In the spirit of 1890

His courage is still required.

Personalised engraved gifts for the men in your life — compasses, flasks, journals, and quiet objects — each one carrying the story of the moment he chose courage over comfort.

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The House of Harrington & Selous

For the man who departed.

Every man we know has a moment. The morning he resigned. The night he proposed. The day he sailed for somewhere he had never been. The decision made alone, in lamplight, that nobody else saw.

We make objects for those moments — brass compasses, leather-bound flasks, hand-stamped journals — and we engrave them with the story only you know. The line your father said. The date he set out. The name of the woman who told him he could.

We are not antiquarian. We are not a museum. We borrow the vocabulary of an older age — the steamships, the boat-trains, the country house, the long letter home — because that vocabulary still says what modern men quietly long for: competence, restraint, craftsmanship, departure, return.

"His courage is still required. Tell him so — in brass, in leather, in your own hand."
Two Pieces, to Begin

Made to be carried.

Each piece is engraved by hand in our workshop. Choose up to four lines — a name, a date, a phrase, a place — and we set them in the brass or the silver as if the object had always carried them.

A brass nautical compass with a personalised engraving on its lid, set on a deep blue marbled background.

The Selous Compass

Solid Brass · Engraved by Hand

A working sundial-compass in heavy brass, with a hinged engraved lid. For the man whose direction is, finally, his own.

from $145
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A vintage English leather-mounted glass hip flask resting on sheet music, with a silver cup and lid.

The Harrington Flask

English Leather · Glass · Plated Silver

Leather-mounted glass, with a fitted silver cup. For the first morning of the new thing — and for every quiet evening after.

from $185
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The Chapters

Every piece has a chapter.

We don't sell objects. We sell the moment they belong to. Read the chapters our pieces were made for — and find the one that sounds like the man you're buying for.

A vintage illustrated travel poster of Timbuktu showing a robed traveller and a camel against the mud-brick mosque.
Chapter I · New Ventures

The Beginning — leaving England for the Sahara

"The sand shifted as Edward's camel swayed through the dunes. London was three days ago. Timbuktu tomorrow night, his guide had said — with rotten teeth and a sly grin."

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A vintage Egyptian postcard showing dhows on the Nile at sunset, overlaid with cursive handwriting and an Egyptian postage stamp.
Chapter II · The Crossing

Down the Nile — into the emptiness of Sudan

"The sun dipped behind the dhow's sail. The black water of the Nile snaked south toward Aswan. Edward's map showed the emptiness of Sudan beyond."

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Join the List

The first hundred get a letter.

We open the workshop to a small number of clients each month. Leave your name and we'll write to you when the first pieces are ready — with the chapters, the engraving form, and a note from us. No noise. No catalogue. A letter.