All our design team have a minimum of 4 years training in Jewellery design or 3D design at Art College. We also have an in house, ongoing, training scheme of technical projects in metal fabrication and wax modelling in our workshop to make sure all our team members know the best methods of manufacture to employ for any given project.

Designing and making a piece of jewellery for someone is by necessity an interactive process. The aim of this process is to consult with our customer at all times ensuring that they get a unique piece, made to their specification, that they are satisfied with.

• Initial design discussions
• Drawing up initial designs
• Choosing the right stone
• Wax carving
• The lost wax casting process
• Rough finishing
• Hallmarking
• Setting stones
• Final polishing and cleaning
• The finished piece

Make a design appointment.

Discuss what the customer has in mind. Sometimes it is a good idea to establish what customers definitely don’t want which will then point to the other options available. Initial reference material such as rough sketches or photos from magazines can be very helpful at this point.

Show some examples from our existing stock or photographs.

Draw up some rough sketches as quick illustrations of options available.

Once a style of product has been identified we would then advise on the best method of manufacture and discuss any stones to be used and how best to set them.

There is an initial charge payable before any drawings are carried out. If the customer chooses to proceed with making the piece then this amount will be deducted from the final production costs.

Technical coloured drawings including plan and side elevations with all dimensions in millimetres for customer approval and technical information for our workshop.

We normally give the customer several choices of design from which to make their final decision. All designs are fully costed inclusive of VAT.

After the customer has decided on which design they wish to proceed, where appropriate, we would make a wax model. A wax model would not be created if we were fabricating the piece from metal sheet, wire or tube.

A selection of stones may be ordered for customer approval.

Our design team will advise which stones suit particular setting styles.

Customers can choose a colour and we would advise which stones will fit with that colour.

Stone prices start from £15 and we will try to work within our customers proposed budget.

We make wax models for four different reasons

The wax model IS the final piece as it is used directly to produce the metal casting. We only produce one per design. If you want more than one model made then there will be a further charge for that model.

A 3D wax model allows the customer to see exactly the form and scale of the finished piece and is much more easily understood than a series of technical drawings. As wax is not an expensive material it allows for easier alteration of any design if there is any area which the customer feels should be modified.

Once the customer has given the go ahead to use the wax model the creative part of our job is complete and becomes a technical production process.

Carving Wax – wax comes in a variety of forms (blocks, tubes sheets etc.). It is usually coloured to indicate degrees of hardness and is more like a hard plastic than candlewax.

Tools and techniques – we use files in a variety of profiles. Engraving tools. Electric drills and burrs of various profiles. Heated wax carving tools to melt areas of wax.

All waxes are sent to a specialist casting company in Birmingham. Casting is a very technical process which we feel is better left to the experts, which ensures we end up with a top quality product.

The Lost Wax Process consists of:

Making a wax tree – our wax will be one of around 70 which will be built into a wax tree. The central core is a 10mm round rod of wax on to which the 70 branches known as sprues are fixed at an angle of approximately 35 degrees from the vertical. These sprues will act as “feeds” allowing molten metal to flow efficiently into the areas we want to cast.

Making a plaster mould – the wax tree is then placed within a metal tubular flask and filled with a very fine Plaster of Paris mixture under vacuum to create a mould.

Burn out of the wax – once the plaster has dried out the mould is placed in a kiln to burn out the wax to leave a perfect mould of the original wax tree.

Centrifugal casting – while the mould is still warm from the kiln it is placed within a centrifugal casting unit where molten metal is shot into the mould forcing it’s way into every small space to create a metal tree.

The plaster mould is then removed from the flask and shot blasted to remove the plaster. Our metal casting is then cut from it’s sprue and sent to us.

Filing up the rough casting – using files to get rid of any surface casting flaws or imperfections

Using abrasive papers – after the filing process we use coarse through to fine grades of emery paper to produce a nice even surface ready to be polished.

Adding the sponsors mark – after papering we stamp our sponsors mark into the surface of the metal next to the area where the hallmark will be and send the piece to the Edinburgh Assay office for testing and hallmarking.

What is a hallmark? – A hallmark on a piece of precious jewellery is a guarantee to the customer that the item has been chemically tested and contains at least the minimum content of precious metal that it has been sold as.

For example – 18ct gold contains 750 units of pure gold per 1000 units. The other 250 units contained within the alloy is normally made up from a mixture of silver, copper and palladium.

All jewellery made by “Sandy Menzies Jewellers” requiring to be hallmarked is hallmarked in Scotland by the Edinburgh Assay office.

If you want to find out more about Hallmarking go to Jewellery Facts/Hallmarks

We use a number of different setting techniques depending on the type and size of stone that needs to be set, preferring to use settings which afford the stone maximum security and protection. We normally recommend the following techniques.

Rub setting – a thin wall of metal surrounding the edge of the stone for maximum security .

Gipsy setting – nice simple setting with the stone embedded into the metal and the metal burnished down on to the edge of the stone.

Pave setting – stones set flush with the surface and held in by very small beaded claws. Mainly used when setting many small stones close together to produce an overall “sparkle” effect.

Channel setting – tends to be used for small to medium sized stones set in undercuts between two walls of gold.

Claw setting – there are many different styles of claw settings.

The polishing motor – We use an electric polishing motor with a spindle rotating at 3600 rpm on to which a number of different cotton polishing mops and scotchbrite matting mops may be fitted.

Polishing compounds – polishing is a three step process starting off with a general polishing mop on to which a green dialux compound is applied. Then a finer mop using rouge block compound and finally a very fine cotton mop with a water/ radio rouge powder mixture.

Ultrasonic cleaning – To get rid of any polish adhering to the surface of the finished piece we place it in an ultrasonic bath which shakes all the greasy abrasive compounds from the surface and leaves all the stones sparkling.

Rhodium plating – because white gold in it’s natural state is a pale greyish/ yellow we Rhodium plate the surface to give a very white finish to the piece. It should be noted that Rhodium plating will only last for a limited period of time (dependant on the level of wear) and will probably have to be replated every 18 months or so.

The finsihed piece!