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Valentine’s Edition Marmite Jar Launched

A special ‘lovers’ edition Marmite jar has been launched ahead of Valentine’s Day this year.

Released by Engravers Guild of London – the personalised gifts retailer – the Marmite jar features a solid sterling silver top with a unique diamond-cut engraving.

The design shows Cupid shooting an arrow into a cloud of floating hearts, with an inscription running around the rim: “I love you even more than Marmite”.

In the middle of the scene is showcased a lover’s name, which can be personalised with any name up to 14 characters.

Made in Birmingham and hallmarked at the Birmingham Assay Office, the Valentines Marmite jar is a uniquely British gift. Perfect for the person who has everything, the lid is designed to be kept forever and can be switched onto any 250g Marmite jar.

Elliot Bishton, the founder of Engravers Guild, said:

“With 2021 getting off to a difficult start, we wanted to find a special way to help spread the love this year. While the iconic condiment is famous for inspiring strong emotions, there is only room for The Lovers this Valentine’s Day. And, what better way to celebrate your lover than by inscribing their name atop a yeast-extract snack.”

The Valentines Marmite jar costs £85 and is available from Engravers Guild of London.

5 Tips to Maintain Your New Year’s Resolutions – Engravers Guild

Every year millions of us make New Year’s Resolutions.

Every year millions of us break these New Year’s Resolutions.

On average 25% of the population vow to make a change and have at least one resolution, within two-three weeks almost half have quit.

Below are the top five steps for maintaining your goals and resolutions for 2021 and the engraved gifts that we recommend to help you along the way.

1. Limit Them
Do not go overboard and try to change every single element of your life in one go. This will become overwhelming and you will ultimately set yourself up for demotivation and failure.

Pick three, realistic New Year’s Resolutions and go from there. Write them down and solidify their existence with an engraved pen. If you feel in four months’ time you have completed one, or all three, you can add more if you want to.

Taking life on in small chunks is much more manageable, by creating clear and concise goals for yourself, it will set you up to achieve and thrive for 2021.

2. Break Them Down
Now that you have picked your three main goals/resolutions for 2021, let’s break them down.

Creating smaller steps within a goal will provide you with a clear path to follow. You know the steps to take and can stick to these daily or weekly. Then add smaller milestones, by completing each mini goal within your resolution, you will feel a sense of satisfaction and be able to track your journey to success.

Let’s say your main resolution is to lose weight. We can break that down into further steps/goals…

Steps to follow –
1 – Go to the gym three times a week
2 – Cut out snacks (chocolate and crisps)
3 – Cut out alcohol

Milestones –
1 – Lose ½ stone
2 – Lose 1 stone
3 – Lose 1 ½ stone

To help with recording your steps and journey, invest in one of our engraved journals. This will be a useful tool in achieving and maintaining your New Year’s Resolutions. Write down your steps, make your lists and get organised.

3. It is a journey
Everyone makes mistakes or comes up against obstacles. If this happens, it does not mean complete failure, it is all just part of the journey.

The key is not to be so hard on yourself during the journey of your New Year’s resolutions. If you eat a chocolate bar on your new diet, you have not failed. If you do not save XX amount of money one month, you have not failed. Saving your spare cash in an engraved money clip would help you achieve this goal in a classy and exciting way.

If you are having a bad day, you have not failed. Believe in yourself and the journey, carry on, keep going and achieve the end goal.

4. Talk about it
Discuss your goals with your friends and family, this cements your New Year’s resolutions.

Ask the people around you to help you and spur you on. Perhaps find a like-minded friend who may want to join you? Working on something together is more fun and you are more likely to stick to it.

Always look for motivation within yourself first, however, a push in the right direction helps too.

Why not keep a reminder of your loved ones around your neck with a locket? Always knowing they are by your side through your journey ahead.

5. Reward at the end
Pick a reward for achieving your goal. You may just enjoy the satisfaction and feeling of achievement once you have reached your end game or you may need a further incentive to drive you forward.

This may be included within your goal, for example saving money each month and the end reward being the new car that you have saved for.

Or you could add your own incentives on top. If your aim is to lose a certain amount of weight, you may reward yourself with a beach holiday or a new wardrobe. Add that extra encouragement so you go the extra mile to achieve.

Engravers Guild have many personalised gifts that could be used as an incentive or reward for you or a loved one at this time of year. We offer a wide selection of personalised necklaces that can be engraved with motivational messages.

