Behind Closed Doors Asprey

Honoured by monarchs and admired for its quality all over the world, the brand still puts craftsmanship at the heart of everything it does

- Gillian Welsh

Bond Street: the most exclusive shopping destination in the UK. Sleek cars with blacked-out windows pull up outside Chanel, Hermès, Dior and the dozens of other global big cats this street is famed for. And it’s not just serious shoppers with serious money to burn who come here: tourists and window-shoppers stroll down this magical Mayfair retail runway too, hardly believing their eyes at the treasures on display.

One store that has long been at the heart of all this glittering luxury is Asprey. The business has been around since 1781, when its founder, William Asprey, set up as a silk printer in Mitcham, Surrey. By the middle of the 19th century, his descendants had expanded their range and had an emporium devoted to the finest handmade homewares in New Bond Street. Their early advertisements promised “articles of exclusive design and high quality, whether for personal adornment or ... to endow with richness and beauty the table and home of people of refinement and discernment.” Queen Victoria was a fan, awarding it a Royal Warrant in the 1860s.

Asprey has been here ever since. These days, its flagship store has a strongly modern open-plan interior, spreading across a generous 2,000m² of prime retail floor space. It wasn’t always like this, however: the company has been through someting of a reinvention in recent years, as tough economic times forced it to shake off the cobwebs and embrace a new shopping culture, and to refocus on the heart of the business, namely its reputation for uncompromising quality and unique design.