Bespoke
CUSTOM-MADE a bespoke ring
dealing in or producing custom-made articles a bespoke jeweler
Nowadays many stores carry machine-made jewellery with very little input from jewellery craftsmen or women who produce bespoke jewellery or custom-made pieces.
Jewellery in ancient times was made for practical purposes such as the pinning of clothing or for religious purposes such as identifying which religious faith a person belonged to. It became customary for married couples to wear wedding rings which in those days were bespoke and made to specifications. Jewellers were artists using their ingenuity to form pieces out of base metals, wire, stones, gemstones and precious stones.
Three thousand years ago, ancient Egyptians who had access to abundant gold from the deserts of Africa viewed jewellery as symbols of power. The wealthy Egyptians wore bespoke jewellery not only during their lifetime, but often were buried with their jewellery collections.
In Greek and Roman times (27BC) cultural indigenous designs were used where the most common piece of jewellery was the brooch which was used to secure flowing togas. Jewellers used gold, bronze, bone, glass beans and pearls with sapphires imported from Sri Lanka and diamonds from India to make their bespoke jewellery.
Jewellery designers made large pendants to store pendants and highly decorated pieces were made to house poisons which were used especially in medieval times. Jewellery has been used to ward off evil spirits, dowries were paid with jewellery and jewellery was used as currency for trading goods.
Over time, jewellers’ techniques became more sophisticated and decoration more intricate with many bespoke pieces reflecting interest in the classical world, with mythological figures and an increased artistic awareness of the individual who would wear the piece.
By the 1750’s jewellers designed elaborate gold and silver sword hilts mounted with precious stones and fine enamelling which were the products of the goldsmith and jeweller rather than the swordsmith.
During the last years of the 19th century, the industrialised world brought in machine-led jewellery manufacture which was the source of the most affordable pieces. Jewellery became mainstream with repetitive designs and very little individuality. Bespoke jewellery became exceedingly expensive and out of the reach of the man in the street. Retail chain stores sprang up in the 20th century, many selling replicas of famous pieces like Princess Diana’s engagement ring with very little creativity or individuality used in the creation of jewellery. The art of bespoke jewellery design fell by the wayside and very little individuality in design was on offer.
However, It is now possible however to create your own bespoke jewellery which is affordable, individual and uses your own creativity in a timely manner.
Many people have a piece of jewellery which has been handed down through their family and needs repair, or they may wish to redesign an heirloom piece to their own specifications using some of the elements of the original design to make the piece bespoke.
OJCO are bespoke jewellers and make custom jewellery on a daily basis. It’s a simple process. You decide what you want from the stones used to the colour of the metal, to the size and design. We will draw up the design much like an architect would when designing a house and get your authorisation.
Once the hand sketches are close to the design you desire, we at OJCO send the sketches to our professional designers who then replicate the drawing in CAD form.
We encourage you to analyse the purpose i.e. a wedding ring worn on a daily basis would need to be in a metal which is hard-wearing, and you would need to choose a stone that would stand up to everyday wear. Emeralds, pearls and opals are not durable enough for engagement rings.
The CAD drawings are created to the precise measurement, showing in 2 or 3d the exact design of you new piece of bespoke jewellery.
At this point you can make any adjustments to the design of your bespoke jewellery piece. Once all your adjustments have been made and you are happy with the design of your bespoke jewellery piece, we will then give you a fixed price for the bespoke piece of jewellery.
The hard part is now waiting the 3 weeks for your bespoke jewellery piece to be precision made by our team of master Howes.
These are just a few of our success stories.
Fiona – loves her new ring and wears it every day. A ring for her 18th, one from an old boyfriend and some earring she bought years ago.
Mel - Just wanted an new look for an old ring
If you feel you want to upcycle your jewellery come into our store or reach out to me directly
Steven Sher
Phone 02 93310888
304 Oxford Street
Paddington NSW 2021
Open Monday - Saturday 10am - 6pm
