Almost 265 years ago, James Gatward, a skilled watch and clock maker, set up shop in the village of Hitchin, which was then a quiet rustic waystation and is now a bustling suburb of London. Times, shops, fashions, even kings and queens come and go, but Gatwards of Hitchin has remained in the city center through 11 English monarchs and eight generations of dedicated successors.
Gatwards of Hitchin lays claim to being the oldest family jeweler in the United Kingdom and the 28th-oldest family business in the land. The transition from watchmaking to fine jewelry came late and gradually, beginning after nearly two centuries in 1960 when Willson Gatward died, leaving the store to his wife, Sylvia, and daughters, Lisa and Anna. Along the way, Gatwards also developed a robust jewelry repair business that today represents about 15% of the company's annual revenues.
Today, Lisa's daughter, Charlotte Gatward, runs the shop. She took over in the last decade from her mother, who retired in 2015, and her aunt, who retired in 2020.
“I started managing the family business in 2018, after a 16-year career working in financial services,” Charlotte says. “I was always involved as a child, though, often accompanying my mother to work in the school holidays. I helped with gift wrapping and booking in the new stock. I also loved to see all the new jewelry come in from the suppliers.”
Like so many family businesses, the pandemic almost spelled the end for Gatwards.
“The business had never closed in its 260-year history before then, and then we had to close three times,” Aunt Anna Gatward recalls. “The business weathered two world wars and the Great Depression, so we did what we always do and adapted to the challenges.”
Hyper-inflation in the 1980s and the big recession during the 1990s also posed threats.
“We survived by adapting and ensuring we stayed relevant to our customers,” Anna says. “Whatever happens, people will still get married, still have big birthdays, and still want to commemorate their life events with something special.”
A more direct catastrophe for the family, albeit more than 170 years ago, was a fire in the shop.
“The business hasn't always been in the same building,” Charlotte says. “We used to be just across the square but, in 1853, that building was destroyed by fire. It sadly claimed the life of Mrs. John Gatward, who ran back into the shop to retrieve her watch and perished. The building we are in now was once an old drover's inn. Fourth-generation Cornelius Gatward purchased the premises with the adjacent hairdressers next door. The building dates back to the medieval period. Sixth-generation Willson Gatward knocked through to the hairdressers and turned it into the extensive shop that exists today.”
And what about the ninth generation? “I have two sons, and my brother has a daughter, all under 10 years old. Hopefully, one of them will take the reins one day but they're all so young it is hard to say, and we wouldn't want to pressurize them in any way.”
For the moment, Charlotte says, “A diamond solitaire ring never goes out of fashion.” And, if the past is prologue, Gatwards of Hitchin will be standing by to welcome new generations of customers to the store.