Silver Cross (pram)

Silver Cross is a British nursery brand and manufacturer of baby transport and other baby-related products. It is a family-owned company based in Skipton, North Yorkshire, and is best known for the production of baby prams and pushchairs, particularly coach-built prams. Silver Cross is also a manufacturer of infant car seats, nursery furniture, nursery bedding, nursery decor, toys and gifts. The brand supplies nursery products globally in over 50 countries and has a flagship retail boutique in the Ocean Terminal Centre, Hong Kong. Silver Cross was established in 1877 in Leeds, England and is one of the oldest nursery brands in the world.

Silver Cross is well known for the manufacture of traditional coach-built prams, characterised by a hard body, C-spring suspension, spoked wheels and folding hood. This method of pram building was pioneered by William Wilson, an engineer and inventor from Leeds, England. Wilson went on to establish Silver Cross in 1877, marketing this type of coach-built baby carriage, and registering numerous patents for perambulator design in order to protect his unique invention. Despite refinements in techniques and manufacturing processes, the method of pram building today remains very similar to early pram building, with body panels being pressed from aluminium, riveted together and then painted to a high gloss finish. The body is then hand upholstered with a pram bed, and also decorated with fine line detail (in kind with fine lines applied to the coachwork of horse-drawn carriages - hence the term coach-built pram). The fine lines are hand painted and require considerable skill to apply. The steel suspension of the pram is hand bent around a specially shaped form in order to create the C-shaped suspension members, which are then attached to the body using leather straps. It is the C-spring suspension and leather straps that create the unique coach-built pram 'bounce'. The spoked wheels (traditionally chromed) are then attached to the suspension to complete the rolling chassis. Traditional pram wheels are large in diameter to further enhance the smooth ride. A folding fabric hood, pushing handle and covering fabric apron are then attached to the pram to complete the build. Silver Cross also manufactures a collection of coach-built dolls prams, which are scaled-down replicas of the full size prams. The dolls prams are made in exactly the same way as the real prams with the same coachwork, spoked wheels and folding hood. Silver Cross currently manufactures two models of full-size coach-built pram in the UK, the Balmoral and the Kensington, as well as two models of dolls pram, the Oberon and the Chatsworth. Silver Cross is the only pram manufacturer still producing coach-built prams in the UK.

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