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Bespoke jewellery made to order in silver or 9ct gold
I will quote you for any bespoke design providing you can provide your own drawings
Unlike ordering from your local jeweller, I do not have the benifit of discussing with you face to face, therefore providing a design service is not an option as over the telephone and internet would be almost impossible, and very time consuming.
A truly bespoke design starts with an idea, if you are able to convey that idea by way of some rough sketches or drawings possibly backed up with pictures of a similar product it gives me a place to start.
Unlike ordering from your local jeweller, I do not have the benifit of discussing with you face to face, therefore providing a design service is not an option as over the telephone and internet would be almost impossible, and very time consuming.
A truly bespoke design starts with an idea, if you are able to convey that idea by way of some rough sketches or drawings possibly backed up with pictures of a similar product it gives me a place to start.
Next your idea is converted into scaled down drawings, by myself, from which I can cut out mould and
shape each individual piece of your design.
Taking the man on the sail board as an example this item is made up of 11 individually produced pieces.
1 :: The main body of the board itself cut from 2mm thick 9ct gold sheet material.
2 :: The centre board or fin protruding from the bottom of the board ( inverted shark fin )
3 :: The mast which was produced from 1.75mm thick solid 9ct gold round wire.
4 :: The hand rail which was produced from appx 0.75mm thick solid 9ct gold round wire.
5 :: The main sail, cut from milled 9ct gold sheet appx 0.50mm thick and plannished to the curved shape.
6 :: The man's body which trying to get an authentic shape I carved and filed from a thick oblong block.
7 :: The man's legs made from 1.75mm wire in a U shape, bent at the knees, then filed to form ankles feet, thighs and generally try to make it look human rather than a matchstick man or Mitchelin man.
8 & 9 :: The arms made singly from 1.5mm thick round wire, and shaped and filed to an authentic shape.
10 :: The mans head, one of the hardest shapes to produce from gold or silver as a one off item.
11 :: The runner and jump ring, made 1.50 mm thick to support the weight and to look proportionate.
Taking the man on the sail board as an example this item is made up of 11 individually produced pieces.
1 :: The main body of the board itself cut from 2mm thick 9ct gold sheet material.
2 :: The centre board or fin protruding from the bottom of the board ( inverted shark fin )
3 :: The mast which was produced from 1.75mm thick solid 9ct gold round wire.
4 :: The hand rail which was produced from appx 0.75mm thick solid 9ct gold round wire.
5 :: The main sail, cut from milled 9ct gold sheet appx 0.50mm thick and plannished to the curved shape.
6 :: The man's body which trying to get an authentic shape I carved and filed from a thick oblong block.
7 :: The man's legs made from 1.75mm wire in a U shape, bent at the knees, then filed to form ankles feet, thighs and generally try to make it look human rather than a matchstick man or Mitchelin man.
8 & 9 :: The arms made singly from 1.5mm thick round wire, and shaped and filed to an authentic shape.
10 :: The mans head, one of the hardest shapes to produce from gold or silver as a one off item.
11 :: The runner and jump ring, made 1.50 mm thick to support the weight and to look proportionate.
One by one each of these individual pieces has to be hard gold soldered together very precicely
Taking a considerable amount of time and care is what makes handmade jewellery more expensive than mass produced, the man on the sail board for example took me about 30 hours from start to finnish, where as the world war two lady in a cape took me about 8 hours & the 3 initials cut from an oval frame will on average take about 3 hours.
Taking a considerable amount of time and care is what makes handmade jewellery more expensive than mass produced, the man on the sail board for example took me about 30 hours from start to finnish, where as the world war two lady in a cape took me about 8 hours & the 3 initials cut from an oval frame will on average take about 3 hours.
Mass produced items are often made using similar techniques but with one very major difference.
Having spent 5 or 10 or even 40 or 50 hours making the initial piece, from the original a rubber mould is produced. From this rubber mould wax models are produced in a matter of a few seconds.
These wax models are joined together on what looks like an inverted christmas tree, and can now be surrounded in a liquid investement plaster ( like plaster of paris ) once dried and heated the wax is melted out to produce what is known of as a lost wax casting mould into which molten gold or silver is poored.
Once the casting has cooled down these almost perfect replicas of the original need only a few minutes of attention from an average craftsman to look almost as good but at a fraction of the cost of handmade.
Having spent 5 or 10 or even 40 or 50 hours making the initial piece, from the original a rubber mould is produced. From this rubber mould wax models are produced in a matter of a few seconds.
These wax models are joined together on what looks like an inverted christmas tree, and can now be surrounded in a liquid investement plaster ( like plaster of paris ) once dried and heated the wax is melted out to produce what is known of as a lost wax casting mould into which molten gold or silver is poored.
Once the casting has cooled down these almost perfect replicas of the original need only a few minutes of attention from an average craftsman to look almost as good but at a fraction of the cost of handmade.