stated lead time for custom gold and silversmith work, and nothing about resizing or after-sales once a ring is delivered. None of that means the shop can't offer these things; small workshops with their own goldsmiths usually can. It just means you should ask directly rather than assume, and get whatever you're told in writing before committing. There's also nothing on the site about shipping or customs for anyone ordering from outside Switzerland or planning to take a piece abroad later; this reads as a walk-in local shop built for customers already in the area, not a business set up for remote or international orders.

The verdict

Lieblingsstück is a credible, well-regarded small jeweller with genuine in-house custom-making capacity and a confirmed dealer relationship with at least one recognised watch brand, in a location that's genuinely convenient if you live on the Limmattal side of Zürich rather than in the centre. The caveats are mostly about what isn't published rather than anything wrong with the business: no prices, no lead times, no explicit bridal-ring language on the site, and no English version to lean on. Call or email before you commission anything, but between the working in-house workshop, the karat range it's confident enough to buy in, its dealer status with Tissot and consistently strong small-sample ratings, there's enough here to make that call worth making.