Voice on the High Street: Suttons & Robertsons

When was Suttons & Robertsons founded? Suttons & Robertsons is one of London's oldest active pawnbroking businesses with a focus on luxury goods. Our heritage of service began with Thomas Miller Sutton when he founded his pawnbroking business in 1770. Robertsons, established in 1797, was not far behind, and remained a family-owned business until the 1960s. In 2006, we joined our two venerable businesses together to become Suttons & Robertsons. Tell us about Thomas Miller Sutton It was said that Thomas Miller Sutton, principal of T. M. Sutton during the pre-war years, could gauge the number of carats in a piece of gold jewellery simply by holding it. He is best remembered for his refusal to hand over the notorious Stavinsky jewels, despite immense pressure from the French authorities, during one of Europe's most politically volatile financial scandals of the 20th Century. What types of jewellery do you sell? All items are previously owned but of exceptionally high quality. For instance, in one of our London-based shops we currently have a range of watches from Cartier tank and Rolex Day-Dates for women and Breitling and Omega for men. We also have a beautiful collection of Tiffany jewellery, jade and ruby necklaces some stunning engagement rings. Tell us about your pawnbroking service At Suttons & Robertsons, we see pawnbroking as a straightforward means of unlocking the value of one's assets. We can offer our customers secured loans of up to £1m pounds and our mission is to make the loan process as convenient and discreet as possible. Our customers know they can bring a diamond bracelet in, receive £5,000 and get it back in a month, following the completion of a business deal. In fact most of the items pledged with us are redeemed by their owners and we have many return customers who use us on a very regular basis. Above everything, the service we offer is completely confidential and our highly trained staff are very used to handling luxury goods. For instance a recently pledged item was a stunning diamond ring, valued at £140,000. As well as lending money we are pleased to offer a full valuation service which includes probate valuation - our specialists can knowledgeably provide advice and an opinion as to the current market value of an item - and online quote service, where customers visit our website, fill in details on their item where we aim to respond the same day or within 48 hours What rare pieces of jewellery or watches have you currently got on sale? We often see some beautiful watches pass through the doors. Currently we have a Panerai Luminor Marina on sale for £11,500. Sporting simplicity over its strength, this particular watch is considered to be one of the most versatile and unelaborated models in the Panerai collection. 18ct yellow gold shapes the 44mm case, bezel and lugs of this classy timepiece. In fact this model is tagged as one of the most remarkable timepieces of all time. What's next for the company? The future is looking incredibly bright for Suttons & Robertsons. Later this year we are launching a brand new website with a fully functioning e-commerce section, which is a new direction for the business. Aside from that, we will continue to deliver a discreet, high calibre service to all our customers. This article first appeared in the October 2016 issue of Jewellery Focus