David Mellor cutlery
A unique collection of modern cutlery designed by David Mellor, Royal Designer for Industry.
Our cutlery is made by a small specialist team of highly skilled craftsmen, some of whom have worked for decades with David Mellor, building up an exceptional expertise in metalwork. Though the factory is technologically advanced, a high degree of hand finishing is employed to give the cutlery its perfectionist quality.
The collection

Pride
David Mellor’s iconic ‘Pride’ cutlery was designed in 1953 while Mellor was still a student at the Royal College of Art and it was included in the very first Design Centre Awards in 1957. The design is still unrivalled in its beauty and simplicity of form.

Chelsea
Corin Mellor’s new cutlery design is a real breakthrough. Though it shows the influence of his father David Mellor, with whom he worked for many years, ‘Chelsea’ has its own striking individuality.

London
London is relatively weighty but still wonderfully elegant as well as good to hold. Mellor’s superb cutlery is beautifully sculpted, its subtleties accentuated by the silky matt finish and distinctive off-set maker’s mark.

Classic
An almost timeless pattern characterised by fine proportions and the precise detailing so typical of Mellor. Perfect in either modern or traditional settings. The understated shape is wonderfully classy.

Provençal Black
Exceptionally pleasant and practical to use. Knife blades are top grade stainless steel with high carbon content, ensuring a sharp cutting edge. Handles are acetal resin with brass rivets. Fruit spoon is a perfect size for desserts and ice cream.
Buy our cutlery ranges in the online store
Making David Mellor cutlery
David Mellor cutlery is manufactured in a unique purpose built factory designed by Sir Michael Hopkins. The circular factory has been described as a minor masterpiece of modern architecture and has received numerous important architectural and environmental awards, including the Financial Times Architecture at Work Award, RIBA National Award, Civic Trust Award, Campaign for the Protection of Rural England Award and the prestigious BBC Design Prize for the Environment.
David Mellor worked closely with the architect, Sir Michael Hopkins, to evolve a design which is highly functional and technologically advanced and which at the same time enhances its setting in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
The five acre site just outside of Hathersage, in the Peak National Park, was previously the village gas works erected in 1906-7 and the concrete foundations of the old circular gas holder provided the basis for the design of the factory.
The circular shape of the factory is perfectly suited the manufacture of cutlery allowing for a circular progression as processes anti-clockwise round the factory floor, moving from the cutting and manipulation of metals to semi-automatic grinding to hand finishing processes and then to the final stages of cleaning and packing.
The aim was to combine traditional materials with modern structural techniques resulting in a building that sits comfortably in its surrounding environment. The factory is constructed from natural stone and steel.


A thick stone rim runs around the perimeter of the building and from this rim the giant bicycle-wheel structure of the rood rises towards its central glass hub which allows natural light to flood the interior of the building. A steel perimeter tie bar holds the structure together.
The roof itself is built up of a series of double-skinned sectional panels in Finnish pine plywood hooking onto the circular purlins, this allows the building to be ventilated by the more or less traditional method of passage of air through the panels, and the exterior is leaded.
Working closely with the architects, David Mellor supervised the construction and manufacture of many of the components of the building. He and his workforce laid the huge circular concrete floor over the original gasometer slab. They cast the concrete quoins and padstones used in the walls, and constructed the 480 Finnish plywood roof panels of varying sizes.
Visit the factory on a guided tour which provides an overview of the company, buildings and how David Mellor cutlery is made. Tours are at 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
After almost 30 years of Peak District weather, the exterior of The Round Building is getting a little TLC from the end of January until spring 2018. During this period there will be scaffolding around half of the building and there may be more noise than normal. We apologise for the inconvenience whilst we carry out this essential work.