Shopping Savings: EXO Scissors

William Whiteley & Sons (Whiteley’s), the oldest scissor-makers in the western world, recently announced the launch of a crowdfunding campaign to bring the historic art of scissor making to 21^st century craftsmen and women around the world. 

With a lifetime guarantee, the scissors can be personalised to the buyers’ individual requirements. Pledges start at £55 for a striking matt stainless steel finish, to £115 for a super luxe gold ceramic coated pair with a surface harder than tungsten carbide.

Whiteley’s, an 11^th generation family business, is a bona-fide British institution whose heritage scissors have been on display in the Victoria & Albert Museum and MoMA New York, and have received quality assurances and recommendations from the Ministry of Defence.

The ‘EXO’ range is designed for the people we most admire – people who take pride in creating the most beautiful and practical things that last a lifetime,” he concludes.

The Kickstarter campaign will contribute to the set-up costs of the high quality tooling, new machinery and innovative material finishing processes required to produce ‘EXO’ at the Whiteley factory in Sheffield.

The campaign launched with an ‘early bird’ buy one and get one free offer available to members of the public who sign up at www.whiteley1760.co.uk.

Officially founded in 1760, William Whiteley’s has a vast historic legacy. Incorporating the firm of Thomas Wilkinson & Son in 1875, the company inherited the appointment of ‘Manufacturers of Scissors in Ordinary to her Majesty Queen Victoria and Cutlers to H.R.H. Prince Albert’ in 1840. Both firms were awarded prize medals at the London Exhibitions in 1851 and 1862, and the Paris International Exhibition in 1855. The Wilkinson name continues to represent the premium brand of William Whiteley’s today.

Maintaining its position as the leading producer of industrial and professional scissors and shears, William Whiteley’s offers a comprehensive range of over 250 products to match the requirements of all modern manufacturers. Combined with the skill and techniques honed and handed down over centuries, each scissor produced by the company is hand-made, assembled and tested by craftsmen. To see how the hand-made process continues to thrive today, a video is available here: https://youtu.be/3Hs_yprJslg.