High Jewelry Capitals - London

September 2008


London reigns

The British capital is the center of the jewelry universe

A thriving art scene, a torrent of “petro-dollars” and a population so diverse as to seem singularly global — London has all the trappings of a jewelry capital. From the pretty, shiny streets of the Mayfair district, where international brands come home to roost, to the workshops of Hatton Garden, where grizzly old goldsmiths carry on the traditions of their fathers and grandfathers, Britain’s capital city is a unique amalgam of very old and very new. The new is most visible on Mayfair’s Old and New Bond Streets, a veritable jewelers’ row, in the form of new money, much of it Russian. Whereas the 1980s saw Arab millionaires flaunt their wealth on London’s most upscale high street, this decade has seen a Russian billionaire invasion. The development has boosted the bottom lines of Asprey, Moussaieff, Garrard, De Beers and other emporiums for serious stones.

Photo by visitlondonimages/britainonview

There’s so much money floating around London at the moment that there’s plenty to go around. While global brands juggle the oligarch and oil baron business, traditional English jewelers are in the money, too, perhaps none more so than Boodles, the reincarnation of Boodle & Dunthorne, established in Liverpool in 1798 and now a standout on the London retail scene. The independent jeweler, whose flagship is located on Bond Street, rebranded itself as Boodles in 2004 and, thanks to savvy sponsorships, product innovation, superstar service and a commitment to advertising the brand, has reaped the rewards of its fresh and instantly recognizable image. Other English jewelry institutions, such as David Morris and Mappin & Webb, also continue to thrive — though perhaps slightly less so in the midst of the global economic downturn — but it’s not the amount nor the diversity of retail jewelers in London that makes the city so exciting from a jewelry perspective. It’s the local pool of talent. A density of gifted, bespoke-minded designers with retail shops of their own, including Barbara Tipple, Fiona Knapp and Jess James, keep the design bar high while prestigious training grounds like Central St. Martins ensure that the pool never lacks for an infusion of newness. Then there’s the public outreach. This past June, for the first time ever, the City Fringe Partnership organized Coutts London Jewellery Week. Sponsored by the private banking arm of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, the week saw leading jewelry names — the poster children of the ad campaign were none other than Theo Fennell, Stephen Webster and Shaun Leane — host parties, launch collections and generally toot their own horns, all in the name of publicizing London’s jewelry possibilities. No word yet on whether the sales matched the hype, but regardless, the commitment London shows to its own jewelry trade is one reason among many for why it remains at the top of the global hierarchy.

Towering heights More than 100 years after Tower Bridge was built, London is a jewelry capital, home to both independent retailers such as Boodles, whose mint green tourmaline Dragonfly necklace, £116,000, or $232,200, is shown above, and brands such as Garrard, purveyor of this 17.25-carat emerald, diamond and platinum ring, $995,000.