Who We Are

I'm Charles Oliver Burns, founder of WatchMarketplace. You may know me from Series 13 of BBC's The Apprentice in 2017, and in 2015 I was named a WatchPro Retail Titan alongside some of the industry's leading names.

Watches really are in my DNA. Both of my grandfathers were working watchmakers, a lineage you rarely find outside Switzerland. Arthur Kay & Bro has been part of Manchester since 1897, 130 years of history that we're proud to be custodians of. My grandfather, Joel Burns, bought the business from its founding family in 1969, and today my father runs it. As the third generation, I branched out to create WatchMarketplace, a dedicated luxury watch dealer for the modern collector.

We pair traditional family-jeweller values of honesty, trust and personal service with fast access to the world's most sought-after timepieces, from new unworn examples to rare vintage pieces. Every watch is checked by our master watchmakers and comes with a 24-month movement warranty, even after the manufacturer's warranty has expired.