British hardware maker Joseph Giles has launched the Mount collection, a range of solid brass door lever handles, door pulls, cabinet handles and cabinet pulls, with the shapes and detailing drawn from classic Aston Martin DB-series car interiors. The English Tapware Company distributes the range in Australia.
Plumbing Connection reported the launch, noting the range runs in the brand’s signature finishes of aged brass, satin brass, polished nickel and satin nickel, with selected designs combining finishes and adding soft black ceramic details.
The design cues come from dashboard trims, dials, leather upholstery and stitching, pulled across into curved forms and contrasting materials.
Joseph Giles senior product designer Mark Harper said the collection came out of the link between automotive design and craftsmanship: “For me, the essence of timeless British automobile design lies in its wonderful blend of elegance, engineering and understated luxury.”
“For me, the essence of timeless British automobile design lies in its wonderful blend of elegance, engineering and understated luxury.”
Which car, exactly, depends on where you look. The maker’s Mount collection page and its marketing imagery reference the DB2/4 Mark III and DB MKIII, while its broader collections page points at the DB MKII.
The number that matters when you’re hanging the door
Joseph Giles says its lever handles run on a proprietary sprung bearing rose designed to stop the lever wobbling and to keep the rose protruding no more than 6mm from the face of the door, according to the manufacturer’s own product information.
That 6mm figure is the sort of detail worth checking before a handle schedule gets signed off. A lever that sits proud is the one that catches a sleeve, marks the adjoining wall on a tight reveal, or fouls a return in a narrow hallway.
Door furniture is also one of the last things to go on. By the time levers and cabinet pulls are being fixed, the doors are hung, the painters are off site and every scratch in a soft brass finish belongs to whoever’s holding the screwdriver. Hand-finished solid brass is forgiving of nothing.
Finish consistency is the other trap on a multi-room job. The range offers four core finishes plus mixed-finish pieces, so a schedule that mixes aged brass doors with polished nickel joinery needs to be nailed down early rather than sorted out on site when half the boxes have already been opened.
Not a plumbing product, even if you see it in the tapware showroom
The English Tapware Company is the Australian supplier, with showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne and an architectural hardware specification service for the Joseph Giles range, the distributor says. It also carries British tapware names including Perrin & Rowe.
That matters mostly for where the gear gets chosen. Door and cabinet hardware isn’t tapware, so it doesn’t sit under the WaterMark or WELS schemes that govern plumbing fittings. What it does sit under is an architect’s or designer’s finishes schedule, which for a chippy or joiner usually means the handle, the finish and the quantities arrive already decided.
Joseph Giles was formed in 1998 by a father and two sons out of the ironmongery trade, and the company says its pieces are designed and hand-finished in Britain rather than mass manufactured. That’s the end of the market this lands in: specified residential and high-end fitout, not volume housing.
What to watch
Neither the launch material nor the distributor’s listing carries Australian pricing or lead times for the Mount range, and imported hand-finished hardware is the kind of item that turns a fitout program into a waiting game if the order goes in late.
If you’re running a job where this gets specified, get the finish combination and the full count confirmed before the doors are hung. Chasing three more cabinet pulls in aged brass from the other side of the world is not a same-week fix.
Frequently asked questions
Is Joseph Giles door hardware covered by WaterMark or WELS certification?
No. Door and cabinet hardware isn’t tapware, so it doesn’t sit under the WaterMark or WELS schemes that govern plumbing fittings; it’s specified through an architect’s or designer’s finishes schedule instead.
What finishes does the Mount collection come in?
The range runs in aged brass, satin brass, polished nickel and satin nickel, with some designs combining finishes and adding soft black ceramic details.
Where can Australians buy the Mount collection?
The English Tapware Company distributes the range in Australia, with showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne and an architectural hardware specification service for the Joseph Giles range.
How far does the lever handle’s rose protrude from the door?
Joseph Giles says its proprietary sprung bearing rose keeps the lever handle protruding no more than 6mm from the face of the door, according to the manufacturer’s own product information.
Sourced from Plumbing Connection, Joseph Giles, The English Tapware Company. Original article.
