Boodles (company)

Boodles is a privately held British luxury jeweller and jewellery designer group founded in 1798. Boodles is a family company located in Liverpool, it also has stores in London, Manchester, Dublin and Chester. Their flagship store is found on New Bond Street, London.

Boodles
Private
IndustryLuxury goods, Jewellery
Founded1798
Headquarters
Liverpool, England
ProductsJewellery
Websitewww.boodles.com

History

Founded as Boodle and Dunthorne, the first shop opened in 1798 in Liverpool. Later, in 1910, it amalgamated with the Wainwright family, owners of another Liverpool jewellers.[1][2] The business has remained with them ever since.[3]

In 1965 Boodles opened a second store in Chester and a third one in Manchester in 1982.[4][5] Nicholas and Michael Wainwright took over from their father, Anthony Wainwright, in 1992.[6] Under their stewardship, Boodles opened several stores in London.

Boodles’ first London store opened on Brompton Road opposite Harrods. Later, they moved it to No.1 Sloane Street. Fast forward to present day, Boodles are due to launch their new showroom at No.6 Sloane Street in early 2017. Boodles’ second London store was on Regent Street, and this also moved to Bond St, which is the current Boodles flagship store.

Boodles now has nine stores including five in London: Savoy Hotel, New Bond Street, Sloane Street, The Royal Exchange and Harrods, three in North West England; (Liverpool, Chester and Manchester) and one in Dublin, Ireland.[7]

In late 2015, the Bond Street flagship showroom underwent a major expansion and renovation. It spans over 2,500 square feet and features an exclusive ‘Boodles Apartment’, a private VIP room, a specialised engagement ring area and in-house workshop, as well as an entrance onto Albemarle Street.

The family changed the company name from Boodle and Dunthorne to Boodles, and expanded the company to the brand it is today.[8] The company started selling jewellery from its website in summer 2012.[9]

Products
The Boodles Raindance Ring, selected in 2008 to appear in the Victoria and Albert Museum's permanent jewellery collection.

In its early years Boodles, was a silversmith and watchmaker along with jewellery making. During the 20th century the company provided chronographs and watches to air and naval officers. It also designed and crafted cups for sporting and non-sporting competitions including the solid gold trophy for the winner of the Grand National.[10]

In the second half of the 20th century Boodles emerged as a retailer of bespoke jewellery. The company sources diamonds and other gemstones, and designs its own range of jewellery.[11]

In 2012, the company launched an e-commerce website to sell its goods. This move was taken by the company to expand its products distribution worldwide.[12]

Famous Boodles client, Emma Thompson, at the Bond Street flagship store launch party in 2015.

Honours

In 2008, the Boodles Raindance Ring was selected to appear in the Victoria and Albert Museum's permanent jewellery collection[13] and resides there to this day.

In 2014, Boodles was chosen as the focus of Channel 4’s television documentary ‘The Million Pound Necklace: Inside Boodles’. The documentary was watched by a global audience of over 2 million and was produced by the same team behind ‘Inside Claridges’.

Events

The Boodles is a five-day tennis exhibition at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire, held in the run up to Wimbledon. The event has attracted players such as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.[14]

The Boodles Boxing Ball is a biennial charity event held at the Grosvenor Park Hotel on Park Lane in London, with all proceeds going to charities such as the Starlight Children's Foundation[15] and Cancer Research. The ball has raised a total of £1.2 million for various charities since its first event in 2002.

The Boodles May Festival is a three-day horse race and opener to the Chester Racecourse season.

The 2015 launch of the renovated Bond Street flagship store was hosted by Emma Thompson, a famous Boodles client, and catered by Hemsley+Hemsley, the celebrity chefs.

Partnerships

Boodles are one of the foremost UK retailers of respected Swiss watchmakers, Patek Philippe.

In a 2014 collaboration with Liz Earle, Boodles designed the Rose Pelargonium Necklace. Profits made from the necklace are donated to the Shining Faces’ children’s orphanage in India.[16]

In 2015, the partnership between the Royal Ballet and Boodles resulted in a jewellery collection called “Pas de Deux”. It is a collection inspired by ballet, and the translation of dance into diamond and platinum design.[17] The launch party for this collection took place in The Savoy Hotel and was attended by dancers from the Royal Ballet,[18] and the collection received a high degree of recognition and coverage. Conde Nast Contract Publishing produced a coffee table book to represent Boodles’ collaboration with The Royal Ballet, which was produced and sent exclusively to loyal clients of Boodles and some press.

For the past three years, international model and best-selling author Sophie Dahl has been the face of Boodles. In 2016, Boodles launched the ‘Sophie Collection’, a fine jewellery collection inspired by Sophie herself.

In 2016, Boodles also unveiled a new collaboration with luxury interiors brand De Gournay, consisting of a butterfly themed suite of jewellery featuring the rare yellow and cognac diamonds. The designs were incorporated into a bespoke De Gournay wallpaper design.

Boodles are members of luxury alliance, Walpole.

TV

The TV documentary “The Million Pound Necklace: Inside Boodles” was aired on Channel 4 in 2014 and is following the creation of the Greenfire Suite, a jewellery collection made of emeralds valued at £2.8 Million.[19]

gollark: Why not just directly do payments from that somehow?
gollark: So you also have to manually muck around with a tablet or something to declare how much money it should let you take?
gollark: ?
gollark: What if it makes, say, 100 transactions for 1 currency unit to get around that?
gollark: Basically payment is very hard.

References
  1. "INSPIRING INDEPENDENTS 2011, PART 1". Retail Jeweller. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  2. "Boodles of Bond Street". familybusinessplace.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012.
  3. "NWLG Clarence House sponsored by Boodles & Coutts". princes-trust.org.uk. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011.
  4. "Boodles of Chester". visit-chester.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014.
  5. "LDP Business Magazine December 2010". issuu. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  6. "Retail Species – The establishment – Michael Wainwright of Boodles". Retail Insider. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012.
  7. "Boodles Fine, Bespoke Jewellery - The Royal Exchange, London". www.boodles.com. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  8. Bulletin, The Retail. "On the shop floor with the Boodles managing director Michael Wainwright". The Retail Bulletin. Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  9. Butler, By Sarah. "Boodles jewellery to be sold online". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  10. "Liverpool jewels in V&A show". Lancashire Life. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  11. Ebrahimi, By Helia. "Boodles bucks the trend with diamond business". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  12. "British jeweler Boodles launches an e-commerce site". Digital Commerce 360. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  13. "Liverpool jewels in V&A show". Lancashire Life. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  14. "BBC SPORT | Tennis | Murray to play on Boodles' grass". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  15. Eden, By Richard. "William's former belle and Pippa are boxing clever in red". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  16. "Liz Earle teams with Boodles for necklace | Fashion Insight". www.fashioninsight.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  17. "A new collection of Boodles jewellery dances a pas de deux in diamonds". www.thejewelleryeditor.com. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  18. "Boodles and The Royal Ballet Launch Collection 'Pas de Deux' at The Savoy Hotel". planetpartys.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  19. "Review: Maria Doulton on the Channel 4 documentary The Million Pound Necklace: Inside Boodles". www.thejewelleryeditor.com. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
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