Services
Seal & Signet Work
Intaglio seal matrices, signet bezels and armorial rings cut in reverse for impression in wax.
The oldest job in the trade, and still the most exacting.
Seal work is cut in reverse and in negative. The engraver is looking at a mirror image of a void and judging how it will read when pressed into wax at a shallow angle under a candle. Very little in the trade demands more discipline of the eye.
Depth and wall angle decide whether an impression releases cleanly. Too shallow and the wax reads flat. Too deep with vertical walls and the wax tears on withdrawal. The studio cuts intaglio at roughly seventy degrees on the walls, which releases reliably from soft and hard wax alike.
For signet rings the bezel is prepared before cutting: levelled, the dome checked against a straightedge, and the metal state confirmed. Cutting into an unannealed cast bezel is how a graver breaks and a client loses a ring.
Scope of work
- Intaglio armorials and crests for wax
- Signet bezel preparation and levelling
- Desk seals, fobs and matrix mounting
- Cypher and monogram seals
- Steel matrix cutting for repeated use
- Wax proofs supplied with every seal
Working notes
The details that decide whether a piece is right or merely finished.
- Wall angle
Cut at about 70 degrees so the impression releases cleanly from both soft and hard sealing wax.
- Depth
0.35-0.6 mm depending on the size of the field and the coarseness of the wax intended.
- Proofing
Three wax impressions are taken and photographed before a matrix leaves the studio.
- Heraldry
Blazons are cut as described, not as loosely drawn. Where a blazon is ambiguous we ask before we cut.
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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