Charles Tearle is an international watch specialist with over 30 years’ experience in the global watch market. He joined Lyon & Turnbull as Head of Watches in 2024.
Charles Tearle is Head of Watches at Lyon & Turnbull and an internationally recognised watch specialist with more than 30 years' experience in luxury watches, vintage watches and watch auctions. He specialises in the authentication, valuation and sale of important private collections, advising collectors, estates and institutions in the UK and internationally.
Charles joined Lyon & Turnbull in 2024, bringing decades of experience gained across the London, New York and Hong Kong watch markets. Beginning his career with one of London's leading retailers of vintage and antique watches in 1990, Charles spent more than a decade studying historic and contemporary timepieces before joining Bonhams, where he established the company's watch department in the United States. He later led specialist watch departments for Antiquorum and Sotheby's in New York and Hong Kong before establishing himself as an independent consultant in rare and collectible watches.
Today, Charles advises clients on watches spanning more than three centuries of horology, from seventeenth-century pocket watches to contemporary complications. While his interests cover every period of watchmaking, he has a particular enthusiasm for watches produced during the 1950s and 1970s, an era that transformed both design and mechanical innovation.
Charles regularly researches and handles watches by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Omega, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin and many of the world's leading watchmakers. His work includes authenticating watches, assessing originality and provenance, researching historical context and advising clients on current collector demand and market trends.
He has contributed to publications including The Financial Times, The Telegraph, GQ and WatchPro, and was a regular watch specialist on the American edition of Antiques Roadshow.
