With a history that dates all the way back to 1834, manufacturer of luxury cases and safes WOLF knows all about the importance of protecting not only treasured possessions, but legacy, too.
Let’s hear it for the box. Though frequently the part of a present or purchase we tear through to get to the prize, the more precious the contents, the more precise and valuable the role of the container. And with the increased chance that you will see more of the box than the boxed as you go about your daily life, there’s all the more reason for the container itself to sometimes become the prize.
-arcit18.jpg?1644869447)
For the love of boxes
Appreciation of a well-crafted box is, of course, nothing new. Demand for beautiful cases to contain his silver wares is what initially drove the German silversmith, Philip Wolf, to start a business in 1834. ‘It is logical to protect one’s possessions by storing and safeguarding them in a fine quality case.’ he declared at the time. His family’s thirst to innovate, refine and evolve the box ever since is what has turned WOLF, now in its fifth generation, into a leading producer of watch winders, jewellery boxes and safes.
Today, WOLF’s primary aim is to make containers that safeguard and care for its wards, keeping them in pristine working order, while blending seamlessly into exquisite interiors
Though the love of boxes is age-old, it could be argued that a modern and mindful approach to caring for our belongings, treasuring them and making them last has afforded the six-sided safe-keeper more prominence, lately. Today, WOLF’s primary aim is to make containers that safeguard and care for its wards, keeping them in pristine working order, while blending seamlessly into exquisite interiors.
-arcit18.jpg?1644869430)
-arcit18.jpg?1644869424)
A heritage brand to preserve precious legacies
Last year, WOLF launched a campaign called 'My Legacy' which aimed to explore the stories behind some of the treasures that its customers entrust to them. It connected the exquisitely hand-crafted containers and the storied pieces they contain and made the brand think more deeply about its own legacy.
Fifth-generation Wolf, Simon, picked up the reins 20 years ago when his father, Philip Wolf IV, retired. In a recently recorded conversation between the pair, the profound connection between the generations and the passion for the business of boxes is evident. ‘WOLF is my legacy,’ says Simon. ‘I'm intimately involved in the design and the development of everything we make – where the stitch should be, the thickness of the leather… and it is incredibly important to me that when we make something it is looking after the legacy that will be put inside it.’
Last year, WOLF launched a campaign called 'My Legacy' which aimed to explore the stories behind some of the treasures that its customers entrust to them
Each generation of the family has pursued perfect containment with equal verve. Philip Wolf II moved the business to Sweden while Philip Wolf III innovated new hinges and invented the ballerina music box. Philip Wolf IV rooted the business in the UK and built a presence on London’s leading luxury thoroughfare, Bond Street. When Simon joined, he was dispatched to the US and eventually rerooted the business in California. In recent times, two patented technologies in particular have set WOLF apart: the Turns per Day function that precisely counts the ticks of a watch rather than estimate them by time, and LusterLoc™, a lining treatment that neutralises the oxidation that tarnishes jewellery, thereby preserving it.
Classic designs that tick
The latest collection taps into the British side of WOLF’s legacy, and a passion for heritage cars that Simon Wolf shares with his father. The British Racing Green collection is all clean lines, polished metal and sumptuous leathers. It includes watch winders for collectors, boxes for safe keepers and watch rolls for the traveller, all crafted using the sort of soft pebble grain leather that might be seen in the interior of a 1964 Aston Martin DB5 (a prized possession of Philip Wolf IV) or the 1953 Aston Martin DB 2/4 (a car in Simon Wolf’s collection). Incorporated is the patented Turns per Day technology.
The Zoe collection meanwhile, another recent addition, showcases a different craft – that of delicate embroidery. Something of a departure for Wolf, the Art Nouveau-tinged styling brings a note of femininity while refusing to compromise the functionality – two-toned velvet and intricate stitching on the outside is teamed with hard-working LusterLoc ™ lining on the inside.
Bestowing importance on what is essentially a storage box may still puzzle some, but it becomes less of a challenging concept when a case is understood to be the tool that maintains and preserves its contents. After all, if our current obsession with the art of slow-living has taught us anything, it is that the aesthetics and functionality of our tools can bring as much joy as the items they care for.