Deacons Jewellers was opened in 1848 by George Deacon, a 26-year-old watch and clock maker who moved to Swindon to keep the new Great Western Railway on time. A hundred and seventy-seven years later the shop is still run by the same family. Richard and Sara Deacon, the 6th generation, look after two rooms: the founding shop in Old Town Swindon, and the High Street room in Marlborough. Both are Official Rolex Retailers; both hold the Rolex Certified Pre-Owned accreditation; both share an in-house Rolex Service Centre with a Geneva-trained watchmaker.
Rolex appoints relatively few independent UK shops as Official Retailers. The appointment is reviewed at intervals against stockholding, staff training, after-sales facilities and showroom standards, and is not transferable. Deacons holds the appointment AND the separate Rolex Certified Pre-Owned accreditation, AND runs an in-house Rolex Service Centre on the bench upstairs. Three accreditations, one carpet, in a building owned by the Deacon family.
The current Rolex collection is presented in the Marlborough room in the way Rolex specifies. We will book a private appointment with the manager if you prefer to see a specific reference without the room around you.
Book an appointment ↗Authenticated and re-sealed at a Rolex Service Centre. Two-year international Rolex guarantee. The green CPO seal travels with the watch. A separate Rolex accreditation; fewer dealers hold it than hold the standard Rolex appointment.
See the current CPO list ↗A watchmaker trained at the Rolex Watchmaking School in Geneva, working on the bench upstairs. Genuine Rolex parts. A full service typically four to eight weeks, returned with a five-year Rolex service guarantee.
Quote a service ↗
Deacons is one of the small number of independent UK shops appointed by Rolex to sell new watches. The current collection is in the Marlborough room, presented in the way Rolex specifies. The appointment is hard to win and easy to lose, and the Deacon family has held it for decades.
A separate Rolex accreditation, held by fewer dealers still. Each pre-owned Rolex is individually authenticated and re-sealed at a Rolex Service Centre, and ships with a two-year international Rolex guarantee. The green CPO seal travels with the watch.
Deacons runs its own Rolex Service Centre with a watchmaker trained at the Rolex Watchmaking School in Geneva. Genuine Rolex parts. A full service typically takes four to eight weeks; the watch never leaves our care while it is on the bench.
Engagement rings, wedding bands, remodelling of inherited pieces. CAD render before any metal is cut, so the ring you approve is the ring you collect. Resizing, claw rebuilding, pearl re-stringing and engraving handled by the bench team.
The story does not begin in a jewellery shop. It begins with a young Westbury-born watch and clock maker who sees the railway being laid west from Paddington and follows it to Swindon. Within two years he holds the timing contract for the GWR mainline between Paddington and Swansea. The diamonds and coloured stones come later, sourced through an agent the firm employs in Brazil.
His nephew Hubert Deacon takes the firm into the second half of the century. By 1893 Hubert is the first President of the Swindon Chamber of Commerce, and the firm supplies the Town Hall's first public clock. A second shop on Fleet Street, for china and glass, runs alongside the jewellery room. The company is incorporated as Deacon & Son (Swindon) Limited on 3 November 1913, Companies House number 00131937; the paper trail is unbroken since.
Today the rooms are run by Richard Deacon (Managing Director and Secretary) and his sister Sara Deacon (Director). Six generations under one family, three Rolex accreditations under one carpet, two rooms either side of the Marlborough Downs.
“Subcontractors to the Great Western Railway, supplying timepieces from the early 1850s until 1893.” From the firm's own history of the founding generation
A single family, six custodians, one trading name. Spelled out from the founder forwards because in 2026 it has become very rare in a market town to see the same surname above the door for nearly two hundred years.
Founder · 1848
A 26-year-old Westbury-born watch and clock maker who follows the railway to Swindon. Holds the GWR timing contract from the early 1850s.
Nephew of George · 1860s\u20131900s
Expands the firm into clocks, pocket watches and barometers. First President of the Swindon Chamber of Commerce, 1893. Supplies the Town Hall's first public clock.
Hubert\u2019s son, then his widow · 1900s\u20131929
George the younger returns from service in South Africa with the Wiltshire Yeomanry; dies of tuberculosis in 1913 aged 37. His widow Mildred Deacon (née Pakeman) runs the firm through the First World War and the 1920s.
Mildred\u2019s eldest son · 1930s\u20131960s
Trained at Butt's of Chester. Steers the firm through the Second World War and the post-war rebuild of the Old Town shop.
Jack\u2019s son · 1958\u20131998
Joins 1958, Managing Director from 1970. Opens four satellite branches (Highworth 1971, Wootton Bassett 1974, Faringdon 1976, Tetbury 1981) and rebuilds the Old Town workshop. Realises the 150th anniversary "super shop" in 1998.
Michael\u2019s children · 1991 \u2192 today
Richard as Managing Director and Secretary, Sara as Director. The two-room business today: 44-45 High Street, Marlborough, and 11-15 Wood Street, Old Town Swindon. Official Rolex Retailer, Rolex CPO, in-house Rolex Service Centre.
Official Retailer + CPO
Authorised dealer
Hi-Beat · Spring Drive
Heritage line
Carrera · Aquaracer
Single-hand
Captain Cook
PRX · Le Locle
Designer jewellery: FOPE, Picchiotti, Georg Jensen, Zedd. Montblanc pens and accessories also stocked.
A short form for an opening enquiry by email. A serious Rolex enquiry, a bespoke commission, a service quote, or an inherited piece for remodelling all land in the same inbox and are routed to the right bench. We reply within two working days; appointments at the Marlborough room are by booking and can be private out of hours on request.
44-45 High Street
Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1HQ
Phone · 01672 519955
Email · marlborough@deacons-jewellers.com
Sister room · 11-15 Wood Street, Old Town Swindon SN1 4AN · 01793 522072
Park · The Parade and Hilliers Yard car parks are a two-minute walk; on-street pay-and-display along the High Street itself
Closed Sundays and UK bank holidays. Appointments at the Marlborough room are welcome but not required; for a private viewing of a specific Rolex reference, book ahead and we will arrange the room around it.
Yes. Deacons is appointed by Rolex to sell new Rolex watches across both showrooms, Marlborough and Old Town Swindon. You can verify the appointment on the Rolex official retailer search at rolex.com. The appointment is famously selective; Rolex audits stockholding, staff training and after-sales facilities before granting and renewing it.
Both. Deacons is accredited for Rolex CPO at both rooms. Every CPO Rolex is individually authenticated and re-sealed at a Rolex Service Centre, and ships with the two-year international Rolex guarantee. The Marlborough cabinet typically rotates a small selection; we can transfer in from the Old Town showroom on request.
Typically four to eight weeks for a full service, performed by our Geneva-trained watchmaker on the in-house bench. Genuine Rolex parts throughout. We take the watch on a written estimate, agree the work with you before any bench time is booked, and return the watch with a five-year service guarantee.
Designed in the room with you, made on the in-house bench. Sonja or one of the team sketches at the counter, a CAD render comes back before any metal is cut, and the piece is made on the bench. Most commissions run six to ten weeks from first sketch to the hallmark.
Yes. Bring the piece in and leave it with us for a sketch session. The bench can usually reuse both the stones and the metal, so the new ring carries the same gold as the original. Most remodels run six to eight weeks. We document the original piece in photographs before any work begins.