A Mayfair luxury house founded in 1781 that sells jewellery, silver, leather goods and homeware, with its own London workshops.
Asprey is a London luxury house that sells jewellery, silverware, leather goods and handbags, watches, china, crystal, home goods and books. Its London workshops employ silversmiths, goldsmiths, jewellers, leatherworkers, engravers and watchmakers, and repairs and alterations can often be done while the customer waits. In the past its shops sold everything from fine bookbinding to scented bath soap in its purple packaging, and a 2019 article called it "the ultimate gift shop".
William Asprey founded the business in 1781 in Mitcham, Surrey, as a silk printing business. In 1847 the family moved into 167 New Bond Street, which became its flagship. Queen Victoria granted a Royal Warrant in 1862 and Edward VII another in 1889; today it holds a warrant as silversmiths and goldsmiths under the patronage of the Prince of Wales. We did not find a modern mission statement from the company in the sources we read.
In the UK, Asprey is headquartered in London. Wikipedia says the flagship moved to 36 Bruton Street in Mayfair at the end of 2021, when Asprey left New Bond Street. The 2019 article we also read still places the flagship at 167 New Bond Street, so check which is current. The same article says William & Son, a separate firm founded by John Asprey's son William in 1999, now trades on Bruton Street and sells independent watchmakers such as F.P. Journe. Wikipedia lists 13 points of sale across the UK, US, Switzerland and Japan.
The sources give a good picture of the company's craft and watch links, though little about day-to-day culture. In the 1970s cousins John and Maurice Asprey made the shop a destination for wealthy visitors, and in the 1980s and 1990s it commissioned clocks and tourbillon wristwatches from independent makers such as F.P. Journe and Daniel Roth. It was also a prominent supplier of Rolex watches carrying the Omani khanjar emblem. The 2019 article names Asprey as a Rolex retailer.
A house like this needs craftspeople, retail and client advisers, buyers for jewellery, watches and leather, designers, and visual merchandising, marketing, e-commerce and finance staff. The mix of workshop trades, such as silversmithing, engraving and watchmaking, and luxury retail makes it a useful case study if you want to understand how a heritage maker works in modern London.
Website: www.asprey.com
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