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Hallmarking

Although we were closed to new orders for most of March, behind the scenes I’ve been busy taking care of a good spring clean of the workshop, tackling a lot of the boring admin jobs ready for the new tax year, and also making a little time for a much-needed break. So, now we’re fully open for business again and things are returning to normal, what’s going on in the workshop?

Well, as our sterling silver money clips have been out of stock for a month or two, they’ve become a bit of of a priority to say the least! Due to the UK law regarding precious metals and hallmarking, selling goods made with precious metals is not quite as simple as working in other materials. Of course there’s also the expense of keeping sterling silver in stock (the raw materials for a sterling silver money clip cost around 40 times more than my copper ones)!

hallmarks
Dealers’ Notice

So what’s involved? Well unlike copper (which I keep large sheets in stock and cut off pieces to order), I only order silver sheet in small batches. When it arrives with me, I cut and file it to size, before giving it a brushed polish finish to get it as close as possible to the finished article without actually forming it. These flat pieces are packaged and sent to the Edinburgh Assay Office for testing and hallmarking on what will eventually be the inside rear of the finished money clip. Only when they’re returned to me are they finally ready to be completed with your personalised text, texturing and forming to shape.

They may take a lot longer to create and cost a little more, but there’s nothing quite like the feel and weight of sterling silver. Buy with confidence, secure in the knowledge that your sterling silver money clip has been hallmarked at the Edinburgh Assay Office.

Rustic Sterling Silver Money Clip

‘Raw Silk’ Sterling Silver Money Clip

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Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas – Perfect Valentine Gifts!

Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas

Valentine’s Day gift ideas couldn’t be easier with our range of beautiful designs, fully customisable to let you show your loved one how much they mean to you!

When looking for perfect Valentine’s Day gift ideas, it’s so important to find something that will mean the world and be treasured for years to come. Finding something that’s unique, romantic and yet still useful and practical isn’t always easy. We’ve put together a delightful collection of Valentine’s Day gift ideas that will make your valentine smile this Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re looking for a sentimental treasure or something original and contemporary, you’re sure to find it within these pages. From simple keyrings that you can personalise with a date, name or location, to individual money clips or bookmarks you can customise with your own special message, or plaques and coasters that will be treasured for all time. If you can’t find the perfect personalised Valentine’s Day gift right here, it’s only because you haven’t asked us to make it for you yet!

Key Rings

Our range of keyrings is just perfect for Valentine’s Day. From a simple hand-stamped heart tag to a personal etched message, we can create the ultimate custom keyring just for you!

Gift Ideas
Personalised Keyrings – Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas

Bookmarks

Copper and aluminium handmade bookmarks are both beautiful and practical. Have your own message hand-stamped, or personalise one of our existing designs to create your custom Valentine’s Day gift.

Valentine's Day gift ideas
Personalised Bookmarks – Valentine’s Day gift ideas.

Money Clips

Our hand-crafted money clips offer a practical, usable and yet very personal gift idea. We can etch meaningful images, and with the addition of a personalised message, this is a gift to be cherished and used for years to come.

Personalised Gifts
Personalised Money Clips – Valentine’s Day gift ideas.

Coasters & Plaques

Personalised coasters make the most wonderful custom gifts. Plenty of space for a personal message and/or image, and a thoughtful keepsake that will not only be treasured, but used day in, day out!

Personalised Gifts
Coasters & Plaques – Valentine’s Day gift ideas.

Bespoke & Custom Orders

We LOVE custom orders and don’t charge extra for bespoke work. Can’t see the perfect gift? Please get in touch as we’d love to create a bespoke design just for you.


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Harrison & Bond on Etsy

Also Available on Etsy!

Our secure online shop is open for orders 24/7 and our payments are handled by PayPal’s own secure server. However, we also recognise that some of our customers prefer to buy from larger, more well known sites, and for this reason, all of our personalised handmade gifts and keepsakes are also available in our Etsy store.

If you’re looking for a custom gift, we can also list it on Etsy for you. All our payments are handled on PayPal’s secure server and no payment details are taken or stored on our website. During the checkout process you will be redirected to PayPal where you can pay with your debit/credit card, whether you have a PayPal account or not.

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Money Clips

Money Clips

Money Clip Gift Ideas

Of all the many things we make there’s no doubt I like nothing more than creating a new money clip design. I’ll confess that until two years ago I’d never owned or used one, but now I’m never without mine.

Therefore, as a gift idea they’re simply perfect for the man who already has everything. Because there is no real design limitation, they can be personalised to suit anyone. It’s also the type of gift that it doesn’t really matter if the recipient already has one, as I find it’s not possible to have too many! I have two ‘favourite’ money clips right now and rather more back-ups, depending on where I’m going! I’m always thinking about whats going on my next one too of course.

So currently there are around 20 hand stamped and etched money clip designs on our website. These examples give a rather good idea of how much detail and content we can fit on each clip. Whilst I love making each and every one of them, I love nothing more than receiving a request for a custom one.

Money Clip Designs

So, what can we do? Well hand stamping offers the most simple (also effective) form of personalisation. Hence the popularity of initials on the front and short message on the rear to make a really special gift. In addition, dates and coordinates are also a popular choice. Consequently, we’re happy to look up the latitude and longitude of any location and hand stamp this on the rear of the money clip. Hence, these make particularly good gifts for wedding favours, making brilliant keepsakes and usable everyday items too.

If it’s something more eye-catching you’re looking for, then our etched money clips certainly offer greater design opportunities. These can feature images and text relating to occupations, hobbies, pastimes, music, travel, cars, etc., the list is endless. Initials and messages can also be etched in just about any size and style of font.

