Cheapside Hoard Reproduction
Ever since we launched our Vintage Reproduction webpage, we have been inundated with your requests to create vintage and antique-inspired jewellery, but little did I know I would have the opportunity to recreate a famous Cheapside Hoard champlevé ring
Simon Collins of GVILD (contemporary furniture makers) contacted me after finding me online, wanting to combine our CAD and 3D printing skills with his artistic flare and creative ideas to make a reproduction of a ring that was found in the famous Cheapside Hoard.
The Cheapside Hoard was a huge collection of jewellery and precious gem stones dating back to Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. It was unearthed in 1912 by a group of labourers excavating a cellar near St Paul’s Cathedral.
Amongst this 400-piece collection was a particular diamond ring that was delicately hand-painted with beautiful white champlevé and black enamel. The diamond is table cut, meaning the top is cut flat, causing it to have a bit more sparkle in comparison to its predecessors (a particularly progressive way of cutting diamonds at the time). This gives you a bit of an insight into how diamond cutting has progressed to the round brilliant cuts we know today.
A reproduction of the white and black enamel champlevé ring Cheapside has become famous for.
Requests for Cheapside Hoard reproductions don’t regularly fall into my lap, so of course I jumped at the chance to recreate a piece of genuine jewellery history. In fact, if you were to search for Cheapside Hoard reproductions online, you will find they rarely appear for sale to the public..
No stranger to jewellery reproductions himself, so undeterred by the amount of work involved, Simon Collins took inspiration from the intricate Cheapside Hoard champlevé ring and wanted to recreate it for his partner as her engagement ring.
Working closely together, and with information from the Museum of London (current custodians of the majority of the Cheapside Hoard), we created CAD images and resin models of the body of the ring, allowing him to practice his enamelling skills to recreate the flower motifs.
After a lot of tests and experimentation, our final Cheapside Hoard champlevé ring could go ahead and be made.
And here is the finished product, a beautiful enamelled diamond ring drawing inspiration from the past.
If you’d like to ask about working with us in reproducing a vintage piece of jewellery for you please get in touch. As you can tell, we love talking about all things jewellery!
Be sure to follow our Instagram page to see some of our latest creations, including teal sapphire engagement rings, bespoke earrings and a host of reproduction vintage jewellery.
Contact us today to
schedule an appointment
Start your bespoke engagement ring journey today