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John Lewis Natural Collection mattresses

Steve Fry asked
8th June 2011

Hi John, Fantastic website!

What a minefield you have to negotiate, just to have a decent kip!

As I am one of those people who will spend hours researching a product, to ensure I get the right quality/spec/price for my needs, I had already made my choice, as to spec and price range, prior to finding your website. Your info has merely served to reinforce what I had already decided for myself. The difference is that, now I know I’ll be making a more informed choice, whilst previously, I was merely hoping!

Let me describe what I had decided on and why, before I ask your advice about how my choices compare to a couple of your offerings. I weigh 14st and my wife weighs 13st and we seem to prefer the medium firmness level in the two beds we liked the most. We want a Kingsize. We were open to a budget of between £1000-£1500 for the mattress and wanted the best we could get within this range. The two that we narrowed it down to were : John Lewis Natural collection Premier Wool (5000. springs) @ £1300. Made by Spink & Edgar. I know that spring count comparison is only relevant within a range, as each brand will use different quantities/quality/configurations so am not drawn to this solely on spring count. The second choice was: M&S Autograph luxury 2000. (2048 springs in two layers) @ £1249. With my daughter’s staff discount & a current cash back offer, this mattress now comes in at £800. By detective work I think that this may be made by Relyon The makeup of both beds is similar and compares favourably to your Artisan Natural 1200. I intend to buy a new 4 drawer sprung divan to put it on. Here’s my question, I’ve seen your description of your Artisan Bespoke and how it compares to the Vi-Spring model at £3200 (totally out of my range) and am now wondering if I would be better off buying the Artisan Bespoke instead. Will I gain much in terms of comfort and longevity of that comfort, for the extra £900 asking price over the M&S/Artisan 1200 that I had previously decided on?

I had only ruled out the John Lewis because, at £800, the other two appear to be the similar spec for less. Whilst I want to get the best mattress I can, with the right comfort/quality/price balance, I don’t want to fall into the trap of assuming that because the Bespoke is twice the price, it must be much better than my original choices. Can you cast your twopenneth over my dilemma?

Sorry for the length of my ramblings. I would appreciate you honest advice. Cheers Steve. .

1 Answer
Lee Staff
answered 13 years ago

Hi Steve.

Before we answer we do have two posts that detail comparisons to John Lewis mattresses and also Vispring at John Lewis.

Lets break down your question[s] into managable bits based on what you will get for the money you are paying: The Marks and Spencer Autograph Luxury 2000: Polyester white fibre – cotton felt – pure cotton and hand-teased mohair – 3 rows HSS – Two sided.

John Lewis Natural Collection Premier Wool Wool, hemp and cotton – 3 rows HSS – Two sided There really isn’t any way these can be compared like for like.

Harrisson Spinks [excessive ?] use of HD springs can be argued that loft and [arguably] spring count is gained at the expense of upholstery.

If we look at The M & S Autograph first, we see that it uses a double spring layer (no gripes) but the upholstery contained seems to be inadequate for the price asked.

The use of polyester in a mattress in this price range – even with your cashback and discounts etc, just should not be there.

I would be inclined to ask for complete clarification of the breakdown by weight [GSM] to put it into some sort of context.

From the description and looking at the cutaway I can’t seem to fathom out the correlations.

The JL Naturals Wool is I believe more from Harrisons than Spinks.

It may be worth throwing the Spink and Edgar Heirloom model in the mix for comparison.

This has a dubious RRP of over £2000 [KS mattress] so it would be interesting to see where the savings were made.

Again, ad nauseum, the important bits are not there – the weights!!

– So ask yourself – or indeed Harrison’s themselves, how much room is left in the mattress for fillings once all those springs have been placed inside?

As for our Artisan Bespoke?

You are right.

Just because something is more expensive does not mean it is better.

Price and Quality perception is mentioned elsewhere on this site and our direct and blatant comparison to The Lynmouth can be seen as testament to this.

For the sake of the comparisons above I would not use the Bespoke model for comparison as the differences are too great to be compared to the models you have mentioned.

What I would do is ask you to include the Artisan Naturals to your list.

John Ryan By Design Artisan NaturalsVi Spring Regal Superb
11200gsm Blended British Fleece Wool and Cotton.900gsm Blended real Shetland Isle Fleece Wool and Cotton
2Hairproof Cambric CoverHairproof Cambric Cover
31250gsm Rebound Poly Cotton1200gsm long stranded Horsetail blended with British Fleece Wool
41500gsm 100% Pure Mohair1000gsm Bonded British Fleece Wool and Cotton
51600 Calico encased Pocket Springs [ 49mm ] [1.28mm ]1720 Calico encased Pocket Springs [48mm ] [1.28mm ]
Total GSM3950gsm3100gsm

Once you have the neccessary information from Harrrisons and Relyon and do the informed comparisons, you will soon see why we are so unashamedly confident.

Finally Steve, Ryan and I do not have any gripe with any manufacturer.

Our descriptions are, in our minds, ‘unnessarily’ detailed and descriptive, but it has to be done in some way to show you what is so fundamentally missing from the vast majority of sites and stores.

Your dilemma exists because you are expected to put a pin in a list of similarly priced mattresses and hope to goodness you have made the right choice.

Is the wool layer 300gsm or 800gsm or 1200gsm?

Is the cotton 500gsm or 1000gsm or even 1200gsm?

How much Silk is blended with the wool?

You have absolutely no way of knowing because you are not being told.

Why Not?

Despite you doing what you believe to be elementary research, you are still in the minefield of not knowing whether the HD springs from Harrisons are better than the double layer of springs from Relyon – Or indeed, whether our Calico springs are any better than either of these.

And this same game of ‘what’s better’ can be applied to the myriad of other components contained in every single available mattress.

Given that there are literally hundreds of mattresses in any particular price range shows you that no matter how much research you are prepared to do – you will never, ever find a definitive answer.

So sorry for the extended reply on what should of been a simple this is better than that!

This industry wants a bloody good shake up and premium retailers such as Marks and Spencer and John Lewis should be leading the way for change not two geeks from Manchester.

If you require any further assistance please call the office on 0161 437 4419.

Please find our office opening times here.

Kind Regards John and Ryan

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