My personal favourites are the ones that combine both etching and hand stamping. Hand stamping gives some texture and earthiness to the copper, and as a result of this, a more rustic feel is achieved. Additionally, by texturing the edges of the money clip with a ball pein hammer a beautiful weathered appearance can be achieved. An added bonus to hand stamping and texturing is that the process also ‘work hardens’ the copper making for a more effective spring tension within the clip.

Finally the Finish

Whilst bright new shiny copper is lovely, aged, rustic, distressed copper looks even more stunning. The rich coppery tones I strive to achieve on our money clips is all due to the final few processes.

Once sanded and textured an application of an ageing patina darkens the copper anywhere from a light brown tan colour to near pitch black. The use of patina is twofold. Primarily it is to make the design really stand out. The recessed areas of the etched image or hand stamped letters retain the dark patina and consequently provide a clear contrast to the copper colour. Secondly, a light application of patina adds age to the clip, highlights the textures and brings out a vast array of rich coppery tones that ‘new’ copper simply doesn’t have. The lightest of polishes with fine wire wool and several protective coatings of Renaissance Wax then completes the clip.

There’s no substitute for actual ageing though. Because of this, I find that the older and more used that a money clip is, the better it looks. This is one of the many things I love about copper in general.

Create Your Own Bespoke Money Clip

So, buy any of our money clips as listed, or add your own personalised touches to our existing designs. Since no machine processes are involved, no two money clips will ever be exactly the same. However, if you’re feeling inspired to create a truly one-off gift for yourself or someone else, why not get in touch now and we’ll help you create a stunning bespoke design that’s perfectly suited.

Finally, if you’re completely stuck for ideas we can always offer a full custom design for you. Tell us as much as possible about the recipient and we’ll take care of the rest!

Money Clips

All our money clip designs are also available from our Etsy Store

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Wedding Anniversary Gifts – 7th Copper

7th Wedding Anniversary Traditional Gifts

Copper has long had a traditional meaning of prosperity, good luck, and good fortune. Couples honouring their seventh wedding anniversary are celebrating their good fortune in finding one another.

Wedding Anniversary Gifts
7th Wedding Anniversary Plaque

Our love of all things copper means we’re ideally suited to make a special one-off piece for your 7th Wedding Anniversary.

A simple copper keyring or wallet card/insert with a personal message makes the perfect keepsake that can be carried always. Our personalised copper plaques make a beautiful reminder of a special occasion or celebration. A pair of coasters to are ideally suited for a copper wedding anniversary gift and our beautiful copper bookmarks are a gift that can be loved and used for all time.

You can personalise any of our existing pieces or create your own bespoke design for that special, one-off gift. Let us make the ideal traditional copper anniversary gift for your seventh wedding anniversary.

Use our contact form or email: chris@harrison-bond.com

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Handmade Gifts

Handmade Gifts

Handmade Gifts by Harrison & Bond

Handmade gifts – Absolutely all of our handmade gifts are completely hand-crafted from start to finish. We just thought it might be a good time to remind you about it and why we feel it’s so important.

So, what does this mean to you?

Well, what it means is that even if you decide not to personalise your design, it will still be absolutely unique. Everything is cut, stamped, textured, filed and polished by hand so no two pieces will ever be exactly the same.

If you do decide to have a custom gift made just for you, or you’re looking for personalised gifts, then it means we can make a truly one-off design. As we cut all our own metal we’re not limited by the size of pre-bought blanks so can make your personalised keyring, bookmark, money clip, etc., the perfect size for your level of personalisation.

The unique character of handmade gifts is what gives them the charm that mass produced, machine processed items just don’t have. It’s this quality, quirkiness and earthy feel to handmade gifts that makes them truly special.

So have a browse at the designs we’ve already made, but remember these are just examples of what we can make. What we’d really love to hear about is the unique personalised gift you’d like us to make just for you!

To personalise any of our handmade gifts or to discuss a custom gift you’d like us to create for you, contact us here, via email, Facebook message or Etsy. We love custom work so much that we never charge extra for personalised designs. Let is know what you’d like and we’ll create it for the same price as if it were listed on our website.

chris@harrison-bond.com
https://www.facebook.com/harrisonandbond
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/HarrisonBond

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Custom Personalised Keyrings

Personalised Heart Keyring

Personalised Keyrings

As we’ve recently  added several custom, personalised keyrings including a beautiful heart shaped design to the website, it seems like a good time to remind our visitors that as everything we make is completely handmade, we can pretty much create anything you want!

Why settle for a regular keyring, when you can have a custom keyring in almost any shape you like? We’ve made several custom aircraft designs before, along with more than a few cut-outs in the shape of countries and states. The choices really are endless, and when you add a personalised message, dates and names to your gift, it makes them just that little bit more special.

If there’s a design you’d like made to suit a particular job, hobby, sport or pastime, just let us know and we’ll create your very own unique personalised keyring as the perfect gift for loved one, a friend, or even just for you!

Take a look at our previous designs and ready to buy options, or get in touch to discuss a one-off personalised keyring. View Our Keyring Designs

or email: chris@harrison-bond.com

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Wedding Favours

If you’re looking for unique, personalised wedding favours that are also practical keepsakes, then you’re in the right place.

We can customise any of our designs with names, initials, dates and special messages to create the perfect memento for any occasion.  Tie clips, money clips and key rings are perfect a perfect choice for male wedding favours, whilst our customised pendants, bracelets and other jewellery items can be personalised to make perfect bridesmaid favours.

We have a discount scheme for bulk orders, we don’t charge extra for custom work and of course all our creations come beautifully gift boxed.

Contact us today to create the perfect keepsakes for your special day.

Mens Wedding Favours
Mens wedding favours. Custom money clip set.