Nauticalia Supplier Spotlight
With today’s supplier spotlight, we take a ride down the Thames to London. A little business that’s gotten very big in a very short space of time! This week we’re looking at Nauticalia!
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Nauticalia was started in 1974 when ex BBC presenter Lynn Lewis and journalist wife Val bought an old rubbish barge and converted it into an antique shop. They primarily dealt in antiques and nautical.
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As time went on, Nauticalia was thriving but there weren’t enough antiques to go around. This was most apparent when Lynn put an advert in the paper about an antique diver’s helmet and found a lot of other people in the market for it, so many in fact that six people came at the same time to enquire.
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It was then he had the idea to move into replicas. Commissioning high quality replicas from specialised metalworkers, he was able to move fully into the business of replicating shipping memorabilia. Ship's telegraphs, binnacles, bells, bosun's whistles, brass information signs and anchor lamps were among some of the first replica items.
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Nauticalia hasn’t kept themselves exclusively to naval products. They’ve been licenced by Haynes to create an exclusive range of construction kits! These kits are great fun for all ages and are very satisfying to see completed!
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One of their most interesting products is the Galileo thermometer. This unusual but functional ornamental incorporates astronomer Galileo Galilei's discovery that the density of liquids varies with temperature. Carefully weighted glass globes are suspended in a liquid-filled tube, where they sedately sink or float as the surrounding air gets hotter or colder!
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At Kilts Wi Hae, we love a bit of Nauticalia! The thermometers have always been quite the curiosity to our customers but a loved one! You can find the whole range here.
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