Aspinal of London

For as much as I travel, one would think (or hope) that my brain wouldn’t be such a sieve that I would forget essentials. Unfortunately, on my last London trip, I noticed upon arriving at the Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge that all of my cufflinks were about 3500 miles behind me.
Getting to work in Canary Wharf, I was concerned that I wouldn’t find a good jeweler nearby until a colleague suggested I take a quick look at Aspinal, which had a store in the nearby Canary Wharf mall. A quick perusal of their website led me to some lovely silver/​mother-​of-​pearl cufflinks, and they even had a 15% off sale going on, so all the stars were lining up. Upon calling Aspinal, they confirmed that they had the cufflinks I was looking at online, and that their sale was actually 20% off in store. Sold! I was across the street and into the mall in under 10 minutes, and the staff had already taken the cufflinks out in anticipation of my arrival. Best of all, I was in and out in under 15 minutes, which included the time to have my cufflinks painstakingly boxed, covered in tissue paper, wrapped, tied with a bow, and a VAT-​exemption form filled out for me.
Unexpected shopping supported by fantastic staff have netted me with a lovely little early Christmas gift for myself. I’m looking forward to being back and checking out the rest of their interesting inventory.

I have brought items directly from their website, via their ebay shop, and brought items in to be repaired in their shop. On all occasions their customer service has been terrible.
I brought in a bag to be repaired in their Covent Garden shop, sales girl was disinterested and informed me I would be called the next week regarding its suitability for repair. Of course I hear absolutely nothing, and considering I have left a bag costing hundreds of pounds in the hands of someone who couldn’t care less, had to spend time chasing up the location of my bag.
This company seems to think a few mentions in Vogue has elevated it above it’s status. They would do well to heed the profit fall in Aquascutum, and bring their customer service in line with their prices. You’d find better customer service in Tescos than you do from their online and high street shops.
Stick to Smythson, and avoid this hugh headache of a company

Aspinal is a British focused leather goods company. It stocks all manner of leather goods from wallets/​purses, through to handbags, through to weekend bags. I always find they are a good option for people who are difficult to buy presents for because i) a present from Aspinal is always nicely presented and ii) almost all of their leather goods can be personalised by engraving initials into the leather. It is fairly pricey but not as expensive as its main competitor, Smythson.