Reflecting on 190 Years of Craftsmanship
As his family business prepares to celebrate 190 years of originality, Climping-based Simon Wolf looks back at a box of tricks, ones to watch and looking after our planet.
Simon Wolf pauses when asked how it feels to oversee his family business, which marks 190 years since its first launch. “Humbled,” he says with a smile. “It was no mean feat that the company has kept going.”
WOLF’s Origins: From Silver District to Global Brand
From its beginnings in the Silver District in Hanau, Germany, in 1834, launched by Philipp Wolf I, to the present day as a global luxury brand, WOLF is a five-generation family-owned business. Each generation has a different story to tell. Forged from innovation and determination to design excellence and sustainability, the ethos and brand identity, alongside the expertise and skills of an established heritage brand, puts WOLF front and centre in the luxury market.
Commemorating Past Generations
Honouring Family Legacy with Innovation
Each generation has a different story to tell. Forged from innovation and determination to design excellence and sustainability, the ethos and brand identity alongside the expertise and skills of an established heritage brand puts WOLF front and centre in the luxury market.
“As we prepared for this milestone, I delved back through time into the Wolf family archives, and things that I already knew came back to the forefront,” Simon says on those generational stories. “After two of his five children died, Philipp Wolf II retreated from life and the business, leaving Ida, his wife, to pick up the reins. Her sheer will and determination kept the company going through a most difficult period. I cannot let her down now, can I!”
The Art of Preservation and Originality
The Intersection of Craft and Innovation at WOLF
Eagle-eyed readers will recognise Simon from the pages of Absolutely Sussex before, when we featured a new accessories launch in 2022. The company today is renowned for its watch winders, jewellery boxes, storage and safes, and travel accessories – and given how innovative they have always been, it’s little surprise that something special is coming our way to mark the anniversary. “We started in 2022,” Simon says on planning for this special year. “There is an enormous amount, from the product development of five-anniversary products to marketing and events worldwide.”
WOLF’s Commitment to a Greener Future
The first special anniversary product launch was revealed in January Silver. “As with all of the generations of Wolf’s that came before, we decided to develop a product in honour of that person,” Simon explains. “Philipp Wolf I was a silversmith in Hanau, Germany, we; therefore thought it was fitting that we honour him and his legacy with something silver. The box’s exterior is finished in an “engine turning” treatment that creates unique patterns across the silver. Inside is a sumptuous ultrasuede, LusterLoc™ treated lining that can hold two watches, accessories, and jewelery, or if you so desire, you can take the inserts out, and it becomes a keepsake box for your legacies.”
A Journey into Sustainability
Would Simon say there’s anything similar with the 2024 WOLF compared to the one launched in 1834? “Originality. My great grandfather Philipp Wolf was an originator, coming up with the idea of making a beautiful box to store and present silverware. That original idea launched WOLF, and to be original is in my DNA. It leans into being unique, innovating and just being different so that we surprise our customers repeatedly.
“There are many markers throughout our history,” Simon adds. “Every generation thought of something new and unique; for instance, my grandfather invented the twirling ballerina box and a hinging system based on the barb of a fishing hook. And I have been moving the company to be more sustainable for the last decade. More and more, we use replacement “leathers” like “apple leather” and recycled plastic bottles; all of our paper and boxing is from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) sources. Our offices are all moving toward a zero-carbon footprint.”
Why has sustainability become a key driver of WOLF? “How many pages can you give me?” Simon responds. “Sustainability should be part of everyone’s everyday life. In school it should be taught, we should be learning how we are affecting this tiny blue planet from an early age and being told that “yes, one person can make a difference” and not use that as an excuse to do nothing. Instead of the weather after the news, we should see ways to conserve and why eating no (or at least a tiny amount of meat) makes a difference. It should be so ingrained in our daily lives that we have it in mind. It’s our planet, our only home, we have to save it. And let’s not waste any more time sending rockets into space, take the billions and use it to solve the multitude of problems we have here on earth.”
Beyond Business: A Personal Reflection
The Significance of Heritage and Stewardship
In his spare time, Simon enjoys the countryside around Climping, where he can take stock of where he and the family business has come from. “As I have become older, I think the weightiness of running a company that has been around for five generations has become more poignant,” he reflects. “One looks forward always, but seeing how hard the generations before me also worked makes me realise that I must helm this company with the utmost care, always putting our people first. The people [have maintained our success], hard work, always going above and beyond for our customers. Through the tough times, finding ways through and in the good times, being humble. And always, always making it fun.”
Keep up with the latest news about the anniversary and launches at wolf1834.com
BOX OUT
Something to howl about
The key WOLF facts
- WOLF is available in prestigious retailers in 60 countries around the world.
- Philipp Wolf III invented the iconic musical turning ballerina jewellery box.
- WOLF’s patented watch winders are the only winders in the world to count Turns per Day; all the others use the time to guess the number of rotations.
- If you put a piece of jewellery in a WOLF jewellery box for 35 years, it will be as
- sparkling as the day you put it in there due to WOLF’s patented LusterLoc™ lining which prevents jewellery discolouring or tarnishing over time.
