Commissioning
The Process
Every year our makers are commissioned to make personal, special, one-off pieces – in fact commissioning is very common, so if you have something in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a maker, or if you still have questions, contact the Goldsmiths’ Fair team who will be delighted to help
Goldsmiths Fair exhibitors are all available for commission
- Whether you are looking for a piece to be reworked, or to start from scratch our exhibitors will be able to help.
- Our makers are all able to work with materials of your choice and to your brief, just ensure that you select a maker whose work you enjoy and whose style suits your brief. Alternatively our exhibitors are all able to work with you to design and make your dream piece from scratch.
- Having a piece made specially for you or your loved ones allows you to be part of the process from start to finish, you will work closely with the maker to visualise exactly what you are looking for and be able to watch the piece develop from start to finish.
- Remember that this is a process and will take longer than buying a piece that is ready made. Always check the lead time when you are placing an order.
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Get Inspired
A special provenance: the remaking of an heirloom with Yvonne Gilhooly
Read our story about a commission that exhibitor Yvonne Gilhooly received at last year’s Fair from her client, Jill, who was drawn to her strikingly modern and bold designs. She went on to commission a cuff with an heirloom Cape diamond that belonged to her grandfather.
For Jill the experience of her first commission was “a delight”:
“What I loved about Yvonne’s approach was that she was totally on my side, understood my worries and was very empathetic. She has brought to life a family heirloom that might have remained in a box. Now I will wear this striking and modern diamond cuff with pride for special occasions, just as my mother did when it was a ring.”
You may be interested in
The Brooch Unpinned: Commissioning the Contemporary
Since it received its first charter in 1327, the Goldsmiths’ Company has supported excellence, craftsmanship, community and skill in the goldsmiths’ trade. The Company continues to commission as well as purchase pieces. Commissioning is very important to the Company, helping to nurture the talent and build the experience and confidence of emerging jewellers as well as celebrating the skills of established makers and documenting their careers.
Men & Brooches: Wearers
It’s easy enough for a curator to fall in love (professionally) with a piece of jewellery. Which is exactly what happened when James Robinson, Head of the Department of Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics and Glass and the Victoria and Albert Museum, saw this paper brooch by Nan Nan Liu. “I find Nan Nan Liu’s works as mesmerising as she intends them to be.
A Sculptor in Gemstones: Charlotte De Syllas in the Goldsmiths’ Company Collection
Robert Adams taught at the Central School of Art and Design from 1949 to 1959 and is now recognised as one of the foremost abstract sculptors in Britain. A good early example of his work is Space Construction with a Spiral, now in the Tate collections, which dates from 1950.