I am sooo not a client for Wristcheck — I’ve been wearing the same Casio Vintage Illuminator (they first came out in ’74) for decades and never take it off. But it was still a hoot to chat with these guys and, of course, gawk at the merch — I recommend stopping by even if you’re not planning to shell out tens of thousands for a time piece. There are free, branded condoms in the foyer.

The space is not a traditional retail store — it’s more of a lounge or showroom where collectors can view, try on, buy, sell and authenticate high-end watches (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Cartier and more).

The company was founded in 2020 in Hong Kong by Austen Chu and Sean Wong, who shared an obsession with watches and the watch market. In 2016, when he was 18, Chu founded an Instagram account where he celebrated classic watches; by 2019 he became the first collector to collaborate with Audemars Piguet for a commercial watch release. He was frustrated at a lack of safe, secure and transparent watch platforms — he had been burned many times — so when he met Wong, a senior vice president at Hypebeast who spearheaded the company’s e-commerce and retail arm, they cooked up the idea to create a new — and trusted –watch marketplace. (Chu has been on the LVMH Watch Prize committee and the FHH Cultural Council and in Forbes 30 under 30.)

“You know when you love something so much, you’re also thinking about it subconsciously when you’re asleep?” Chu told CNBC Make It. “I was 15, I fell into the rabbit hole of researching, spending every waking second basically reading online and learning about watches.”

There are watches on the website listing for $120,000 — the ones that say “enquire now” I assume get up to the millions. Jay Z is an investor, among other high-wattage folks. The make a fixed rate of 6 to 12 percent from the seller and the buyer — far lower percentages than auction houses, for example — and they authenticate each piece.

They opened a flagship store in Hong Kong in 2021; there’s one in Macau and now us.

Part of their approach is no wait list, no bundling — a technique the watch market turned to in order to unload less valuable pieces. “We have it with a premium market rate, and if we don’t have it, we can probably source it,” Bria Sutton explained in the store.

They have an authenticator and vintage expert on hand, Connor Shah, who evaluates all pieces that come in — looking to see if someone switched out the dial to increase value, or if it’s not running well, it’s no longer waterproof, if the condition doesn’t match what the seller promised. He was always into shiny things, he said, and started a jewelry company while he was at Rutgers. He then moved into watches full time.

They all seem to love the gig.

“There’s no other industry where something so valuable can be this small,” Bria said. Her favorite is the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Steel Celebration Dial in 34mm, below. “You can be looking at a watch that costs $2 million and fits in the palm of your hand.”

Oh, and the condoms? That’s a play on the “finger cots” that watchmakers use to protect delicate watch components — jokingly called finger condoms. Wristcheck supplies those for clients along with microfiber cloths, alcohol wipes and real condoms, each individually wrapped in a bowl at the entrance. And they come with wink-wink phrases — “Use Before Screwing,” “Size Doesn’t Matter,” “Keep It Clean” and “For a Smooth Finish.”

“The bigger message behind the concept is that you should always ‘stay safe’ when buying on the secondary market and ‘know who you’re dealing with,’ especially in an industry where trust, transparency and authenticity are everything,” Bria said. “It’s definitely a little out there, but that’s also very much part of our brand DNA. We want to bring a fun, memorable experience to luxury watches and remind people that this world doesn’t always have to feel so serious or strictly transactional.”

Wristcheck
18 Harrison | Greenwich and West Broadway
Tuesday to Saturday: 11a to 7p
917-388-2377
tribeca@wristcheck.com