Lost souls visiting the tree-lined streets of Chelsea, London, might be surprised to find a small slice of the savannah among the coffee shops and restaurants. The mysterious sight is not the latest production of Disney’s The Lion King, as might be thought, but rather the flagship store of African luxury house Patrick Mavros.

Established in 2004 by second-generation Alexander Mavros, a shaggy-haired 35-year-old who moved to London to make his mark on the family business, the boutique store is a celebration of the family’s three decades in the sculpting business and a physical location for their products in Europe. Yet to understand how the next gen got his start, he says it is important to know the genesis of the business.

As Mavros explains, a little over 30 years ago in Harare, Zimbabwe – the green and light-filled capital city that sits high on the country’s central plateaux – Catja Mavros (the family’s matriarch) walked into her local salon wearing a pair of rosebud earrings. They had been carved for her by her husband Patrick while he recovered from an illness. So impressed were the hairdressers that soon after he found himself inundated with requests from the whole town. Just two months later he founded the Patrick Mavros jewellery brand.

“Dad has a natural ability to create really, really beautiful representations of his chosen subject and, on top of that, he’s always been a very natural marketer and a great networker,” Alexander says, at an interview just a few months after his store’s tenth anniversary. “Most of his early pieces were just one-offs. But over the years he has expanded it to include everything from ants to elephants.”

Despite finding success with his ivory jewellery, Alexander says it wasn’t long before his now 62-year-old father began looking for a more sustainable material. Soon after he settled on African silver, having recognised its unique properties. To take his art to the next level, Alexander says his father studied the long lost art of wax casting, which ensures that every detail of the original is captured during the process and can be used only once.

Over the years Patrick found himself with an ever increasing product range, with some bespoke orders selling in excess of $500,000. Yet, Alexander says it was important to his father not to price any customer out of the market and their lowest priced item comes in at $50.

Today the entire family is deeply involved in the family business, with Patrick very much at the helm. Sons Alexander, Forbes, 34, Patrick Jr, 30, and Benjamin, 28, each have their own distinct role to play and they are increasingly global in their outlook. And while the next generation have spent their time developing the brand, it wasn’t until Alexander suggested recreating the family home in a flagship store in London that the Mavros’ spirit was finally captured.