Services
Hand Engraving
Bright-cut ornament, monograms, crests and armorials cut by hand in precious metal and steel.
Cut with a graver, by eye, one line at a time.
Hand engraving is a cutting process, not a stamping or burning one. A hardened graver is driven through the metal and lifts a chip. What remains is a facet with a mirror floor and a clean, sharp edge, and that facet is what throws light back at the eye. Nothing else reproduces it.
The studio cuts with a 120-degree square graver for bright-cut work and a 90-degree for finer line, both heeled to suit the metal. Silver takes a longer heel than platinum. Steel takes a shorter one. Getting the geometry wrong shows immediately, as a ragged edge or a wandering line.
Depth is held between four and eight hundredths of a millimetre for surface ornament, deeper for work that must survive polishing or daily wear. On a signet bezel that will be worn for fifty years, we cut deep and leave the walls steep.
Scope of work
- Bright-cut and flat-graver ornament
- Monograms, ciphers and interlaced initials
- Crests, armorials and heraldic achievement
- Acanthus, English scroll and Bulino shading
- Wriggle work and line-and-dot borders
- Matching an existing hand on an heirloom
Working notes
The details that decide whether a piece is right or merely finished.
- Graver geometry
Squares heeled for the metal in hand; face angles adjusted for silver, gold, platinum and hardened steel.
- Depth tolerance
0.04-0.08 mm for surface ornament; up to 0.25 mm where the piece will be worn, polished or refinished.
- Layout
Drawn to size in pencil, transferred, and cut freehand. No pantograph, no rotary assistance on ornamental work.
- Finish
Cut faces left as they come off the graver. Bright-cut is never polished after; polishing kills the facet.
Work begins with a conversation.
The studio takes a limited number of commissions each quarter. Enquiries are read by the engraver, not by an assistant.
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