Top 5 picks for Personalised Jewellery this Christmas 2020

Personalised Jewellery

Personalised Jewellery for Christmas 2020

Engravers Guild is pleased to present its Top 5 Picks for personalised jewellery this Christmas 2020.

Founded in 2017 to deliver the best possible personalised gift experience, Engravers Guild goes to every length to deliver an opening occasion to remember.

Curating the finest selection of jewellery from today’s leading brands, each item is beautifully finished by a crisp diamond-cut engraving which will last forever.

From the beautiful products to the signature packaging, every gift from Engravers Guild is designed to be something that is truly special.

Pendant Follina Pianura Quadrato – 18K Gold Plated – SIF JAKOBS
At £85, this personalised necklace by Sif Jakobs is an 18 karat gold plated, 925 sterling silver pendant. It is beautifully crafted with clean and simplistic lines. The Scandinavian jewellery house creates essential pieces for any woman’s wardrobe, providing an elegant look for all occasions. Engravers Guild of London then uses the finest diamond-tipped cutter to engrave personalised messages to create a perfect and forever treasured gift.

Bracelet Follina Pianura – SIF JAKOBS
This personalised bracelet has a 14mm circular silver tag along with an adjustable chain. With minimalist charm and elegance, this bracelet is the perfect accessory this festive season. Use Engravers Guild’s engraving service to feature a special message or personalisation to enhance the value of your gift this Christmas, for only £59.

Diamond Set Personalised Locket – Rose Gold
Give a gift that she will remember this year with a Diamond Set Personalised Locket. At £77.50, this locket comes in rose gold and includes all engraving and a luxury gift box. The timeless piece from MYRI London will provide a special moment for any loved one to open. A locket is a great keepsake, this locket houses two compartments that can store sentimental images for that extra special feeling.

Oxford Ladies Watch – Black Leather Strap – ELIE BEAUMONT
Leave a lasting impression with this Elie Beaumont rose gold personalised watch. With a black leather strap, this contrasting piece creates an effortless look. With pricing at £59.95 the watch uses a precision Japanese Miyota movement. Buy this watch as a beautifully feminine present for any woman this Christmas.

Swarovski® Birthstone Disc Necklace – Gold
Provide a gift of luxury with this Swarovski® Birthstone Necklace. Add up to 8 characters of diamond cut engraving alongside a genuine birthstone crystal. At £49.95 this super personalised item will become a favourite item in her jewellery collection. The classic and charming design suits any occasion and creates an effortless look.

Engraved watches go to auction – Paul Newman and Steve McQueen

Luxury Rolex Watch

Luxury Rolex Watch

The exciting announcement of two iconic watches is set to hit auction on 12 December 2020 at Phillips in New York City. The two timepieces are going to be a huge hit with car and film enthusiasts alike due to their famous appearances and past owners. A Rolex Cosmograph Daytona with strong links to Paul Newman and a Heuer Monaco that was worn by Steve McQueen in the late film Le Mans.

These watches that are being auctioned at the tastefully named “Racing Pulse”, are set to sell for millions of dollars and here’s why…

Paul Newman: Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Ref. 6263

This fantastic Rolex is referred to as the “Big Red” and was given to Paul as an iconic 25th-anniversary gift by his wife, Joanne back in 1983. It has a very personal and sentimental engraving on the back “Drive Slowly – Joanne”.

The ironic custom message will have skyrocketed the soon to be auctioned item, pushing it to estimated millions of dollars. The watch has gained its famous persona from appearing in an abundance of photographs since the mid ’80s

Past watches from Paul Newman’s superior collection have sold for record-breaking amounts, the top sum being $17.5 million back in October 2017 at another prestigious Phillips auction. The “Big Red” Rolex isn’t thought to create such an uproar at the auction this year but nonetheless, will make its own phenomenal impact in the history of auctioned watches.

The family of Paul Newman has said they will donate the funds to charities founded by Paul including Serious Fun – Children’s Network.

Steve McQueen: Heuer Monaco Ref. 1133

The second luxury engraved watch that has been announced to sell at the live online auction is a blue Heuer Monaco, that was featured in the classic film Le Mans. This watch will be the final watch from six that were used within the making of the 1971 hit flick.

This specific classic watch was gifted from Steve to his friend and chief onset mechanic, Haig Alltounian and tells this story by the timeless engraving on the back “TO HAIG – LE MANS 1970”. The story continues and develops through Haig’s 2015 documentary, The Man & Le Mans, where he explains he did not want to accept the watch, only to find his name had already been engraved on the back.

