An Evening Inside the Covett Vault
On the 27th of January Covett held a very special event at one of London’s most secretive buildings, as we opened up our vault for the first time to a select group of guests
In 1900 there were 10 mansions on London’s prestigious Park Lane; now, just two exist. One of those is Stanhope House, an ornate Grade II-listed building commissioned at the turn of the previous century by soap magnate Robert William Hudson to mimic the gothic architecture of the 14th century. It is also where we store our jewels and watches.
After a fire gutted the interior of the building, Stanhope House was reborn as a commercial property in 1970. And today, occupying the lower floors of this historic space is London’s most exclusive vault, filled with gold, art, jewels, precious mementos, and… who knows what else. After all, discretion is, the owners of the IBV Vault promise us, paramount.
IBV Vault claims to offer the highest level of security in the city, which is why we have chosen it as the home for our jewels. When a piece of jewellery is not out being worn through a subscription or co-ownership, it is securely stored in the subterranean luxury vault and fully insured (all part of the Covett service).
The chance to step beyond the retina scanners and guards to see inside such a secure facility is rare, which made last night’s Visit the Covett Vault event all the more tantalising. Our community thought so too – so much so that we had to close the guest list early due to so many RSVPs.
On the night itself, lock boxes and hefty safe doors were not the only attraction. Guests at the event were also given the chance to get up close and personal with the jewels that Covett offers through its jewellery subscription and co-ownership models. As champagne flowed and canapés circled, our guests had the opportunity to speak with some of our favourite jewellery designers who were at the event in person, including Aishleen Lester of Le Ster, Zeemou Zeng and Olivia Young of Ouroboros.
On the ground floor, guests could interact with jewels available through Covett subscriptions, such as Alice van Cal’s transformable jewels and the ethical gemstone designs of The Rock Hound, along with the juicy gemstones of Eva Gems & Jewels and the disorganised elegance of Karen Phillips Fine Jewellery. Downstairs, within the plush and high-tech IBV Vault itself, guests were taken in small groups to view jewels available for co-ownership, including diamond designs by Baunat, jewels and watches from Backes & Strauss and the inventive jewels of Myriam Soseilos.
During the evening, Covett chief executive Cynthia Morrow was joined by jewellery journalist Rachael Taylor to talk about the Covett model, why she believes in jewellery rental and co-ownership, and just how it all works. The talk was also streamed live to our online followers, and you can watch it on our Instagram IG Live or YouTube
