HAND ENGRAVING IS ANOTHER CRAFT THAT IS SIMILAR TO BESPOKE TAILORING IN THAT, AS THE YEARS GO BY, THERE ARE FEWER AND FEWER PEOPLE WHO ARE BLESSED WITH THE SKILLS TO PRODUCE THE HIGH QUALITY OF WORK REQUIRED.

Sydney is fortunate therefore to be the home of John Thompson, one of the very few Master Hand Engravers in the world. Working in a small studio in the Dymocks Building in George Street, John, assisted by his son Peter, hand crafts jewellery for both men and women in 18ct gold, platinum and sterling silver. Items include seal and signet rings, wedding and engagement rings, cufflinks, pendants, tie pins and bangles.

Each piece that John produces is unique. He engraves decorative patterns (some of which date back to the Middle Ages), phrases, sayings and personal messages in any language, as well as family seals, crests and badges of all sorts. So intricate is his work that he is capable of hand engraving 60 letters on the circumference of a ring measuring only one centimetre across.

The art of hand engraving was first developed in the 14th century to provide ornamentation on armour, and John still uses the methods and tools that were developed at that time.

In addition to jewellery John also continues to do a limited amount of copper plate engraving, producing invitations and stationary, and limited edition artworks engraved straight on to polished copper plate of subjects ranging from heraldic art to racehorses and songbirds.

Originally from England, earlier in his career John’s commissions included the copper plate engraving for Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s wedding invitation, and a signet ring made for Prince Charles upon his investiture as the Prince Of Wales in 1969.

Both I, and my darling wife Diane, are fortunate enough to own rings made by John, and whilst there is no substitute for seeing his work first hand hopefully images that can be found on his website at www.johnwthompson.net will give you some idea of the quality and uniqueness of his work. If you get the opportunity it’s also well worth paying a visit to John’s studio and seeing and hearing about John’s work first hand.