Asprey of Bond Street, which has been described as 'the classiest and most luxurious shop in the world', was founded 200 years ago. It began as a humble ironmonger's amid the lavender fields of Mitcham, Surrey; after the move to Bond Street, it became an arena for the fashionable, patronized by princes.

Its famous fitted dressing cases won top prizes at the Crystal Palace Exhibition. Its silver cigarette cases were a 'must' for the smart young subalterns of the Great War. In the 1920s, Sir John Betjeman's father produced exquisite ivory-inlaid furniture, which was ordered in suites by visiting maharajahs.

Its quality survived two world wars and the Crash of 1929. So did one of Asprey's great servants, P. F. Hubbard, M.V.O., who worked at Asprey from 1905 until his death in 1980, and well recalled the belle époque of Edward VII's reign, when customers changed their dress three times a day and arrived at the door (the same curved sliding door still in use) in carriages.

BEVIS HILLIER, formerly editor of The Connoisseur, who has been given free access to the company's archives and interviewed Mr Hubbard when the old man was still at his desk in Asprey's entrance-hall, relates the picturesque history of this great firm, and gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the superb craftsmanship still practised in the workshops above the public rooms.

The shop has been controlled by the Asprey family since 1781. Its earliest surviving advertisement spoke of articles of exclusive design and high quality. In 1981, the description still holds true.