Asprey

Asprey is a United Kingdom-based designer, manufacturer and retailer of jewellery, silverware, home goods, leather goods, timepieces, and books.

With its flagship retail store located in Mayfair, London, Asprey is a luxury retailer for royal and celebrity clients. It has held a Royal Warrant from the Prince of Wales and collaborated with Formula 1 on product lines.

Asprey was established in England in Mitcham, Surrey, in 1781. Founded as a silk printing business by William Asprey, a descendant of a Huguenot family who fled France during Louis XIV's reign, it soon became a luxury emporium. In 1841, William Asprey's elder son Charles went into partnership with a stationer located on London's Bond Street. In 1847, the family broke with this partner and moved into 167 New Bond Street.

From its central London location, Asprey advertised "articles of exclusive design and high quality, whether for personal adornment or personal accompaniment and to endow with richness and beauty the table and homes of people of refinement and discernment". An early speciality was dressing cases. Asprey crafted traditional cases and designs, mostly in leather, suitable for the new style of travel ushered in by railways. The main competitors at the time were H.J. Cave & Sons. Asprey was recognised for its expertise when it won honourable mention for its dressing cases at the International Exhibition of 1862, but it ultimately lost out to its rivals, H.J. Cave & Sons, in both 1862 and 1867.

The company consolidated its position through acquisitions. In 1859, Asprey absorbed Edwards, a maker of dressing cases and holder of a Royal Warrant. Soon after the merger, Asprey would lose this warrant. The company also purchased the Alfred Club at 22 Albemarle Street, which backed on to the New Bond Street store and meant that Asprey now had entrances on two of London's most fashionable streets. Asprey acquired the case makers Leuchars & Son with their shop at 38–39 Piccadilly, which closed in 1902.

As the business grew, the company acquired manufacturing facilities and hired silversmiths, goldsmiths, jewellers and watchmakers including Ernest Betjeman, the father of the distinguished poet John Betjeman, one of the most highly regarded craftsman and designers of his day. In the 1920s, commissions poured in from around the world, from American billionaire J. Pierpont Morgan to potentates such as the Maharaja of Patiala, who commissioned a huge teak travelling trunk for each of his wives, in which each trunk was fitted with solid silver washing and bathing utensils with waterspouts of ornate tiger head and lined with blue velvet. Queen Mary purchased a five-strand natural pearl necklace with a diamond-set Art Deco clasp in 1948, as a gift for Princess Margaret’s 18th birthday. The necklace featured in many iconic portraits by Sir Cecil Beaton. Asprey cigarette cases became collectable amongst young sophisticates who delighted in its other modern products, including travel clocks, safety razors and automatic pencil sharpeners.

In the 1970s, brothers Algernon and Harry Asprey were asked to resign as managing directors and they sold their shares to Gabriel Harrison's property company. These shares were eventually acquired by Alfred Dunhill Limited (who were 50% owned by Rothmans International) in January 1979, giving them a 7% share in the company. In June 1979, Dunhill acquired another 23% of the company from the Philip Asprey family and in April 1980 bought 6.8% more from the same part of the family, increasing their stake to 36.8%. Dunhill, together with South African businessman Anton Rupert and Mahdi Al Tajir, wished to acquire more of the Asprey family shares but John Asprey, the largest shareholder, held out and eventually, with the assistance of Morgan, Grenfell & Co., was able to outbid Dunhill to acquire shares from family trusts and retain ownership of 50.4% of the company within the family. In 1981, the company was listed on the Unlisted Securities Market.

In July 1990, Sears plc, who at the time held a 25% interest in Asprey, sold Mappin & Webb and Garrard & Co to Asprey, increasing their interest to 38.5% in the expanded group. Naim Attallah became joint managing director in 1990. In 1992, they continued the acquisition strategy and in April they acquired Edinburgh-based Hamilton & Inches for £1.3 million; Watches of Switzerland from H. Samuel for £23.2 million in June and in November 1992, they took over the UK distribution business of Ebel watches. In 1993, they acquired the business assets and name of Swiss jeweller, Les Ambassadeurs for £11 million. Attalah became group chief executive following some structural changes.