PLAYFAIR, William (Grimwade p.628)

[buckler]

There is a massive entry on this gentleman in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (DNB)
The folowing notes only cover his silversmithing and buckle related activities.
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Towards the end of 1781 William Playfair left Boulton and Watt with William Wilson, a co-worker, to set up as silversmiths and platemakers in Marylebone, Middlesex. According to DNB the partnership did not prosper; large debts were run up and the enterprise foundered.
However the London Gazette only records the dissolution of the partnership and there was no bankrupcty proceedings.

26th February 1782- Patent No 1466 in the name of William Playfair for "Making buckles of silver or other metal, plating the surface of copper or other metals with gold or silver "

1st April 1785 - An advertisement in the Times
William Playfair and Co offer Silver Buckles. "A complete Assortment of Buckles as well as the Plated Goods and Jewellery" at
their manufactory London Street, Tottenham Court Road

24 June 1785 - London Gazette 12659
"Notice is hereby given that the partnership lately carried out between William Playfair and William Wilson under the firm of Playfair and Wilson is this day, by mutual consent dissolved and the business carried on there as usual by Wiliam Playfair only "

16th July 1785 - An advertisement in the Morning Post and Daily Advertiser
FASHIONABLE SILVER BUCKLES, PATENT KNEE BUCKLES .. .. .. At the Eldorado Manufacturory, London Street, Tootenham Court Road . Open from Eight in the Morning until Nine at Night"

Grimwade states (page 706) that this William Wilson seems distinct from William Wilson the bucklemaker whose mark was registered in June 1785 at Tottenham Court Road. However given the above information on a buckle related patent, the timing of the partnership dissolution, and the Tottenham Court Road addresses, it does seem likely that they are the same man.

Playfair moved to Paris soon after 1785 and his subsequent career is well documented in DNB