Along with Liberty, Fortnum & Mason, Hatchards bookshop and Paxton’s cheese shop, I’ve added Niwaki to my list of favourite London shops to visit when in town.
Small but perfectly formed, its Zen-like interior and presentation of gardening tools, kit and clothing is the antithesis of the screaming bustle found at Selfridges, just around the corner. I particularly like the simple display of various secateurs in glass cabinets looking like bejewelled things, and a few are indeed pricey jewels.
I succumbed to a pair of Niwaki GR Pro’s, they’re now my go-to secateurs and easily cope with the day-in-day-out bashing I give them. A good clean once a week and voila they’re like new again, but handle with care, these ‘Made in Japan’ drop-forged babies are lethally sharp.
If you can’t get to London to check them out, they also have a store in Wiltshire, otherwise, pop along to their excellent and easy-to-navigate website; you won’t be disappointed.
