William Son

William & Son Gets a Makeover

Last spring I wrote about William & Son (above), the boutique London luxury goods firm founded by William Asprey after Asprey of London, the family business, was sold off back in the '90s. While William & Son hearkened back to the traditions established by Asprey in days gone by, including a bespoke gun department taking the place of Asprey's own which was closed down, William has conceded to a bit of modernization. His firm's Mayfair premises have just been revamped while the business as a whole has been "re-branded." The store's interior has been redone in an "elegantly modern" style, wihtout detracting from the classic and timeless nature of the firm's beautiful offerings, from diamond rings to 12-gauges. See the gallery for pix.

Gallery: William & Son

Tags: Asprey, London, Mayfair, William Asprey, William Son, WilliamAsprey, WilliamSon

Last Shotguns Ever Made by Asprey Fetch Over $100,000

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Sports

Two of the very last shotguns ever produced by 200-year-old London luxury goods firm Asprey were sold at Christie's in London Wednesday for over $120,000. The exceptionally exquisite firearms, included in the auction house's Fine Sporting Guns and Rifles sale, "mark the end of a tradition of impeccably executed gun craft," Christie's notes. Asprey, supplier to the aristocracy and longtime holder of Royal Warrants, closed its gunrooms for good in 1996 shortly after these final pieces were made when the company was acquired by Prince Jefri of Brunei. Prince Charles and George Bush both own Asprey shotguns similar to the ones featured in the sale.

Although Asprey guns are a thing of the past, Asprey scion William Asprey is carrying on the family's sporting tradition at his new firm, William & Son. As we reported previously, he is not allowed to use the Asprey name in trade. William opened his own gunroom at his company's Mayfair premises and is now selling equally impressive pieces. Also hammered down in the Christie's sale were a pair of 12-bore double-barreled shotguns made by Holland & Holland in 1976, for $118,000; a 1969 .375 magnum double-barreled rifle, also by Holland & Holland, for $94,000; a double-barreled 1906 sporting rifle by Purdey, for $31,000; and a modern 12-bore Beretta shotgun, $16,000, all with beautiful engraving and woodwork.

Gallery: Sporting Guns Sale

Holland & Holland double-barreled .375 magnum rifle.

A pair of 12-bore double-barreled Holland & Holland shotguns.

Source

Tags: Asprey, Beretta, Brunei, Christies, Holland Holland, HollandHolland, Hunting, London, Prince Charles, PrinceCharles, Purdey, Royal warrant, RoyalWarrant, Safari, Shooting, Shotguns, Sporting guns, SportingGuns, William Son, WilliamSon

Will the Real Asprey Please Stand Up?

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Jewelry, Sports, Men's Style

It's one of the economic vagaries of the business that storied British luxury goods firm Asprey of London no longer has any connection (save an historical one) with the actual Asprey family. After the 200-year-old company was sold to Prince Jeffri of Brunei in the '90s, family scion William Asprey decided to start his own firm catering to the aristocratic trade (Asprey had long held royal warrants). However, he discovered to his dismay that he was no longer entitled to the use of his own last name; while Prince Jefri subsequently unloaded Asprey to a hedge fund, William opened a beautiful shop in London's Mayfair under the name William & Son.

Under its new owners Asprey has gone in an increasingly fashionable direction, and while producing some beautiful things it has suffered financial setbacks from over-enthusiastic expansion. William & Son by contrast hearkens back to Asprey's traditional roots, and still maintains an air of clubby exclusivity in its Mayfair premises (pictured above), which stocks high-end jewelry, silver, watches, leathergoods, china and crystal. A key facet of the business is its bespoke service, which will basically fashion anything you like in whatever precious material strikes your fancy as long as you can afford it. More recently William added an adjacent gun room, where beautiful silver-inlaid shotguns can now be had for $100,000 and up. He is certainly following through on his promise to "maintain his family's reputation in the historic splendour of No. 10 Mount Street." And what's in a name, after all?

Gallery: William & Son, London