Swaine

A folding umbrella is a different object from the one Swaine makes. Theirs is built on a single solid stick, with the handle shaped and fitted by hand to the shaft, which is why it can be re-covered decades later instead of thrown away after a wet winter.

The firm traces its trade to Swaine and Company in 1798 and spent most of its life known as Swaine Adeney Brigg, a name familiar to anyone who has bought a bridle-leather case in London. The current New Bond Street home runs to roughly 7,000 square feet, considerably more than the shop long-standing customers remember.

Where hand made umbrellas London still get built properly

Malacca, chestnut, ash and horn handles, whangee and hickory, each shaped to its own stick. Alongside them sit bridle-leather luggage, attache cases, small leather goods and the equestrian pieces that show where the firm’s craft actually came from.

The advantage of the larger floor

Most of the range is out rather than in a stockroom, so handles can be held against each other and leathers compared in the same light. That is the whole reason to buy this sort of thing in person.