Absolute Transparency. Complete Honesty. No Surprises.

Absolutely. We sell only authentic Rolex watches. We source our pieces through trusted relationships and contacts built over decades, from established sources around the world. Every watch is carefully selected and assessed before we offer it for sale.

There is, however, an important distinction between authenticity, originality and period correctness.

Some of our vintage Rolex watches feature customised or professionally refinished dials. The watch itself remains an authentic Rolex, but a customised dial means the watch may no longer be considered completely original by Rolex purists and collectors. We disclose this clearly. We rather like a little colour - but ultimately, you should know exactly what you are buying.

A Rolex with a customised dial doesn’t have to stay that way forever. If you later prefer a more original, period-correct appearance, a suitable genuine Rolex dial consistent with the reference and era can be sourced and professionally installed in place of the customised dial. Subject to availability, we are happy to help source an appropriate period-correct dial and assist with returning the watch to a configuration closer to its original specification.

What about replacement parts and previous servicing?

A vintage Rolex that has lived for 40, 50 or 60 years has usually also visited a watchmaker more than once.

During its lifetime, parts may have been replaced as part of routine servicing and repair. Crystals, crowns, hands, seals and other components are wear items. Historically, watches were generally serviced to keep them working rather than to preserve every component for a future collector.

This can make vintage Rolex particularly interesting - and occasionally complicated. Casebacks, for example, may carry markings or reference information that do not appear to correspond perfectly with the reference or production period of the watch. Replacement components may have been fitted during earlier servicing, including work undertaken through professional or authorised service channels. Likewise, independent watchmakers sometimes fitted compatible aftermarket crystals or other components, particularly where genuine Rolex parts were difficult to obtain.

That does not automatically make the watch non-original. But it does mean that authenticity and 100% factory originality are not necessarily the same thing.

This is why we believe in transparency rather than mythology.

If you are seriously considering one of our watches, we are happy to open it for you and provide detailed photographs of the movement, movement numbers where present, internal caseback markings, reference numbers and other relevant details. Take your time. Compare them with recognised Rolex reference material, speak to your watchmaker and do your own research. We would much rather have an informed buyer than an impressive sales pitch.

And the famous box and papers?

Ah yes -  the Holy Grail: the Full Set.

Original watch. Original box. Original papers. And, if the watch gods are feeling particularly generous, booklets, tags, purchase receipt and service history.

Whenever we find a great vintage Rolex as a genuine full set, we love it - and whenever it makes sense, we go for it. They are still out there. But we also have to deal with reality.

For much of its history, a Rolex was fundamentally a very good working watch. Oyster watches were built around robustness, water resistance and everyday use; models became associated with explorers, pilots, divers and professionals. The extraordinary luxury and status mythology surrounding Rolex today developed over time.

Someone buying a Rolex in 1963 was therefore not necessarily thinking: “Better keep this cardboard box, receipt and warranty certificate because somebody on the internet will become terribly excited about them in 60 years.”

They bought the watch. They wore it. Boxes were thrown away. Receipts disappeared. Papers were lost during house moves. Service documentation went into drawers and never came out again. That is simply part of the reality of collecting vintage watches.

Consequently, the absence of original papers does not by itself determine whether a vintage Rolex is authentic. What matters is the watch: its reference, serial number, case, movement, dial, components, condition and how all of those elements relate to its age and history. A full set is wonderful. But the watch comes first.

The curious magic of the “Full Set” and the legendary "Country Code"

And then there is the wonderful world of the Rolex Full Set. A watch that has spent 50 years entirely separated from its box, tags and accessories can, with sufficient enthusiasm and a few evenings on the internet, suddenly find itself reunited with a period-correct box, booklet, hang tag, polishing cloth and assorted Rolex paraphernalia. A touching family reunion, obviously. We simply prefer knowing whether a set actually belonged together from the beginning rather than assuming that a collection of period-correct accessories automatically creates original provenance.

Then we arrive at the magnificent obsession with country codes. In markets such as Germany, you may encounter a premium attached to watches with German-market papers - traditionally country code 100 - compared with otherwise comparable watches originally sold elsewhere. Which is fascinating, because the Rolex did not acquire a German engineering degree on arrival in Frankfurt. A Submariner sold by an authorised retailer in Sydney, Madrid or Munich ultimately left the same Swiss manufacturer. Geography may matter to collectors and provenance can certainly be interesting, but we struggle with the idea that crossing the Swiss border in one direction somehow makes the watch intrinsically superior to crossing it in another.

Want to do your own homework?

Please do. One resource we particularly like is Bob’s Watches. Their extensive Rolex reference material, including information about reference numbers, serial numbers, production periods and vintage models, is an excellent starting point for understanding what you are looking at.

Vintage Rolex collecting becomes much more interesting once you stop looking only at the name on the dial and start understanding the watch itself.

To be perfectly transparent: almost always, but it depends on the availability of the two watchmakers we trust with our watches.

As a rule, we have our watches properly serviced before offering them for sale. Occasionally, however, we find a watch we are simply too excited about to hide away at the watchmaker for weeks. If it has an older service and is running well, but we believe another service would be sensible within the next 12 months, we may offer it as it is.

After all, many of our clients genuinely know watches. Some have a trusted watchmaker of their own; others are horologists themselves. We therefore state the service status clearly in every watch description and leave the decision with you.

If you prefer, once purchased, we are also happy to arrange servicing through our watchmaker. Allow approximately three weeks before your new watch returns to your wrist.

And there is service, and there is service. We expect a watch to be properly dismantled, inspected, cleaned, lubricated, fitted with appropriate new seals, reassembled and tested - not merely opened, admired for five minutes, closed again and declared “serviced.”

