FIVE STAGES,about FOURTEEN WEEKS,one pair of HANDS.
A commission is not a purchase with a delay in it. It is a short collaboration with a fixed shape: we talk, we draw, we carve, we cast and set, we finish. You see the piece at every stage and you can stop or change direction at any of them. Nothing is cast until you have held the wax.
- I
Conversation
An hour at the bench or on a call. We look at what you have brought, talk through how you use your hands, and put a realistic range on it before anyone draws.
- II
Drawing
Hand-drawn at scale, from several angles, with the sections marked. You will see the ring’s profile from the side — which is where most of the decisions actually live.
- III
Model
The design is cut in wax and, where it helps, printed as well. You hold it, wear it for a day if you like, and we adjust it. Nothing is cast until this is right.
- IV
Casting
The model is cast in your metal, the seats are cut individually to your stones, and the stones are set. This is the slowest stage and the one we never compress.
- V
Bench
Filed, pre-polished, sent for hallmarking, then finished by hand. The maker’s mark goes in last, and the piece is weighed and photographed before it is boxed.
What we need from you
- A ring size, or a hand we can measure. We keep a set of sizers and will post one out.
- A budget range, said out loud early. It changes the stone before it changes the design.
- Any stone you already own, including one out of an inherited piece. We will assess it before we promise anything.
- A date, if there is one. Fourteen weeks is comfortable; six is possible and costs more.
The work does not endWHEN THE PIECE LEAVES.
Most commissions run twelve to sixteen weeks from the first conversation. After that, everything we make comes back to us for free: resizing within the first year, re-polishing whenever it dulls, and re-tipping the setting whenever the claws wear — for as long as the piece exists. Bring it in, or post it insured; we will tell you what it needs before we touch it.