One of the oldest family businesses in Salisbury, trading from the same shop since William Carter opened his door in 1817. Five families on, run by Sebastian and Charlotte Salt, we still design and remake jewellery, repair watches and clocks at the bench, engrave silver, and look after the city’s own plate.
William Carter, a clock and watch maker who had come from London, bought the stock of William Bennett of the Market-place and opened at 3 Minster Street. He promised that all sorts of clocks and watches would be carefully and expeditiously repaired, and kept in repair by the year. The shop has been here ever since.
When William and Ann Carter died in the cholera outbreak of 1854, their son carried it on. In 1877 the shop took 5 Minster Street next door. It has passed from the Carters to the Holderness Carters to the Holmes family and now to the Salts, but it has never moved and never stopped trading. In 2017 it turned two hundred.
“William Carter most respectfully informs the inhabitants of Salisbury and its vicinity that all sorts of clocks and watches are carefully and expeditiously repaired, and clocks wound and kept in repair by the year.” The original notice · March 1817
New and antique jewellery, and pieces designed and made to commission. Bring in a ring you never wear or stones in a drawer and we remodel them into something worn again. The same bench made a bespoke brooch for the Duchess of Edinburgh.
The trade William Carter opened on in 1817, still done here. Mechanical movements stripped, cleaned, re-oiled and regulated, vintage and antique clocks brought back to time, batteries and straps while you wait. Not just a battery swap.
Tankards, hip flasks, trophies, signet rings and presentation silver, engraved by hand and by machine. We have engraved for the Armed Forces and for royalty, and we look after the City of Salisbury’s own civic silverware.
Written valuations for insurance, open market or probate, each one the right document for the reason you need it. Pearls and beads restrung, and pre-owned and antique jewellery, clocks and watches bought and sold over the counter.
The shop was a clock and watch maker before it was anything else, and that work still happens here. A regulator clock from the early 1800s hangs on the wall and keeps the shop to time. Most of what comes across the bench is mechanical, and mechanical means more than a battery.
A short note to start the conversation, no obligation. The real work happens at the counter once we can see the piece in person. Or just phone 01722 324340 and ask.
3-5 Minster Street
Salisbury SP1 1TB
Phone · 01722 324340
Email · info@wcarterandson.co.uk
We are on Minster Street in the heart of Salisbury, beside the Poultry Cross and next to the Haunch of Venison, one of the oldest pubs in England. The Cathedral and the market square are a few minutes’ walk away.
ORIAU AGOR · OPENING HOURSOpen Monday to Saturday, with the longest day on Saturday. Closed Sundays.
Yes, it is the craft the shop opened on in 1817. We service mechanical movements properly, stripping, cleaning, re-oiling and regulating them, and we look after vintage and antique clocks as well as everyday watches. Bring it to 3-5 Minster Street and we will talk through the work and timing first.
That is a good deal of what we do. Bring in the piece, the stones, or just a picture of an idea, and we design something worn again. The same bench made a bespoke brooch for the Duchess of Edinburgh, and most weeks it is remaking a ring or a brooch that had been sitting in a drawer.
Yes, by hand and by machine. Tankards, hip flasks, signet rings, trophies and presentation silver. We have engraved for the Armed Forces and for royalty over the years, and we have looked after the City of Salisbury’s civic silverware for at least fifty years.
Yes. Insurance replacement, open market and probate are three different figures and three different documents, so we write the one your situation calls for, with photographs and a full description. Sebastian Salt is a Fellow of the Gemmological Association.
We do, over the counter. Pre-owned and antique jewellery, clocks and watches bought and sold. Call in to 3-5 Minster Street or phone 01722 324340 and we will take a look.