A change to our opening days

Please be aware that Thursdays from 24th July will be workshop only days. This means that the shop will be closed as we will be busy completing the many commissions, remodels and repairs we have currently underway. As this is an increasing part of our business we decided to initially trial this for the summer months and will continue to do so into September/October. We apologise for any inconvenience and if this causes you significant difficulty we may be able to organise a pre-booked appointment on those days.

Birthstone of the month

October birthstone is the magical opal which is renowned for its iridescent play of colour. Opals are a hydrated silica mineraloid. The most desirable opals display a vibrant spectrum of different hues.There is also the vibrant fire opal which is is a warm orange without any colour flashes. Opals are found all over the world, mainly in Australia & Ethiopia. Those mined in the Australian outback yield the finest quality stones. Most often opals are seen in their cabochon form in jewellery but they can also be faceted. Colours can be intensified by the layered process seen in a doublet or triplet which is an assembled gem consisting of two or three layers with the darker layer beneath to intensify the colour and a crystal top layer can magnify the effect to give the appearance of a black opal at a greatly reduced cost. The relative softness and high water content of opals means they should be treated with care.

Below are some photos of our opal collection. More examples can be found on our website

Showcasing some of our other recent commissions and handmade pieces