Artisanal Luxury – Windsor Architectural Hardware

Each Windsor Architectural Hardware handle is painstakingly finished by hand in the Invercargill factory in New Zealand. It is this enduring technique that is the secret to the products’ timeless appeal, embodying the luxury of the artisanal.

As products that are physically interacted daily, door and window hardware make a significant contribution to the experience of a building. Recognising a perceived decline in quality because of the increasingly industrialised manufacturing of door and window hardware, Windsor Hardware sought a return to the honesty of hand-crafted and hand-finished products.

The result is a collection of bespoke hand-finished door and window hardware, with each single piece disassembled and individually worked to produce a “distinct uniqueness to the finished product that cannot be achieved through mass production.” National Business Development Manager Daniel McCallum explains that the team takes great satisfaction in this: “For our craftsmen, there is a genuine passion for what they do, and they’ve been doing it for a long time. They take a great deal of pride in the quality of their workmanship of every handle and every part.”

With more than 35 years of experience creating door and window hardware for high-end residential applications, the hand-finishing process may be painstaking, but Windsor Hardware has taken it to a fine yet efficient art and is able to turn around custom finishes in only ten to fourteen days. As such, it is no surprise that the company is so esteemed in the industry.

As products that are physically interacted daily, door and window hardware make a significant contribution to the experience of a building.

Available in a range of ‘special finishes’ – Living and Gloss and Matt Lacquered finishes – each solid piece can find its own distinctive allure, backed by a 15-year warranty on all brass hardware. Hand finishing is also available on Windsor’s Italian hardware collection, offering six different door handle styles and five door plate styles. This array of unmatched hand-finished pieces can be paired with any design profile, from traditional through to modern and contemporary. Furthermore, the Living Finishes range can be adapted to complement the finishes of other fixtures in a project. This emphasis on choice means that Windsor Hardware is able to respond to a wide range of styles and uses.

The finish on these products is anything but the end of the process, with each piece designed to patina and develop character improving and maturing with age to give the handles ongoing transformation with use. “Our most exclusive finish series, the Living Finishes, are designed to become more elegant with age and use through natural patina within the brass material compositions,” says Daniel. As a result, each piece becomes a reflection of the passage of time, lending each handle its own unique qualities.

“For our craftsmen, there is a genuine passion for what they do, and they’ve been doing it for a long time. They take a great deal of pride in the quality of their workmanship of every handle and every part.”

Drawing on a time-honoured process of humble hand crafting, Windsor Architectural Hardware is keeping artisanal techniques alive. The outcome is a range of high-end door and window hardware that is both distinct and effortlessly enduring.

With more than 35 years of experience hand finishing door and window hardware for high-end residential applications, it is no surprise that Windsor Architectural Hardware is so esteemed in the industry.