Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Winter 2014 - (Page 76)

TRADITION UPSTAIR S, DOWNSTAIR S Clockwise from top right: Hard at work in the jewelry workshop above the Asprey customer showroom; outside the Bond Street headquarters; inside the Norman Foster-designed shop. HIDDEN GEMS THE SECRET WORKSHOPS ABOVE LONDON'S GLAMOROUS ASPREY SHOP ARE WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS S Sir Norman Foster 's 2004 $80 million transformation of the Asprey flagship in London was widely hailed as a marvelous feat of architecture. But behind the façade of 167 New Bond St. is something just as special if rarely viewed, even by the aristocratic families who have been frequenting Asprey for generations. Four floors up, above the retail showrooms housing sterling silver, jewelry and handbags, the sound is not one of clinking crystal champagne flutes but the hammering of base metal upon silver. In contrast to the elegant Georgian-era floors below, up here the doorways 76 W W W. R I T Z C A R LT O N . C O M become unimposing and the ceilings lower, leading to an attic-level labyrinth of workshops. Tucked within are master silversmiths, jewelers and artisans - a cache of craftsmanship widely regarded as the company's most-prized asset. In the past, every Bond Street jeweler and silversmith boasted its own series of workshops above the store. Today it is only Asprey that still operates this way. Andrew Harrison, a silversmith of 35 years, puts down the sterling silver mini safe complete with combination lock that he has been painstakingly creating. His worn hands are marked with the indelible purple stains that come with decades of silver fillings seeping under the skin. He points to a bank of traditional tools that have been sitting in the same place since the 1920s. "You wouldn't be able to buy tools like those anymore," he says. They are known as "stakes," and although they appear identical to the untrained eye, Harrison explains that each has a specific purpose, such as the instrument used just once a year on the Aviva Premiership Rugby Trophy. "These are the glass eyes that were once used in oldfashioned teddy bears," remarks his colleague Timothy Burtwell, who with surgical precision adds them to solid silver animal heads - stags, badgers, foxes and corgis that will become ornamental stoppers on Asprey's crystal decanters. Beyond the silversmith chambers comes a warren of rooms dedicated to leather. There's a hub of activity surrounding the embossing machines. Della Richmond explains that with embossing "you only get one shot." Interestingly, though, it isn't leather goods that pose the problem - personalized playing cards, she says, are the "trickiest." Finally, one arrives at the workshop of jewelers Audrey Le Grand and Stuart Greig , who are currently working on "Chaos," Asprey's newest fine jewelry collection, so named because of the eclectic assortment of cuts and colors of precious stones. Today is Thursday, and Le Grand is under deadline. The first set in the collection, made of tourmalines and white diamonds set in platinum, is due Monday, so the pressure is on. But finish it she will, as per the Asprey motto that's wellknown among its craftspeople: "It Can Be Done." http://WWW.RITZCARLTON.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Winter 2014

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Winter 2014
Contents
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
President’s Letter
Falling in Love With ... Bangalore
Design
Shopping
Gifts
Beauty
Jewelry
Watches
Tradition
Behind the Scenes
Family
Local Knowledge
Outdoors

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Winter 2014