The Company of Extraordinary Companies brings together British houses concerned with jewellery, silver, objects, works of art, manufacture, restoration and long-term stewardship.

It is a parent company, but not in the ordinary corporate sense. Its purpose is not simply to hold names, assets or websites. It exists to give structure to a group of houses whose work sits around material, craft, use, history and permanence.

The houses within the company each have their own character. Sampson Mordan is concerned with jewellery, silver, invention, writing instruments, gentlemen’s objects and refined works of use. Links London is concerned with British jewellery, new works, restored archive pieces and the Links of London Vault. Roberts & Co is concerned with precious metal jewellery, hallmarking, proportion and everyday permanence. Leuchars is concerned with cases, fitted objects, travel goods, accessories and objects of presentation. English Art Works is concerned with objects, silver, jewellery, works of art and broader British making.

Together, they form a company of related disciplines rather than a collection of unrelated brands. Jewellery, silver, cases, objects, works of art and restored pieces all require a similar seriousness. They ask questions of material, proportion, surface, construction, origin, condition and use. They reward patience. They resist haste.

A Company of Houses

The word company has more than one meaning. It may describe a business, but it may also describe the people and things one keeps close. That double meaning sits naturally within The Company of Extraordinary Companies.

The company is concerned with the houses themselves, but also with the wider company they keep: makers, assayers, workshops, archives, collectors, clients, craftsmen, materials, patterns, marks and objects. A piece of jewellery or silver is rarely only a product. It is the result of many forms of knowledge, some visible and some almost hidden.

British Manufacture and Stewardship

British manufacture matters when it is more than a label. It matters when it carries accountability, standard and discipline. A piece made, restored or prepared with care should show that care in its material, its proportion, its finish and its fitness for use.

The Company of Extraordinary Companies is therefore concerned not only with new work, but with stewardship. Restoration, archive study and the careful handling of earlier pieces are part of the same standard. To restore is not to erase age. To make is not to imitate the past. To steward is to understand what should be kept, what should be clarified and what should be carried forward.

Extraordinary Company

Extraordinary Company is the editorial voice of The Company of Extraordinary Companies. It is not a news feed and not a campaign. It is a place for notes, records and observations: on British manufacture, hallmarking, materials, restoration, archive, objects and the houses themselves.

Some entries will explain a material or mark. Some will consider an object, a form, a workshop process or a house. Others will look at broader questions of British making and the responsibilities that come with it.

The aim is to build a useful public record. Quietly. Carefully. Permanently.