Master Engraving
Engraving has to be one of the most important factors of jewellery, for the business, the client and for the recipient of the engraved piece. I want to explore our history of engraving, why it is so important and how we have incorporated this longstanding tradition into our modern jewellery pieces.
D.J. Morgan
Cliff Morgan was my step father, who was a master engraver, immensely skilled and technically brilliant along with being such a lovely soft spoken man.
Cliff taught me everything I knew about engraving and precision. This was my start into the jewellery world.
Wendy my sister, who runs D.J. Morgan does an amazing job of turning around our engraving requests so that you receive your personalised jewellery in no time.
Her knowledge, contacts and experience are essential for us and allows us to offer our engraving service to you.
Machine Engraving
Machine engraving is the most common form of engraving, nowadays completed with CAD (computer aided design) and offers a fast implementation of engraving that looks amazing.
The way this type of engraving is done, as was explained to me by my father, is to have the tool indent into the item. As it moves it creates a ridge either side of the indentation taking away very little from the piece itself; which can allow, depending on how deep the engraving is, for corrections if there are errors.
Machine engraving is perfect for jewellery, trophies, and plaques and is the more affordable option.
Hand Engraving
Hand engraving is a more traditional type of engraving where tools are used to remove small sections of the piece leaving an impression.
As a result of this, what is left is a much deeper impression in comparison to machine engraving and as such cannot be corrected if mistakes are made.
Hand engraving is a true skill, available to a select few that takes years to master. It's permanent nature is part of it's appeal - your message engraved forever.
Due to the skill and the time required with hand engraving the cost is much higher than machine engraving, but the results are incomparable. Hand engraving will always look more significant and potent.
You also have that sense of the human element to it, each engraver has their own unique style and way of engraving. No hand engraver will engrave the same as another hand engraver, which also adds to the charm of hand engraving.
You will often see hand engraving on such jewellery items like signet rings, salvers and other silverware, and trophies.
My step father Cliff was a master hand engraver and in Wendy's words "The best". Wendy has however, since Cliff's retirement and subsequent passing, managed to find someone whom she feels is as good as Cliff who completes all of our hand engraving requests for us at Robert W Bawden.
To Conclude
Engraving allows so much expression of emotion and can be the defining part of the piece. A piece of jewellery moves from being 'a piece of jewellery' to 'my piece of jewellery' simply with the addition of engraving.
A specific date for example, may mean nothing to a stranger upon observing your engraved piece, but to you it means the world. Your wedding day, or the birth of your child.
The name of a loved one, or loved ones! A constant reminder of how much you love them and how much they love you.
All in all, engraving is small and finite but incredibly powerful and meaningful.
Thank you for reading. Should you have any questions about our engraving services please do get in touch
