Products Jewellery Headquarters Liverpool, United Kingdom Type of business Private | Website www.boodles.com Founded 1798 | |
Industry Luxury goods, Jewellery CEO Michael Wainwright (1992–) Profiles | ||
Boodles is a privately held British luxury jeweller and jewellery designer founded in 1798. A family company from Liverpool, it also has stores in London, Manchester, Dublin and Chester. Their flagship store is found on New Bond Street, London.
Contents
History
Founded as Boodle and Dunthorne, Boodles dates from 1798 when its first shop opened in Liverpool. In 1910 it amalgamated with the Wainwright family, owners of another Liverpool jewellers. The business has remained with them ever since.
In 1965 Boodles opened a second store in Chester and a third one in Manchester in 1982. Nicholas and Michael Wainwright took over from their father, Anthony Wainwright, in 1992. Under their stewardship, Boodles has opened several stores in London.
Boodles’ first London store opened on Brompton Road opposite Harrods – this then moved to No.1 Sloane Street. Fast forward to present day, and 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, now the Boodles flagship.
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; (Manchester, Liverpool and Chester) and one in Dublin, Ireland.
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 grew the company to the brand it is today. The company started selling jewellery from its website in summer 2012.
Products
In its early years Boodles, as well as making jewellery, was a silversmith and watchmaker. 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.
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.
Honours
In 2008, the Boodles Raindance Ring was selected to appear in the Victoria and Albert Museum's permanent jewellery collection 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.
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 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.
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. The launch party for this collection took place in The Savoy Hotel and was attended by dancers from the Royal Ballet, 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.