Articles by Kristen Wiley

My upbringing afforded me a unique opportunity: I am the only daughter of Chris Wiley, owner of Watch Chest, which happens to be one of the largest online retailers of pre-owned Rolex in the world.

I grew to appreciate and respect Rolex from a young age, growing up with my father's company since 2002.

I received a stainless and white gold Lady-Datejust for my 16th birthday and it was replaced by a different one every year until I graduated college, upgrading little by little, learning the details of the various models while my dad was subsequently placing a savings account on my wrist.

I’ve already cashed out that savings account, selling it to travel around Europe for 6 months shortly after I graduated college with a Bachelor’s degree in Art History in 2010. It was an irreplaceable life and growing experience; one that I will never be able to repay my dad for.

I worked at Watch Chest through college but once I returned from Europe it became my full-time focus. For the past six years I’ve listened to the office talk Rolex non-stop all day, have mini-lesson conversations with Glenn Rutledge the watchmaker, and have done everything from managing inventory, customer service, operations, business and web development, shipping, to quality control. I took out links for sizing and even polished a watch or two. I am now an independent contributor and Watch Chest is providing me with an avenue through this blog to share the wealth of knowledge and experiences I’ve gained throughout my time there.

What was really happening the entire time I was inside the walls of the Watch Chest office was that I was figuring out every side of how an operation like this works, the retail and business side of things. Not only was I learning about how a Rolex functions or its options and history, but I was talking to customers every day, listening to what they knew or didn’t know about Rolex and making a luxury purchase like this online. I’m ecstatic to finally be able to share what I’ve learned to help you make the most informed decision as possible when conducting a luxury purchase online or even just simply for your own enjoyment. I want to fill a void in the e-commerce side of the pre-owned luxury watch industry, where I hope to promote, add credibility, and value to it.