I'm sorry for not naming this, I really am. It goes against everything I preach usually, but after what happened with the Gun factory I am being a little more careful with the delicate sites that we find. If you want more info drop me a PM.
We have had our eye on this for years, but it has been one of those buildings we keep checking, and as with most it eventually paid off.
This jewelers made cheap and cheerful costume jewelery, mainly out of zinc and monkey metal. I did not see any trace of any material of real value. Most of the stuff was of a Scottish theme, and some of the broaches were horrendous!
Of all the jewelers I have seen, this was the best by a country mile, still complete with press tools on hand fly presses, the various unusual jawed pliers and nippers the jewelers use on the delicate chains and stone setting still strewn around. The whole floor sparkled as you walked past with spilt "gem" stones, along with pieces of polished shell and semi precious stones and quartz.
The press tools really impressed me. They are mind numbingly fine and perfect in every way. The die setting trade was the key to manufacturing both jewelery and steel pen nibs, and although the fly press operator had to be a skilled man or woman, the real skill lay in the toolmakers, who made these tiny tools by hand using an incredible eye for detail and a skill which today, thanks to spark eroding and CNC, is virtually lost.
We did not find much in the way of paperwork to tell how long the firm had been established, but an oil of the founder was still hanging in place keeping a watchful eye over us as we explored!
We have had our eye on this for years, but it has been one of those buildings we keep checking, and as with most it eventually paid off.
This jewelers made cheap and cheerful costume jewelery, mainly out of zinc and monkey metal. I did not see any trace of any material of real value. Most of the stuff was of a Scottish theme, and some of the broaches were horrendous!
Of all the jewelers I have seen, this was the best by a country mile, still complete with press tools on hand fly presses, the various unusual jawed pliers and nippers the jewelers use on the delicate chains and stone setting still strewn around. The whole floor sparkled as you walked past with spilt "gem" stones, along with pieces of polished shell and semi precious stones and quartz.
The press tools really impressed me. They are mind numbingly fine and perfect in every way. The die setting trade was the key to manufacturing both jewelery and steel pen nibs, and although the fly press operator had to be a skilled man or woman, the real skill lay in the toolmakers, who made these tiny tools by hand using an incredible eye for detail and a skill which today, thanks to spark eroding and CNC, is virtually lost.
We did not find much in the way of paperwork to tell how long the firm had been established, but an oil of the founder was still hanging in place keeping a watchful eye over us as we explored!
