Smythson of Bond Street is a luxury stationers and leather goods retailer and their main store is on Bond Street in London. At the back of the store there's a small museum, which though small, is worth seeing.
About Smythson of Bond Street
Frank Smythson opened his first stationery store on Bond Street in 1887 (opposite the current shop). This really is the luxury end of the market and they supply the Queen and her family with their personal stationery.
Smythson also sells leather goods such as diaries, notebooks and small travel goods. To give you an idea of price, when I visited in 2010, a travelcard wallet was £95 and a 'Gent's accessory box' was in the sale from £10,765 to £5,400.
Smythson Museum
Don't be put off as the shop welcomes browsers - we may become customers one day - and it has a small museum at the back of the shop, on the right, near the personalized stationery department. This is a museum about the company so has archive materials from 1887 onwards. You can see founder Frank Smythson's original trade card, a selection of wartime Christmas cards, a Smythson notebook used by Sigmund Freud, and examples of fine stationery specially produced for the Maharajas of India during the 1920s. Look out for John F Kennedy's and Princess Grace of Monaco's condolence books.
Some of their leather goods are also on display including a 1905 'monitor bag' and a crocodile finish calfskin amethyst secretaire from 2005.
Address: 40 New Bond Street, London W1S 2DE
Tel: 020 7629 8558
Official Website: www.smythson.com
The shop is very close to Sotheby's so you might like to try a London Auction House Viewing too.
