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How is your engagement ring made?  All our engagement rings are handmade in our own workshop, headed by Richard our chief goldsmith who is also a specialist in platinum work. Using traditional techniques learned over the years the process often will involve hand-forging, soldering, filing, stone setting, engraving and polishing - all of these stages requiring years of experience and skill to achieve the best resuts.  Lucy wanted an engagement ring design inspired by a lotus flower
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 A romantic heart shaped stone for Greg's proposal
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 2 shades of sapphire for Matthew
and Ester's engagement ring |
 Sally wanted a combined
engagement and wedding ring design |
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 Tracy wanted to combine blue and green in her engagement ring |
 Lorraine wanted a Celtic influence in her design |
 Richard, our chief gold and silversmith
...In the UK it is a legal requirement that all precious metal jewellery is hallmarked with the maker's mark, date, metal type and place of Assay.
Next the stone is set into the engagement ring. Small amounts of metal are pushed up over the stone using specialist tools. Hand engraving is the next stage with special swan-neck engravers for those tricky letters inside of the shank. Finally the finish is applied and the completed engagement ring emerges. All of these stages take around 6 weeks in total to complete. By the way, our workshop is open to the public and you can see our goldsmiths at work. |
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What are the stages of handmaking?
The metal is sourced from refineries or bullion dealers and first to be formed is the collet - the part of the engagement ring that holds the stones. Tools such as collet punches, saws and hammers are used in this highly skilled and difficult process. The shank is now formed by hammering it around a ring mandrel and joined onto the collet - not as easy as it sounds! It is particularly tricky to fit them together straight and square whilst keeping the shank exactly circular and to a specific ring size. Next is the rather time consuming process of filing, then fine filing, then sanding with emery paper and finally polishing paper... |
 A 4 claw box setting for Claire and Jonathan |
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 Neil proposed to Libby with this stunning diamond that we sourced for them |
 Scott commissioned and engagment ring with engraved lines |
 A twist ring design for Julie and Scott |
 to find out what to do next
If you would like an initial chat about
your idea, please email or call Kate or Jo on +44 (0)1462 790565 - they are very happy to chat about feasibility and possible costs or could book you in for a face to face or phone appointment with one of our designers. |