Silver & Sailing
by Suzanne Daub
Twice this season, Alastair Crawford has managed to combine two of his passions: silver and sailing.
When he talks about silver, both his expertise and his love of the craft shine through. He first started dealing in silver “by chance” when, at age 19, he met a silver dealer in a London pub. “He gave me a box of old silver he didn’t want and told me that I could sell it at Portobello Market and we’d split the profits.” Crawford sold the entire lot.
After a six-month mentorship with the same dealer, Alastair established his own business in 1979 as a sole trader in London wholesaling antique silverware to the London silver trade. By his early twenties he was trading in Canada, Hong Kong, the United States and Australia, and had established himself as a leading dealer in antique Irish silver and Old Sheffield Plate. “It’s by luck and happenstance that things evolve,” he commented, “I had a lot of fun in those early days.”
During his years dealing silver, Crawford has established himself as the premier source for and expert on fine silver. He has supplied high-end retail silver stores both in the United Kingdom and in the United States and has considerable experience with silverware manufacturers, including numerous commissions on new silver from private and corporate clients. He co-founded the Silver Fund in London which, within four years, established itself as the largest dealer in Georg Jensen silver. In 2004, Alastair decided to leave the Silver Fund so that he could actively pursue his interest in Georg Jensen on his own and establish residence in New York.
After three years of exhibiting on Nantucket, this season Crawford opened a shop at 3 Old South Wharf. Alastair Crawford LLC carries a stunning selection of vintage Georg Jensen sterling silver holloware, flatware, and jewelry, including graceful pitchers, detailed candelabras, gorgeous Henning Koppel bowls, Georg Jensen jewelry from Art Deco through the 1960s, and much more.
Despite his success, Crawford describes himself as “the black sheep” of his family for having gone into the silver business instead of following the last six generations of his family into the Royal Navy.
“I come from a long line of seafaring folk,” he explained. The last six generations of his family were in the Royal Navy, “even my mother,” and there are several captains and a few admirals among them.
One, Admiral Sir Frederick Inglefield, Crawford’s great-grandfather, was the designer of the Inglefield Clip, a clever shackle designed to enable signalmen on British warships attach multiple signal flags to a halyard (sailing rope used to raise or lower flags) in record time. “It may seem crazy today,” said Crawford, “but in 1895 signal flags hoisted to the top of sailing vessels was the everyday method to communicate efficiently at sea. The Inglefield Clip is still used today by the Royal Navy and sailors around the world. “The shackle is so easy to use, simply slide two clips together at a ninety degree angle, and instantly you have a completely secure fastening.”
Though he has no Navy commission, Crawford is an enthusiastic sailor: I’m mad about boats…I’ve been sailing since I was eight years old, and have owned all sorts of boats ever since.”
Combining his family history, his love of sailing, and his expertise in silver was only natural, and this Saturday, August 4, from 5 to 8 p.m., Alastair Crawford’s Inglefield Jewelry Collection will debut at his shop on Old South Wharf. This unique selection of nautical bracelets and necklaces are handcrafted in London, using marine rope and a miniature sterling silver or 18k gold version of Admiral Inglefield’s famous clip. Attractive, eye-catching, and very comfortable, these are the perfect summer jewelry for Nantucket.
The Inglefield Collection is available exclusively at Alastair Crawford, LLC on Old South Wharf and at his website, www.Inglefield.net.
Alastair Crawford’s passions came together a second time when he agreed to sponsor the perpetual and the 2007 winner’s trophy for the IOD Celebrity Invitational at Nantucket Race Week. These specially commissioned silver trophies are exquisitely handmade in polished and matte sterling silver and will represent an exact half model of the IOD sailboat. The perpetual trophy will permanently grace the Nantucket Yacht Club, and Alastair Crawford, LLC has agreed to also sponsor each year the winner’s take-home trophy.
“It’s my fourth year on Nantucket, and I wanted to give something back…I believe in Nantucket Community Sailing—it’s a great organization,” said Alastair. So he met with Nick Judson to discuss what would be appropriate.
When they decided on the trophy, Crawford was determined that it should be as exciting as the sport: “Most yachting trophies are dull, really disappointing. If you look in the cabinets of yacht clubs, in most cases they’re boring cups or plaques...You can do so much with silver, it’s one of the most pleasing metals to the eye and very workable, so we decided to do a really great trophy...something with a really great design.”
Why two trophies? “It’s important to have one that you keep, but it’s also nice for the winner to have one as well.”
The winner’s trophy will be on display in the shop at 3 Old South Wharf until it is awarded during Race Week, August 11 to 19.
