Sixty-five pre-owned prestige watches on the floor today. Forty-three of them Rolex. Run by Ray Tilley with his father Raymond, who opened the original Tilleys on this corner in 2013 as a pawnbroker and bureau de change. Seven years ago they opened the next door through, and the jewellery and watch boutique has been there ever since. Two doors, one corner, one family.
The watch boutique. The fine jewellery cases. The bespoke chair. The buying counter through the adjoining door. Everything is run by the same family from the same Cradock Street building.
Rolex Submariner, Daytona, Datejust, Sky-Dweller, Air-King and Explorer II. Omega Seamaster and Constellation. Breitling SuperOcean and Avenger. Tudor Black Bay. Cartier Santos. Every piece on the floor has been to the bench at the back of the shop, mechanically checked and authenticated before it goes in the window. Price range from a sub three-thousand-pound vintage Air-King 5500 to a north-of-thirty-thousand Daytona 116505.
Sapphire, emerald and ruby rings. Diamond solitaires and halos. Eighteen-carat gold chains and bracelets. Dress rings and eternity bands. New stock alongside pre-loved pieces that have come in through the buying counter next door, been worked back to original condition on the bench, and re-presented on the boutique floor under our own guarantee.
Coffee or a glass of something on the chair. We talk you through the stone, the setting, the metal weight. Then the workshop does the rest. If you bring in a piece your grandmother owned, the redesign keeps every stone you walk in with. No appointment is needed for the first conversation.
Rolex, Omega, Breitling and Tag Heuer bought outright across the counter, with cash or bank transfer the same day. The buying side has been the Tilley family trade since 2013, and the FCA-regulated pawnbroking under firm reference 685941 is the older half of the business. Trade-up against a watch on the floor and both halves of the deal happen at the same address.
The first signage was yellow on black, a working high-street pawnbroker. Raymond James Tilley, his son, signed on as co-director from day one. The two of them ran the buying counter and the bureau de change together for six years.
In 2019 they opened the adjoining door, refurbished the corner with the curved window and the brass casing, and turned the second room into the fine jewellery and prestige watch boutique. The pawnbroker side stayed where it was. Today the FCA-regulated buying counter and the watch boutique sit at the same corner, behind different doors, run by the same Tilleys.
“Bought a watch online, was in lovely condition and exactly as described. Ray was great to deal with, and I'd definitely recommend Tilleys as a company.” Customer review · cited Top-Rated.Online
The boutique runs the largest pre-owned Rolex inventory in Swansea. Forty-three references on the day this was last counted, against zero from the city's chain jewellers and a single-figure stock at every other independent within thirty miles. The depth comes from the buying counter in the next room: pieces flow in through the FCA-regulated side, are inspected and authenticated on the bench, and are re-presented on the boutique floor under the boutique's own guarantee.
Tilleys is not an authorised Rolex dealer, by Rolex policy no UK independent is. But the pre-owned trade in 2026 is structurally where most of the volume sits, because the wait-list at AD jewellers for new pieces is multiple years. Walk in today, handle the watch, take it home.
The four references the boutique sees most often. Stock rotates weekly. Call ahead if you have your eye on a specific reference.
Every piece on the floor has been through the buying-side bench. Movement, case, dial and bracelet checked before it goes in the window.
Selling a Datejust to fund a Sky-Dweller. Both halves of the transaction happen across two doors at one address.
For online purchases, fully insured. Or walk in to 1 Cradock Street between half-nine and half-four and we will put it on your wrist on the counter.
The pawnbroker, bureau de change and buying counter is the older trade, opened 2013. The fine jewellery and prestige watch boutique opened in 2019 through the adjoining door. Both run by the same family, at the same address, under different domains.
Pre-owned Rolex, Omega, Breitling, Tudor and Cartier. Fine jewellery, new and pre-loved. Bespoke engagement. The chair, the bench, the curved window. NAJ member.
Pawnbroker, bureau de change, cheque cashing. We buy gold, silver, and prestige watches outright across the counter. FCA-authorised, firm reference 685941. The Tilley family trade since 2013.
If you have a specific reference in mind, ring through to the shop and we will put it under the counter until you arrive. If you are working from a sketch or an heirloom, send a photograph and a few lines. Ray or Raymond will reply, usually within the working day. No appointment is needed for the first conversation, and the coffee or the bubbly is on us.
We reply by email or phone, usually within the working day. Or call the shop direct on 01792 467 676.
1 Cradock Street
Swansea SA1 3EN
Phone · 01792 467 676
Email · contact@tilleys.co
Find us · opposite the Quadrant bus interchange, five minutes from Swansea railway station, three minutes from the indoor market.
The buying counter is through the adjoining door. The boutique is the curved-window side, brass casing, Rolex display lighting picked out behind the glass.
Saturday closes thirty minutes earlier than weekdays. Sunday closed, like the rest of the Kingsway retail strip.
Usually yes. The Submariner is the piece every customer asks for, and it is the reference our buying counter sees most often coming the other way. The catalogue rotates fast, so the honest answer is call the shop or walk in. Forty-three Rolex references were on the floor at last count.
No. No UK independent is, by Rolex policy. We are an independent specialist in pre-owned Rolex, which in 2026 is structurally where most of the volume sits anyway, because the wait-list at AD jewellers for new pieces is multiple years long. The trade-off is you walk in today, put it on your wrist, and take it home.
Yes. The buying counter is in the next room, so both halves of the trade happen at the same address with the same family. Bring your watch in with the box and papers if you have them; we will value it across the counter and put the difference against whatever is in the window.
Single-stock means sometimes no. The website pulls from the same back-of-shop stock list the floor sees, but pieces can move within the hour. If you have your eye on a specific reference, ring ahead on 01792 467 676 and we will put it under the counter until you arrive.
Yes, across the counter, FCA-authorised under firm reference 685941. Walk in with what you have, and we will value it on the spot. Same-day cash or bank transfer. The pawnbroker side has been the original family trade since 2013, six years older than the watch boutique itself.