The London Lounge

Any recommendations for manufacturers of bespoke signet rings around London or south east England?

Thanks.

Hi,
no experience til there but have a look into this site:

www.ruffs.co.uk

One of the best manufacturing jewellers are Deakin & Francis (http://www.deakinandfrancis.co.uk/). They do not deal retail, but the majority of cufflinks and rings you can buy in the UK today is produced by them. They supply most of the London jewellers. I suggest you call them and enquire who stocks their products in your viccinity.

If you are in London, you could also try any of the grand old names in Bond Street such as Asprey (the press reports they just needed another refinancing...). Longmire is also a reliable if extremely expensive source: http://www.longmire.co.uk/

I have 2 crested rings - one made by Ruffs of Gosport and one by Ian Norrington of Farnham..both have helpful websites that can be got through Google..as far as I know these are the 2 main makers in the South East.

Interesting that Dorian271 and charles recommend the same company, which I note on their website claims:

"The engraver's art is a very special one and we are proud to boast three of the finest engravers at work in the U.K at the moment".

I have seen some horrendous engravings of crests in recent years and I believe this is because the art of fine engraving is dying out fast. There are plenty of engravers around who will claim to do a good job, but in truth finding an engraver 'craftsman' of the old school is rare. MIne was engraved more than than thirty years ago by an engraver of lifelong experience, although now long gone. It's worth taking your time to investigate this thoroughly since it's something that you only do once in a lifetime and where cost ought not to be an issue. Also, I suggest 18ct as being the best and most suitable gold for colour and durability - over time it wears beautifully with the rubs and scratches of everyday life, but don't consider 9ct at all. This is mine:

I found a rather good engraver a number of years ago to do my ring. He managed to fit in my entire crest (though he couldn't properly write out the motto) onto a fairly small ring and it even looks decent under a spy glass, although it does look a little rough under such magnification. Despite being done in 14ct gold it's already showing signs of wear, which points to the downside of having a very delicate engraving. At any rate, I found that the best way to find a good engraver was to ask fine jewellry stores who they recommend in the area. You will often find that they have samples of the craftsman's work in the store too.

How does one go about posting a picture? I would very much like to share my ring.

9ct is suited for those who wish to emulate.

The practice of engraving dying out is also reflected in stationary dies and the limited amount of options can get as well as the inconvenient time required to have them done.

For posting an image, you have to upload the image onto a website host such as www.photobucket.com and then wrapping the link with in the message.

I finally got around to taking a picture of my ring. Despite taking no less than a dozen shots, none of them are entirely satisfactory, and you really can't see the detail very well. I've attached a sketch of the design for reference, though on the ring the crest is embellished with billowing ribbons that look like so many dents and scratches in the photo.



This sketch was done for a silver tea service. It is a slightly stripped down version of the crest, but looks clean.




My family motto, which could not be put on the ring is "Make haste slowly", which I believe is the perfect motto for any gentleman to live by.[/img]

Godfrey S. wrote:. . . . on the ring the crest is embellished with billowing ribbons that look like so many dents and scratches in the photo.

Actually, the ring (which is engraved with arms and helm as well as crest, the image which is set atop the helmet) appears quite nice in the photograph. Who engraved it for you?

RWS wrote:Actually, the ring (which is engraved with arms and helm as well as crest, the image which is set atop the helmet) appears quite nice in the photograph. Who engraved it for you?

I found it hard to locate anywhere in Toronto that would do such engravings, but a family friend who owns a great store north of the city in Uxbridge (Rutledge Jewellers) knew of an excellent semi-retired engraver and was kind enough to commision the ring for me. I don't doubt that there are a number of other engravers around any city who could do an equal or better job, but finding them can be difficult.

Godfrey S. wrote: My family motto, which could not be put on the ring is "Make haste slowly", which I believe is the perfect motto for any gentleman to live by.[/img]

Incidentally, motto's are not actually meant to be added to the crest on a signet ring.

I place smaller items on my scanner for a clearer image and then save as a jpeg and uplift in the usual way.