January | 2015 | ukmade – UK Made Products

Corby 7700 Walnut Trouser Press

I was reminded the other day when reading the Chap Manifesto of the long established Corby Trouser Press, which is a sort of gentleman’s valet stand with an electrically heated trouser press incorporated in it. They are commonly found in hotel rooms and homes. Corby are still making them in the UK. According to their UK website (6/1/15) “We continue to manufacture the world famous trouser press at home in the United Kingdom…” and according to their US website (6/1/15) “Corby of Windsor continues to make our pants presses, and many other products, at our UK headquarters in Huddersfield”.

The original John Corby Company (Corbys Ltd) was established by John Corby in Windsor in 1930. Production has taken place in various locations, including Peterlee, County Durham and in Andover, Hampshire. In 2009 John Corby Limited became part of Fired Up Corporation Ltd and the company relocated to Huddersfield and and re-branded Corby of Windsor. Corby of Windsor have a factory in Huddersfield, UK and a factory in China. Unfortunately Corby do not bother to give country of origin information alongside individual products on their website.

So, it appears that, whilst most Corby of Windsor products are made in China, the Corby Trouser Press is still made in Britain. It’s good to read that.

http://www.corbyofwindsor.com/store/uk/

This picture appears alongside pictures of Corby Trouser Presses on their website, stating made in England.

For watches, now that companies like Timex only manufacture abroad, you might try: Bremont (assembled in the UK; packaging made in the UK; Swiss movements; around £3,000-£20,000; Bremont employs around 30 watchmakers at a workshop in the Oxfordshire town of Henley-on-Thames, and makes many of its own parts at a factory in Silverstone, Northamptonshire). Meridian (casing made in UK; then assembled in the UK; Swiss movements; around £5,000). Harold Pinchbeck (assembled in the UK; they say they try to use some British made components; Swiss movements; around £300 to £5,000+). More reasonably priced (from about £50-£300) are RLT Watches who buy, sell and repair all makes of vintage watches, but also assemble watches in the UK under their RLT Watches brand using Swiss or Japanese movements. IWI watches use Swiss movements, casing made in the UK and are assembled in the UK (around £1,000-£3,500). Peter Roberts Watches (Swiss movement; assembled in the UK; around £20,000). J & T Windmills (Swiss movement; assembled in the UK; around £1,000). Schofield watches (Swiss movements; case made in Germany; assembled in the UK; around £3,000+). Dent London (Swiss movement; assembled in the UK; around £25,000; E.Dent & Co Ltd, makers of Big Ben, ceased to trade in 1966; this company just appears to have appropriated their name). Pinion watches have Swiss movements and are foreign made, but assembled in England. Again more reasonably priced are Paulin Watches (quartz watches, foreign made, assembled in the UK and sent in UK made packaging). W. T. Author watches are assembled in UK with Swiss made movements and they sell leather watch straps (24mm lug width only) made in Britain using Argentinian-sourced buffallo hide. Mr Jones Watches finish and assemble their limited edition watches in London (and only their limited edition watches, the rest of their collection being entirely foreign made). Garrick, which opened in Norfolk in 2015, uses movements made in Switzerland and modified or assembled in house and they say “We do almost everything else ourselves, from making the plates and dials to the cases and crowns.” Garrick watches retail for between £2,500 and £50,000, and around 70 were sold last year.