Here’s an exploration of a different craft. Deakin & Francis is England’s oldest jewellery maker – specialising in cufflinks, using silver, vitreous enamel and gemstones. It is a variant on a consistent trend in recent years: manufacturers becoming brands. Just like Drake’s ties, Bresciani socks or Caruso tailoring, Deakin & Francis decided 8 years ago to begin selling its own product as well as making for others. Today around 70% of its cufflinks are made under the Deakin & Francis name.
It still makes for most of the world’s biggest names, as well as smaller brands that those in the bespoke industry will be more familiar with. Among those big names in jewellery, most have their own workshops too – but use Deakin & Francis for the high-end, larger volume work.
Some of Deakin & Francis’s own designs are a little cheesy for my taste (animals, golf paraphernalia) but the quality is first-class, and important to understand for anyone looking to invest in high-end jewellery.
One of the most important things to quality in this area is the use of brand-new metals – silver and gold that hasn’t been melted down and recycled. Once the metal is melted down, it is less than pure – the melting process itself introduces impurities. Pure metal pieces will be stamped, where melted metals will be cast – which is easier and quicker.
Stamping the metal (above) produces a very crisp, clean edge. It is also easier to engrave, as castings can have impurities in them that the engraver digs into once he starts working on it (engraving shown top). Deakin & Francis uses casting for a small amount of work, but always uses stamping for its signet rings for this reason.
Finally, new metals are the only option for vitreous enamel (it won’t stick to cast metal). ‘Enamel’ is a broad term, sometimes used for anything that colours a metal surface, but vitreous enamel is the real stuff – melting and fusing powdered glass (below).
The Deakin & Francis factory is a beautiful place, as should be evident from the imagery here. The company goes back to 1786, and is still being run by the same family. Whereas in some facilities you see a lot of machinery – a lot of red and green buttons – here it is all bashing, twisting and carving.
When you see one of the D&F pieces up close, the biggest difference you notice is the sharpness and the character of the work. The sharpness comes from the technical points mentioned earlier, while the character is down to its handmade nature – similar to the points made about engraving in last week’s post on Asprey.
Deakin & Francis cufflinks range from £150 to £16,000. They are stocked in Bergdorf Goodman, Harrod’s and Selfridge’s.
Images: Luke Carby
I have to say that this is one of your odder recommendations as having looked at their vast array of products it was a tiny proportion that were in any way reasonable and certainly from the photos the quality looks no higher. Which do you own/ particularly like?
The other confusion was in connection with the comments on virgin metals -v- recycled as you say recycling introduces impurity. Their gold jewellery is 18ct so 75% pure and the silver sterling so 92.5% pure. Anything sold with these names has to meet this purity irrespective if Virgin or recycled. If theirs was purer than this then they’d be marketed as Britannia Silver or 22ct gold
Clearly as under 100% pure, which would be unsuitable for jewellery anyway, then their materials are equally impure as anyone else’s.
Hi Dan,
I agree, a lot of it is expensive, but that reflects the quality of the make – as detailed in the piece. And these are tiny differences in precision or sharpness that would never be apparent on digital images. I recommend seeing some of them in person if you can.
Purity can obviously mean different things. As I used it, I was referring to the inherent impurities that come from casting and recycling. Again, they are small differences compared to the actual percentages of the metals, but that’s what separates the top end of jewellery making.
I hope that’s clear
Thanks
Ps. You previously said no one did suitable/proper cufflinks hence your prior project. Do you stand by that former comment or do you feel this company invalidates your prior comment
No, I stand by that comment. By prior project was entirely about design, not quality of the construction. It was about links that were the right width apart, had elements on both sides that were exactly the right size to slip through a cuff, and that were simple and classic. I don’t know the whole Deakin range, but I don’t think any of their pieces fulfil those criteria. But it is a question of priorities: if you had something made by Deakin that was designed bespoke, it would be more expensive than the Permanent Style cufflinks