Jewellery Casting Scotland talks astronaut Tim Peake and Celtic designs ahead of IJL 2016

Jewellery Casting Scotland talks astronaut Tim Peake and Celtic designs ahead of IJL 2016

We look forward to welcoming the team from Jewellery Casting Scotland to International Jewellery London in September. 

To help you get to know the company, we spoke to founder and managing director, Mike Hurst, about creating pendants for astronaut Tim Peake, his popular ‘Little White Books’ and the tricky nature of Celtic jewellery designs…

On meeting new customers…

“Everybody has questions about casting and for the uninitiated it can be a bit of a scary prospect. But the tea at Jewellery Casting Scotland is prepared and briefed to help, whether your questions are highly technical or just plain silly.”

On staying informed…

“We have a great website jam-packed full of information so you need look no further for estimate costs, information about what metals to use, and work out he moulds you need. Our Facebook page has lots of useful technical tips from us, so keep an eye on it to stay up-to-date with all that’s going on.”

Why every day is different…

“Every day something new arrives in the post like waxes, prints, natural objects and beautifully crafted masters in metal. We don’t just receive jewellery orders, we get parts for musical instruments (bagpipes are a speciality), antique tram cars and even promotions for whiskey firms. Recently we made brass watch chains for the yacht club, parts for church lanterns and a range of equine jewellery – for the riders not the horses. This on top of our day-to-day work which involves casting in a range of metals for jewellery designs and volume producers.”

On crafting pendants for Tim Peake…

“An exciting project we took on recently was making pendants for British astronaut Tim Peake to take into space. Astronauts are permitted to take pieces of jewellery up to the International Space Station, engraved with ‘I’ve been in space’, which can then be given to their families. We were very lucky to get the job to design, cast and finish 20 pendants for Tim.”

On casting Celtic designs…

“Casting intricate Celtic woven designs is always a challenge, from cutting the original moulds to waxing and then the actual casting. There are problems at every step, but we are every experienced in the field and we believe if you can cast an open, double woven Celtic knot ring you can do anything! If it’s not perfect first time, we just plug away until we get it exactly right.”

On their popular ‘Little White Books’…

“Our regular customers love their ‘Little White Books’, which have annotated images of all the moulds we hold for them. We also offer this service to new customers, especially as it helps to avoid ordering errors.”

Say hello to Jewellery Casting Scotland at International Jewellery London from 4th-6th September 2016 at Olympia Grand. Find them on Stand N48.

Register to attend International Jewellery London here

Register in advance online for the chance to win either an exclusive Champneys Pamper Spa Day for two or an Aston Martin Thrill Day at a famous motor race circuit!

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