The UK's largest luxury watch specialist, running Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths showrooms plus Rolex and other brand boutiques.
Watches of Switzerland Group is a retailer of luxury watches and luxury jewellery. On its own website it describes itself as the leading luxury watch specialist in the UK, with a growing position in the USA. As at 3 May 2026 it had 191 showrooms across the UK and US, including 81 mono-brand boutiques (shops that sell just one watch brand), a presence at Heathrow Airport and seven retail websites. Its brands in the UK are Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths.
The group says its aim is to offer clients "the finest selection of luxury timepieces" from major and independent brands. Its history runs long: Watches of Switzerland began in 1924 as a mail-order business, G & M Lane, on Ludgate Hill in London. Mappin & Webb dates from 1775 and was relaunched in 2016, and it has held a Royal Warrant since 1897, when Queen Victoria granted the first. Goldsmiths dates from 1778 and began in Newcastle, and it became a Rolex agency in 1919, a partnership the group marked as a centenary in 2019.
In the UK, Watches of Switzerland showrooms are in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, Brighton and Cardiff, and at Heathrow. Mappin & Webb has showrooms in Manchester, Glasgow, the Gleneagles Hotel and London, including Regent Street. Goldsmiths has showrooms in cities such as Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Liverpool and Glasgow, and a new showroom design rolled out from 2021 in places such as Leicester, Reading and Braehead. The group also runs Rolex boutiques in the UK and has mono-brand shops for OMEGA, TAG Heuer, Breitling, TUDOR, Grand Seiko and BVLGARI.
People and culture are a point of pride in the group's own description. Mark Appleby, the Master Craftsman at Mappin & Webb, was appointed Crown Jeweller in 2017 and worked on the late Queen's State Funeral and on adjustments to the crown for King Charles III's coronation. Mono-brand boutiques are designed to show each brand's own character, so staff learn the stories and the technical detail of the brands they sell. The group's main page did not state a head office or staff total, so we have not given one.
The group needs many roles: showroom sales advisers and managers who know the watches and talk with clients, watchmakers and service staff, jewellery and craft specialists, buyers who work with the watch brands, visual merchandising, marketing and e-commerce teams, and finance, property and customer-care staff. If you like mechanical objects, craftsmanship, customer service or luxury retail, the group is a UK-wide example of how those interests become careers.
Website: www.thewosgroupplc.com
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