What’s Inside?
This Autumn, Thomas Lyte opens its flagship store in the Burlington Arcade, Mayfair. Arranged over three floors the Thomas Lyte temple of luxury pays homage to English craftsmanship in leather and silver, at its finest.
Our current window campaign features the Thomas Lyte receipt envelops in an array of colours.
Whilst our shop fit is underway and to keep prying eyes at bay we decided to wrap the store in Thomas Lyte coveted leather envelopes. In the lead up to the hotly anticipated launch we are having a little fun and running a weekly competition through twitter. Each Monday we will give three clues along with a question on twitter. Followers will have until Friday to answer the question and win the prize. And as we are feeling particularly generous this season entrants have the chance of winning a stunning gift from the Thomas Lyte collection with items ranging from £75.00 – £1500.
This competition launches on Monday 19th July.
For your chance to win, log onto Thomas Lyte on twitter for daily clues, www.twitter.com/thomaslyte
The Thomas Lyte Temple of Luxury
Once inside the store, the ground floor is devoted to a stunning collection of ladies bags, modern leather accessories and lifestyle pieces. Descending to the lower ground floor you enter a matt black club room introducing you to the men’s universe. Amongst great leather tote bags, stunning leather luggage the club room presents some of the most sublime sporting silver trophies straight from the Thomas Lyte Silver workshops.
The store’s first floor will be the private client suite, accessible by appointment only. The store’s interior scheme is based on a concept of ‘heritage with a modern twist’ which reflects the strong Arts and Crafts values of Thomas Lyte. The exciting new space is navigated by following dramatic floral streams which have been extracted from the Thomas Lyte logo. Throughout the space there are subtle but quirky details to discover , like the deep buttoned leather window beds with silver stalks which hold classic silver salvers which act as ‘display trays’. Incredibly all these silver salvers are made at the Thomas Lyte Silver workshops. The store has been designed by leading edge interiors agency, ‘i-am’ associates.
Thomas Lyte 12-13 Burlington Arcade, Mayfair, London
- Thomas Lyte Men’s Floor
‘When we launched Thomas Lyte in 2007, it represented the dawning of a new type of luxury, where fine craftsmanship and great workmanship have a central role in producing modern, but distinctly English, accessories. We own and manage our own workshops and the Mayfair store is a small step in challenging the preconceptions of modern English luxury. The original concepts of luxury were born out of the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement that valued products which were bespoke, individual, handmade and of exquisite quality. The consequence of this ‘craft’ philosophy being replaced with a ‘bottom-line’ philosophy has meant luxury goods companies have been big contributors to the closure of craft workshops. Therefore this new store is a physical manifestation of our defiance of this erosion in critical product values’. Kevin Baker Thomas Lyte, CEO.
“ ‘i-am’ are delighted to be working with the team at Thomas Lyte in the implementation of their first store in Burlington Arcade. From an early stage we identified with their core brand philosophy ‘English for Luxury’ and have enjoyed translating this into a rich expression in-store. We believe this will showcase the brand’s exciting new product ranges as well as their unique heritage, establishing them in their own position in the market and providing a platform to build awareness and appeal to its target customers” – Pete Champion, Project Creative Director.
Vivienne Westwood Table Cloth
It was with great pleasure I accepted an invitation from Charles Finch to attend last months ICA Gala Dinner at Koko in Camden. As a patron of the ICA I am delighted the evening raised over £200,000 .Dinner passed by so quickly as I was in deep conversation with Vivienne Westwood and Tracey Emin about the state of British craft & fashion. My delight continued as I was successful in my bid for a Vivienne Westwood table cloth which uses a print from her 2006 GOLD LABEL. It is currently being framed and I look forward to hanging it in our fabulous new retail store opening in Mayfair in Autumn 2010.
Kevin Baker
This post was written by Kevin Baker, CEO and founder of Thomas Lyte
Thomas Lyte was very proud to see 2 of its iconic trophies lifted this weekend. Congratulations to England for winning the 6 Nations Woman’s Championship and Northampton Saints for bringing home the LV Anglo-Welsh Tournament Trophy! Both trophies were created by our master silversmiths in our London workshop.
England Celebrating the Six Nations Win
This trophy was commissioned in 2006 and was followed by a second in a similar design for the Under 20 Six Nations championship. Both are made from sterling silver and feature exquisite engraving detail with the logos of the competing countries.
Women's Six Nations Trophy Designed by Thomas Lyte
The Women's Six Nations Trophy created in the Thomas Lyte London Workshop
Northhampton Saints celebrate their LV Anglo-Welsh Tournament Win
When LV= took over the sponsorship of the Anglo-Welsh tournament for the 2009-10 season, Thomas Lyte were commissioned to design and make the new trophy, having made the previous Anglo-Welsh trophies for Powergen and EDF Energy.
This unique and distinctive trophy was made from sterling silver with gilding on the inside of the trophy and it stands 50cms high.
To complement the trophy, Thomas Lyte designed and made the medals presented to the winning team, Northampton Saints, and to the runners-up, Gloucester Rugby.
LV Anglo-Welsh Tournament Trophy
TL Anglo-Welsh Tournament Trophy created by Thomas Lyte
Thomas Lyte silverware is hand-made by our craftsmen at our London Workshop. We are proud to have some of this country’s finest and most experienced silversmiths and polishers who create some the world’s most famous pieces of iconic silverware.
To ensure that your silverware has longevity and retains its look and condition we have provided a few answers to some frequently asked questions.
How do you remove fingerprints from silver?
Simply rub a dry cloth lightly on the silver to remove any finger marks.
How do you remove any light scratches on the silver?
A standard silver polish/cleaner that can be bought in most stores will be good to remove any light scratches. Take a dry cloth and apply a little of the liquid to the cloth. Run into the scratch, leave to dry, then rub off with a soft dry cloth and complete with the silver polishing cloth.
What if the silver should get wet?
Allow the piece of silver to dry out completely, using a hair dryer if required. When the surface is dry, use a liquid silver polish as above, or try to remove any water marks with the polishing cloth. Do not try to dry the silver with a cloth or towel as it will be badly marked and it will require a full machine polish to restore the shine.
What if the silver should tarnish?
This is a natural process when the metal is exposed to the air and the speed at which the item will tarnish depends on the climatic conditions where it is on display. To avoid tarnishing, the silver should be polished with the polishing cloth on a regular basis, weekly is good to reduce the amount of tarnishing. If left without cleaning, the tarnish “settles” into the silver and is difficult to remove with a cloth. If this should occur, the item should be returned to the workshop for a full clean and polish.
What if the silver is dropped and gets dented?
Should any accidents occur the item can be sent to our workshop to be repaired. Call us on +44 (1) 208 500 3700 or email master silversmith Kevin Williams at kevin.williams@thomaslyte.com
This post was written by Kevin Williams, Master Silversmith at Thomas Lyte.