About us

A useful place for watch geeks

StrapTease started as a group chat about lug widths and turned into the reference we wanted to exist: practical, independent and free.

Why we built it

Watch buying advice online tends to arrive in two flavours: marketing copy, or forum folklore. Neither helps when you are staring at a listing at 11pm trying to work out whether the case has been polished into a different shape.

So we wrote down the checks we actually use — for buying, for selling, for judging a movement or a water resistance rating — and put them next to a marketplace where enthusiasts can trade without commission, and a directory of the UK brands worth knowing about.

The site is run by a small group of collectors in the UK. We keep it free, we keep it unsponsored, and we keep the strap obsession that gave it the name.

Marketplace

Enthusiast-to-enthusiast listings with condition and set stated up front.

Buying & selling guide

Step-by-step checks for both sides of a deal, plus red flags.

Knowledge base

Movements, sizing, water resistance, care and a jargon glossary.

UK brand directory

British watchmakers by region, price bracket and speciality.

Editorial standards

Independent by default

No paid placements in the brand directory, no sponsored verdicts, no affiliate-driven rankings. If money ever changes hands, it is labelled on the page.

Flaws first

Whether it is a listing or a review, the shortcomings go near the top. It is the fastest way to build trust between strangers trading expensive objects.

Written from ownership

We only publish opinions about watches we have worn for weeks, not hours with a press sample.

Corrections in public

Spot an error in a guide or the directory? Tell us and we will fix it with a note explaining what changed.

Get in touch

Corrections, brand submissions, listing enquiries or a story pitch — one inbox for all of it.