Questions

• Will my piece carry a hallmark?

  The threshold for silver is 7.78 g, half a troy ounce. At or above it a piece must be sent for independent hallmarking, which is a legal requirement rather than a choice, so every vessel, every spoon but the salt spoon, the signet and the heavier pendants go away to be marked. Most of the bands weigh less than that and arrive unmarked.

  If you would like a piece marked that does not legally need to be, say so when you order. It adds about ten days and a small fee, and I think it is usually worth it, because a dated mark places the piece in time forever. There is a fuller explanation in what a hallmark tells you.

• How do I find out my ring size?

  Tell me you do not know and I will post you a set of plastic ring sizers to keep, anywhere in the UK, free. Try them at the end of the day rather than first thing, and on a warm hand rather than a cold one, because fingers change size by up to half a size across a day.

  If you already know your size, tell me whether it was measured for a narrow band or a wide one. A wide band needs to be about a quarter to half a size larger than a narrow one to feel the same, and that catches a lot of people out. All sizes here are UK letters, F to Z plus 3.

• Can you resize a ring later?

  Usually yes, on a plain band, up or down by two sizes, for £45 to £75 depending on the width and the finish. Beyond two sizes the proportions start to suffer and it is often better to make a new band and take the old one back against the price as scrap.

  A ring I made is resized free within the first year and at the same £45 to £75 after that. Refinishing a piece I made is always free, whatever its age, because it takes no metal away. Rings made elsewhere I will look at, but see the question below about other makers' work.

• Will you repair something you did not make?

  Yes, and a good deal of my week is exactly that. Cleaning, re-tipping worn cutlery, dents in bowls and jugs, and hinges that have failed. The ranges are all on the restoration page.

  The exceptions are gold and platinum, which are different metals with different habits, and stone setting, which is its own trade. I will tell you at the photograph stage if a piece needs somebody else, and I will try to say who.

• How long will my piece take?

  Stock pieces go out within two working days. Made to order rings and pendants are three to four weeks. Spoons are four to six weeks for one and eight to twelve for a set. Raised vessels and bowls are eight to sixteen weeks depending on size.

  Add about ten days if the piece needs hallmarking. If there is a date it has to meet, tell me the date in the first email and I will either commit to it in writing or tell you plainly that I cannot.

• What deposit do you take, and when?

  A third of the quoted price, at the third stage of a commission, once the drawing is agreed and before I order metal. The balance is due before the piece is dispatched.

  The deposit covers the metal and the first block of bench time. If you cancel before I start cutting, it is returned in full. Once work has begun it is not refundable, because the hours and the metal are already spent. That is set out properly in the terms.

• Can I use my own silver, or trade old pieces in?

  Old silver can come off the price at the day's scrap rate, weighed openly with photographs of the scale sent to you. It is usually less than people hope, because scrap rate sits well below retail, but it is real money.

  Working directly from metal you supply is harder. I cannot assay it, so I cannot guarantee how it will behave under heat or what standard it will hallmark at, and one unknown alloy can ruin a week. For sentimental metal, melting it into the batch that becomes your piece is the practical compromise, and I am glad to do that.

• How is a piece packed and sent?

  Wrapped in acid free tissue, boxed, and sent tracked and insured within the UK, included in the price. Vessels and bowls travel in a fitted box inside an outer carton.

  I ship to the EU, North America and Australia at cost, tracked and insured, and I declare the full value on the customs form because doing otherwise voids the insurance. Any import duty or tax at your end is yours to pay and I cannot estimate it for you. Collection from the workshop is free, by arrangement.

• Do you gift wrap?

  Yes, free, and I would rather do it properly than sell it as an extra. Grey paper, a plain ribbon, and no branding on the outer box so a courier does not announce it on a doorstep.

  Say who it is for and I will leave the price off the paperwork and put the receipt in a separate envelope. If you want a note in your own words, send me the text and I will write it out on a card by hand.

• Can I return something?

  Stock pieces can go back within fourteen days of arrival for a full refund, unworn and in their packaging, under UK distance selling rules. Post them back tracked and the refund goes out the day they arrive.

  Made to order and commissioned pieces are made to your specification, so those rules do not apply and they are not returnable for a change of mind. If something is wrong with the making, that is a different matter entirely and I will put it right or refund it. The full position is in the terms.

If a question is not here, write and ask. There is no wrong sort of email.