Studio William describes the "Royal Oak Gold Plate" cutleryset as the epitome of elegance. Hidden beneath the handles is a design reference to the historical "kings pattern", which is plated with 24 carat gold. The cutlery can be laid on the table as normal, or have a few, or all pieces turned over in the "continental style" to show the design beneath. Royal Oak gold plate is made using the finest quality 18/10 stainless steel and plated with 24 carat gold, and is available in mirror finish only.

The Royal Oak is the name given to the oak tree in which King Charles II of England hid from the roundheads following the battle of Worcester in 1651. An ancient oak, which is thought to be from an acorn from the original, still stands at Boscobel in Shropshire.

William Welch (born 1972) is an English industrial designer. He is the son of the late post-war industrial designer Robert Welch (21 May 1929-15 March 2000). Welch studied design at the University of Central England (now Birmingham City University) where he completed courses in Furniture Design and Silversmithing. From 1995-1997 Welch worked for Pentagram Design London as a junior designer under practice partner Kenneth Grange, and later worked in the same design consultancy for Daniel Wiel (1997–1999). He then completed a Master of Arts Degree at the Royal College of Art, London in 2001. As part of a research and development project he created cutlery for people with physical disabilities called "Adaptable Cutlery", which changed shape to accommodate the user’s physical abilities. This gained the graduating year’s top Helen Hamlyn Award for Design in 2001. The Adaptable Cutlery was also a category award winner for the Peugeot/Oxo Design Awards in 2002 and was crowned overall winner of all ten design categories. Following the death of his father, William was appointed Company Director at Robert Welch Designs Ltd in 2001. William worked alongside his brother Rupert until 2005 when he broke away from the company and launched Studio William Cutlery in 2005.