No. We keep a changing selection of watches on display at The Merchants Warehouse, while the majority of our collection is kept securely in a bank safe.

Spotted one online that makes your wrist feel suddenly underdressed? Send us a message. We'll arrange a suitable time and bring the watch to The Merchants Warehouse especially for your private viewing.

Try it on. Admire it. Check it in the mirror. Look at it from several completely unnecessary angles.

Then decide.

No pressure. Just you, the watch and a potentially expensive little love affair.

Of course you have. Good on you. It’s the internet. Somewhere out there, almost everything is cheaper.

And if you enjoy the hunt, buy the watch, find the right dial, track down a good watchmaker, have it serviced and wait for all the pieces to come together - brilliant. That’s an adventure in itself.

We just start at the other end. You get the finished watch. Because the best part of owning an amazing watch is wearing the bloody thing.

That’s a bit like asking me for my favourite song. I currently have about 5,600 of those -ranging from Spandau Ballet and the Climax Blues Band to the legendary mixes of DJ Dimitri from Paris. So expecting me to settle on one watch is equally hopeless.

The problem with watches is that the moment you finally acquire your supposed dream watch, you start wondering what else is out there. And watches are about occasions.

For sailing, I’d take a steel-and-gold Rolex Submariner with a Serti dial - or, when things might get properly wet and battered, a Panerai Submersible.

For casual elegance or a formal dinner, I love the extraordinary understatement of a Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse 3738/100. Those who know, know. Everyone else simply sees a very elegant watch.

For an adventure through the Australian outback, give me a vintage Rolex Explorer. Not because I’m planning to conquer Everest on the way to Alice Springs, but because it carries that wonderful old spirit of exploration.

For a party, perhaps a Bell & Ross with a bespoke diamond-set case - because understatement occasionally deserves the evening off. Sitting on a bespoke, hand-painted leather strap depicting snakes crawling defiantly from a skull - gloriously excessive, slightly sinister and absolutely not designed for people who believe a watch should quietly disappear beneath a sensible shirt cuff.

And for every day? A vintage Rolex Datejust. Simple, stylish, dependable and almost impossible to get bored with. Or, as an all-rounder, we love the Tudor Black Bay in solid 18k gold - wonderfully robust, quietly extravagant and almost perversely understated. Pure class without the need to announce it. So my favourite watch? Ask me again tomorrow.

As lovers of craftsmanship, we are slightly suspicious of the word trend. We prefer watches that are robust, versatile and timeless - rather like a beautifully made Brioni jacket from Italy. It doesn’t suddenly lose its class because somebody on Instagram has declared something else fashionable. But if you are asking what is happening in the watch world, something interesting is going on.

For years, watches became bigger, thicker and increasingly impossible to fit underneath a shirt cuff. At the same time, collectors paid extraordinary premiums for stainless-steel sports watches - particularly the Rolex Daytona, Patek Philippe Nautilus and their various horological cousins.

Now the pendulum is swinging the other way. Smaller cases are back, classic proportions are being rediscovered, and precious metals, stone dials and jewellery-like watches are enjoying renewed attention. Recent industry coverage and secondary-market data support the move toward smaller watches and more classical designs.

And thankfully, men appear to have remembered that wearing a gold watch does not automatically turn you into Goldfinger, a rapper or a 1970s nightclub owner with highly questionable business interests.

Rolex is particularly interesting. The Perpetual 1908 represents a distinctly more classical side of the Crown: elegant proportions, precious metals and proper dress-watch character rather than another piece of equipment supposedly designed for climbing mountains, exploring caves or surviving 1,200 metres below the Atlantic.

It raises an interesting question about where Rolex goes next. The company built much of its mythology around explorers, divers, pilots and racing drivers. Yet some of its most fascinating recent pieces are pushing Rolex further into the territory of haute horlogerie and high jewellery.

Just look at the extraordinary Four Seasons Daytonas. In September 2026, four unique Rolex Daytonas in precious metals, natural-stone dials and elaborate gem-setting sold at Phillips in London for a combined $49.4 million, with the proceeds going to charity. That is rather a long way from the original Daytona being a practical stopwatch for racing drivers.

So yes, watches are becoming smaller, precious metals are fashionable again, and classic elegance is having a rather enjoyable comeback. But buy craftsmanship, not trends. A great watch should still look magnificent long after the algorithm has moved on.

I have a soft spot for Patek Philippe’s official biography by Nicolas Foulkes, and the Patek Philippe international magazines are almost artworks in their own right - beautifully produced, intelligent and wonderfully obsessive.

But my favourite reference is Stefan Friesenegger’s Everything About Fake Watches. It may sound like an unusual choice for someone who loves genuine watches, but that is precisely why it matters. It is one of the most fascinating publications on counterfeit watches and demonstrates the extraordinary level of sophistication the industry has reached. Modern fakes are no longer necessarily the laughable objects once sold from suitcases on holiday beaches.

Cases, movements, dials, engravings and even packaging can now be reproduced with remarkable precision. For anyone buying, collecting or selling modern watches, understanding the fake market is not paranoia- it is education.

A strap is to a watch what a great outfit is to its owner. Change the shape, leather, colour, stitching or texture and suddenly the same watch can look completely different—from conservative boardroom to 1970s racing driver in about two minutes.

For leather straps, we particularly like Sydney-based Artisan Straps. We admire their craftsmanship, materials, colours and bespoke service.

That said, it is your watch. Leather, steel, gold, nylon, NATO, racing strap or something wonderfully eccentric - the choice is entirely yours.

And if you are unsure, bring your watch into Liz & i. We are always happy to discuss strap combinations, colours and styles with you and help turn a watch you like into a watch that feels unmistakably yours. Sometimes the right strap is all it takes.