THG is a well-known name in the sanitaryware world. This brand is a goldsmith of French luxury. With its meticulous craftsmanship, classicism and sobriety, and collaborations with great names such as Baccarat and Lalique, THG produces luxury fittings that are known and recognized the world over.
If you’ve ever looked at the pieces designed by THG, a company based in the Hauts-de-France region of France, you’ll have noticed. These taps are made to be, above all, objets d’art, delicately decorated with semi-precious or precious stones.
In 2012, the company was awarded the famous “Living Heritage Company” label by the French Ministry of Industry, which wanted to highlight its artisanal and industrial know-how. It’s true that, over the years, the company has accumulated expertise in a dozen different trades, at every stage of production. Each stage is carefully checked to ensure that our creations are of the highest quality. Above all, THG aims to be a resolutely timeless house of luxury.
THG was founded in 1956. The adventure took place in the cradle of faucets and locksmithing, more precisely in the Vimeu region, at Béthencourt-sur-Mer. The initiative was the brainchild of three people, André Tétard, Julien Haudiquez and Alexandre Grisoni, who wanted to manufacture entry-level fittings for hospitals, schools and low-income housing. The company evolved and in the 1970s collaborated with designer Jean-Claude Delépine, who pushed the company into the luxury sector.
To combat the lack of encouraging prospects, the company decided to manufacture high-end, stylish fittings. This was a major factor in the company’s survival in the 1990s, when it faced competition from Chinese and Eastern European companies. In this way, it can effectively combat low-cost industrialization. She perpetuates ancestral know-how and becomes the spearhead of this industry.
It designs numerous collections that can be found in over 30 countries. These are created by renowned designers such as Jamie Drake, Chantal Thomass, Pierre-Yves Rochon and Olivier Gossart. The company also collaborates with leading luxury companies, such as porcelain manufacturer Bernardaud and Daum master glassmakers.
The group’s sales strategy is geared towards private customers, but also palaces (the Crillon, the Burj al-Arab in Dubai and the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel in Las Vegas) and luxury yachts. THG has equipped numerous Parisian hotels, as well as the yachts of Paul Allen and Roman Abramovitch. It is currently expanding into China and Brazil to maximize its growth. The company has also supplied fittings for the Kremlin’s bathrooms and toilets.
Specialists in the field of luxury fittings, THG offers a very fine range of products, with prices ranging from 800 to over 6,000 euros. The company employs around 200 people who work on each item from A to Z. This enables the company to manufacture personalized objects without the need for subcontractors.
THG’s main aim is to seduce wealthy customers, and to achieve this, it tries out a number of different tricks. This was the case, for example, with its collaboration with the Lalique group. THG wanted to create a specific crystal faucet for a wealthy Saudi. Negotiations were tough, but in the end, the crystal maker agreed to this major collaboration. Other renowned houses have also agreed to collaborate with THG: Christofle, the Manufacture de Monaco… The company is also looking for ways to get closer to the art world. The company has collaborated with a number of designers: Jean-Claude Delépine, who in the late 1970s wanted to transform the bathroom into a real living space, Olivia Putman…
The label’s first foray into the world of luxury was in 1977 with the Diplomatie range. In the 2000s, the collaboration with Lalique radically promoted THG, and the company began exporting all over the world. In 2016, a boutique was opened in London, followed a year later by one in Dubai. In 2017, THG opens showrooms in New York and Moscow.
A number of the label’s products are worthy of mention, including the “Numéro 60” range, an update of the “Pétale de Cristal” collection. It features a stencil-engraved decoration covered with hand-polished gold powder and embellished with a conical element in clear crystal.
All the company’s creations are elegantly embellished with fine stones, crystal, porcelain, onyx, optical glass or marble. They are meticulously detailed and terribly in tune with the times. The company is keeping pace with changing attitudes to the bathroom. Today, the bathroom is first and foremost a place for relaxation, a kind of boudoir that deserves the very best. That’s why THG manufactures made-to-measure elements based on unique projects.
The THG collection also includes the Hirondelles range, featuring attractive motifs on colorless crystal and stamped with gold (or platinum, depending on the client). The pieces offer a vision of rare lightness. More contemporary, the Icon-X range features attractive titanium handles. Here, decoration and embellishment are enhanced by the symbiosis of form and function.
The Nihal collection transports us to the Middle East, combining gold and ivory porcelain in a form inspired by Arab-Muslim art and its most beautiful buildings.
In addition to top-of-the-range faucets, THG also produces accessories, sanitaryware, towel rails and knobs and handles. And we like it! The company’s sales have been stable for many years. Its export share climbs to 66%. THG is now keen to regain market share in France, and has turned its attention to kitchen fittings.
