James Purdey & Sons: Authenticity from One Generation to the Next

At the dawn of the current economic recovery, as luxury brands are further positioning (and sometimes repositioning) themselves towards deeper values of quality and tradition, James Purdey & Sons, the impeccably preserved brand behind some of the finest guns and rifles in the world, might be the best example of true luxury and authenticity.

Purdey’s vision has continuously been to build the most sought after hunting guns and equipments over the past two hundred years. Since it was founded in 1814 all the way to 2009, Purdey, one of the world’s oldest sporting brands, has become internationally renowned for quality, innovation and excellence and for its extremely well preserved tradition.

As you walk down South Audley Street in Mayfair, London, you cannot miss the classic and genuinely preserved elegance of the Purdey vitrine, welcoming you into a world of guns, rifles and hunting clothing and accessories, the entire hunting lifestyle, as Ralph Lauren does to polo, but without any extra branding or marketing needed. Indeed, in the case of Purdey, you find yourself in a store as exclusive as it might have been 150 years ago: it welcomes the most select clientele this side of Europe, a clientele which also comes by tradition from one generation to the next, with the regular presence of the heirs of the Purdey family themselves who are still very much involved in maintaining the Purdey standards of quality to the highest levels they can be.

James Purdey founded the company in 1814 after his work for London’s top gunmaker Joseph Manton with the unique vision of building guns only of the very best quality. Soon after in 1838, Queen Victoria became a Purdey customer and her son, The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, granted his Royal Warrant to the firm in 1868, as have all four subsequent British monarchs, for each of whom Purdey has built guns and rifles.

Initially located on 315 Oxford Street in 1826, James Purdey the Younger, who succeeded his father in 1858, thereafter set up a new factory, and new offices and showrooms at the current location of the corner of South Audley Street and Mount Street in 1882.

Further expanding their business, the manufacturing operations moved again in 1900 to Paddington and in 1975 to Hammersmith while the store and headquarters remained until today in their prestigious location in Mayfair.

Each gun and rifle takes between 18 and 24 months to complete and Purdey build about 70 bespoke guns and rifles per year. All pieces are of course made in-house, a key identifier of what makes a luxury brand truly luxury. A new bespoke Purdey gun starts at GBP £57,500, excluding special engraving and taxes.

In 2008, Purdey added The Sporter to their range, which thanks to the cost efficiency of today’s precision machining technology, comes at a price more easily affordable than Purdey’s hand built bespoke range, yet without compromising the standards of quality and attention to detail of the house. A new Sporter gun costs from £27,500 excluding taxes.

The Purdey business was acquired by brothers Hugh and Victor Seely after World War II, who then gave it to their nephew Richard Beaumont in 1949 and remained a family-owned business. Beaumont owned and ran the company until 1994, when the company was acquired by the Richemont Group, the prestigious group owning brands such as Cartier, Montblanc, Dunhill, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Chloé,  and many others.

At the invitation of the Richemont Group, Richard Purdey, sixth generation of the family directly descended from the founder, became Chairman in 1995. He was at the time CEO of a drinks manufacturing business, and joined James Purdey & Sons full time in 1998. Nigel Beaumont, nephew of Richard Beaumont is now Chairman.

Throughout our recent visits at the store and headquarters, one thing remains for sure, beyond being a store, the boutique is an exclusive club in itself, it is a living proof of the authenticity of the brand, and a house fully dedicated to the world and lifestyle of hunting, today, throughout its history, and we are sure time and again for the times to come.