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Jewellers who held a single royal warrant of appointment to Queen Elizabeth II are now eagerly waiting to hear whether they will receive the equivalent seal of approval from Britain’s new monarch.
A royal warrant may be granted to a business that has supplied products or services to the British royal household for not less than five out of the past seven years. It entitles that company to use the royal coat of arms on its products, packaging, stationery, advertising, vehicles and premises.
In May, King Charles III granted the first royal warrants of his reign to 145 companies. These were drawn from just over 180 that had held a warrant to him as Prince of Wales at the time of Queen Elizabeth II’s death in September 2022. Companies receiving them included Richemont-owned Cartier, London jewellery store Bentley & Skinner, and Swiss watch and jewellery company Maissen Klosters. London-based antique jewellery specialist Wartski was one of seven businesses also granted a warrant of appointment to Queen Camilla.
However, absent from this list was Asprey, which held a warrant to British monarchs from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II. At the time, John Rigas, chair of Asprey, said in a statement: “Asprey has enjoyed the benefits of royal patronage and royal warrants for more than two centuries. Asprey is proud of its two-century association with the
British royal family which continues to this day and does not comment on
matters relating to the royal family as a matter of policy.”
Now, more than 500 companies across all sectors that held a single warrant to Queen Elizabeth II are being reviewed for new warrants, including Edinburgh jewellery house Hamilton & Inches and Australian jeweller Hardy Brothers. Successful applicants are expected to be notified later this month.
And the outcome has financial implications. David Haigh, chief executive of consultancy Brand Finance, which estimated that royal warrants contributed £212mn to the UK economy in the financial year 2023/24, says having a warrant would probably “have a 5 per cent effect” on a watch or jewellery brand’s revenue. It allows a company to charge a price premium, he explains.
Mappin & Webb, which has served all monarchs — aside from King Edward VIII, who abdicated — since receiving its first royal warrant of appointment to Queen Victoria in 1897, has already received a warrant as jewellers, goldsmiths and silversmiths to King Charles III. Its head of jewellery services, Mark Appleby, also retained his position as crown jeweller. Karl Bailey, senior manager at Mappin & Webb, says having a royal warrant has a positive impact on business, adding the announcement in May “brought it to the front of everyone’s minds again”.
Fellow UK jeweller Garrard, which received its first royal commission from Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1735, the year it was founded, also received a warrant to the King in May. Joanne Milner, chief executive of Garrard, describes it as “a huge privilege”.
“The King was ahead of his time, really, in sustainability, in terms of climate action — and a big part of the warrant is to show what you as a business are doing in that area,” she says. “We have worked so hard — it’s been top of our priority list ever since I joined [in 2016] — and I think [the warrant] is also recognition of that.”
Milner says some customers seek out Garrard because it has a royal warrant, suggesting “it gives people trust”. Research conducted by Brand Finance to coincide with last year’s coronation found that 42 per cent of British consumers considered brands with royal warrants to be “trustworthy” and of “superior quality”. About one-third — 34 per cent — regarded a warrant as a “symbol of success”, while 36 per cent saw it as something associated with a “premium brand”. More than half — 54 per cent — associated “British heritage” with this seal of approval.
Sixty-two per cent of all the British consumers surveyed said they were aware of royal warrants. However, their influence extends overseas, too. Research in 2015, by Qing Wang, professor of marketing and innovation at Warwick Business School, found that 57 per cent of Chinese consumers considered royal warrants “important” or “very important” in increasing desirability of British brands.
Milner says international clients “also attach a lot of weight to the royal warrant”, with American and Chinese customers discovering Garrard because of its royal heritage. Historic pieces that the jeweller made for royalty influence current designs: Diana, Princess of Wales’ sapphire engagement ring, now worn by Catherine, Princess of Wales, inspired the 1735 collection.
There is speculation that William, Prince of Wales will become the next royal allowed to grant warrants — it is his father, the monarch, that decides who may be a granter. For now, though, brands are concentrating on the current review.
But Haigh suggests there could be closer scrutiny of the system, itself, down the line. “If there’s a state organisation that is certifying products, and saying they are high quality and allowing them to use its intellectual property, why is it they’re allowed to do it completely free?” he asks.
“I think, under the current government, where the whole institution of monarchy is under the microscope, that has to be something that would be looked at because it always struck me as a bit strange that one of the most successful licensing programmes is given free to the people that are deemed to [have] good quality products. That wouldn’t really happen anywhere else.”
