Our story
A watch outlives everyone who sells it
That is the whole idea behind More Than Time. Whatever we hand over will still be running long after the transaction is forgotten, so the transaction had better be one worth remembering.
How it started
One collector, one watch too many
Wristly started the way most watch businesses start: one person who could not stop buying them, and eventually had to start selling them to justify the next one. The selling turned out to be the interesting part - not the margin, but the conversations, and how badly most of them were being had elsewhere.
Too many watches were being sold on the strength of a reference number and a flattering photograph. Too many sellers were being quoted one figure on the phone and a lower one across the counter. The idea was simply to do the opposite, consistently, and see whether people noticed.
They did. What grew out of it is a small, deliberately unglamorous operation working from a private premises in Llanelli: a bench, a timegrapher, a safe, and a phone that is answered by the person who bought the watch.
What we hold to
Four rules, applied to every watch
They are not printed on the wall. They are simply what happens, whether the watch is a Tudor or a Patek.
Say what is there
A description is a list of facts about a particular watch, not an advertisement for the reference. If the case has been polished, the listing says so; if a bracelet has stretch, it is measured rather than hidden in a photograph.
Check before believing
Paperwork, a familiar reference and a confident seller are not evidence. The bench is. Every watch is timed, inspected and, where it is rated for it, pressure tested before it is offered to anyone.
Price for the example
Two watches with the same reference can be worth very different sums. The price reflects this one - its condition, its set, its history - and we will show the working.
Leave the door open
A valuation you can take elsewhere, a deposit you get back if the watch is not as described, and no phone calls chasing a decision. People come back because they were allowed to leave.
How we describe a watch
Plain words, in the same order, every time
Four grades, each meaning one thing. A watch never moves up a grade because the photographs came out well.
Unworn
Protective stickers in place, bracelet never sized, never on a wrist outside the shop. If the warranty is unregistered we say so, because it matters to the next owner.
Excellent / very good
Worn and cared for. We name what is there - hairlines, a softened bevel, faint stretch - rather than calling it mint and hoping the photographs carry it.
Good / priced for condition
Mechanically sound with visible wear. Priced for what it is, described without apology, and often the best value in the vault.
Honest / patinated
Vintage, with the marks that come of being forty years old. On the right piece those marks are the value, and touching them would be vandalism.
We would rather lose a sale than oversell a watch. A watch sold too warmly comes back, and it comes back with a conversation attached that neither of us wanted.
What that means for youWho you are dealing with
Small on purpose, and reachable
Three pairs of hands touch a watch between arriving and leaving. You can speak to any of them.
Founder and buyer
The one who started the collection, does the buying, and answers the phone. Every valuation and every listing crosses this desk.
Bench and inspection
Timing, pressure testing, bracelet work and the first look at anything coming in. If it is not right, it does not get listed.
Watchmaking partners
Independent watchmakers who handle full services and movement work for our stock and our customers’ watches, with paperwork to match.
Rooted in Llanelli
We deal across the UK, but everything is handled from here in Carmarthenshire. There is no shop floor: viewings are private and by appointment, which means you get the room, the loupe and as long as you need with the watch.
Hilltop, Llanelli, SA14 8DB
Next
See how that translates into what is on the bench
Every piece in the vault was bought, checked and described by the people above. Judge us on the listings.