Adrian Hailwood

With a background in luxury retail and having worked discretely with private High-Net-Worth clients, I pride myself on the highest level of customer service. This, combined with an infectious enthusiasm for watches at all points of the price spectrum, allows me to help and advise you, whatever your watch requirements.


I write about watches and watch culture for both online and print publications including The Telegraph, The Financial Times, Revolution, GQ Magazine, Square Mile and The Week.

I am a presenter, trainer and keynote speaker on watches, the watch market, watch collecting and watch history and for eleven years have written and presented the UK’s only ‘Customised and Counterfeit’ watch training course.


With over 30 years of experience within the watch and jewellery industry, working for companies such as Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Mappin & Webb and seven years as Boutique Manager for Breguet, watches have been both a career and a passion for me. In 2011, I swapped the retail world for watch auctions, holding senior positions at Fellows, Woolley & Wallis and Dreweatts.


In 2020 I became ‘Employee No.1’ at Watchcollecting.com, working to adapt the existing Collecting Cars auction platform to the needs of the watch market. I recruited and led the launch team, working with the platform developers to create a new and disruptive way to buy and sell watches. We launched in March 2021 and in the first 2 years of business we sold watches totalling £40 million becoming the fastest-growing online watch auction platform in the world.


Since 2017, alongside launching and directing www.watchcollecting.com, I have worked as an independent specialist providing watch expertise across the Auction, Insurance, and Asset-Lending industries. I am a founder member of the Jewellery Valuers Association, the only independent body in the UK and Ireland for professional valuers of jewellery, gemstones, watches and silver, as one of the very few Specialist Watch Valuers in the UK. I provide rigorously researched valuations of watch collections for insurance, probate, division, or sale. I also consult privately for clients wishing to buy or sell watches and for those wishing to understand the value of the watches they own.


The subject of watches is so broad and deep that new information is continuously coming to light. It is this journey of continuous learning that makes watches exciting. I stay on top of the latest trends, research, and reports from the watch industry to ensure you receive the most current information possible. Whether researching, appraising, buying, or selling, I am keen to share my passion for watches with you.


For more information on my career history and references, go to my LinkedIn profile here.