Revealing this information attracted the attention of watch collectors expressing the apparent value the engraved watch could hold… One of the previous watches in the set of six sold for $799,500 in 2012 and this was without a personalised engraving. What makes this year even more special is the 50th anniversary of the uber-famous racing film.

Here at Engravers Guild, we specialise in personalised engravings and also stock an extensive watch list for both male and female audiences. We use precision diamond-tipped cutters to engrave everlasting words that will carry their meaning for years to come.

 

The Queen and her secret engraving

Engraved & personalised jewellery Queen UK

The Queen and Prince Philip – UK

This month a new biography has been released by the author Ingrid Seward, “Prince Philip: A Portrait of the Duke of Edinburgh”. Ingrid is one of the most respected and prominent writers on the subject of the British Royal Family. 

In the book, private details have been released unbeknown to the British public until now and some topics are very interesting.

One detail that Engravers Guild have relished upon is the secret message that Prince Philip and The Queen share on her engraved wedding ring

Only the Queen (94), Prince Philip (99) and the engraver know how the personalised message reads. Made out of Welsh gold, the ring was given to the Queen over 70 years ago and she never removes it from her finger. 

It comes as no surprise that the wedding ring has a special inscription inside of it as the Royal Family are known to love giving personalised and engraved gifts to each other.

Being so intensely in the public eye, the couple have shared the majority of their details throughout life, however it seems as though they have kept this private element up their sleeve. 

Engraving a piece of jewellery for a gift can add a high sense of personality and create a special moment. Engravers Guild specialises in the personalisation and engraving of items for special occasions. 

By using the finest diamond-tipped cutters we ensure that all products are curated to an exceptionally high standard that leave a lasting impression. 

Something very extraordinary about engraving is that the engraving lasts forever. The message and meaning will never die. 

And in the case of the Royal family, their engravings will go down in British history.

Giving a cheer to the Oscars’ engravers

A couple of weeks ago, ITV got in touch with us here at Engravers Guild, asking if they could interview the member of our team who engraves the Oscars.

We’re not sure where they got the information from that we were responsible for engraving the Academy Awards.

However, alas, they were incorrect.

Although we would consider our engraving skills amongst the best, we unfortunately do not have the contract each year to travel to Hollywood and present the world’s glitterati with their crowning achievements.

But that is not to say that we don’t appreciate the work that goes in by the engravers on the night.

It can be very difficult to achieve the most precise and perfect impression. One wrong move, and you have consigned the item to the engraver’s waste bin.

If you add your clients to the picture, then there is further pressure still.

But then throw a few global megastars into the mix, along with international media recording your every move… and you have a veritable perfect storm of pressure.

So while news titles, social media and broadcast organisations all focus on the actors, actresses and producers, we want to give a shout-out to the men and women who record in time immemorial who were the winners from the big night.

This year, all seemed to go smoothly (from an engraving point of view). Many times before on this blog we have covered how awards have been engraved with wrong spellings, wrong titles, and even completely wrong names.

It’s an easy mistake to make, and we would be lying if we claimed never to have made a error when engraving.

So there is all the more reason to recognise those dedicated practitioners.

That being said… should the organisers of the Oscars ever feel that the prowess of their engravers is not up to scratch, then we’re alert and ready and waiting in the wings for the call-up.

The offer is always there x

Kate goes for engraved gold necklace

kate middleton wearing personalised necklace

At Engravers Guild, we are no different to the rest of the world in following the Royals.

The Royal family has been one of the biggest influences on trends and fashion throughout the centuries. And, despite a new array of media stars to compete with, they are just as notable now in popularising new styles.

So we’re always interested to see what pieces are favoured by those in the House of Windsor.

This week, we took notice as the Duchess of Cambridge was spotted out and about with a new necklace.

Made in gold, it was of particular interest as it was engraved with some special initials.

On the front of the necklace had been engraved “G”, “L” and “C” – the first initial of each of her three children, George, Louis and Charlotte.

The necklace also featured a trio of glittering stones to represent three stars.

It is not the first time that Kate Middleton has been photographed wearing a personalised necklace.

Having just given birth, she was gifted a necklace by her sister with the name of the child inscribed into the pendent.

And this follows a long history of kings, queens, princes and princesses sporting accessories which have been engraved to bring a personal touch.

At Engravers Guild, we are proud to follow this tradition and offer a beautiful collection of personalised necklaces and engraved gifts.

Just recently we launched our engraved necklace collection. The range has been designed around simple forms, allowing the inscription to be centre stage.

The pendents are also embellished with birthstones and a series of gold, silver and rose gold discs.

With options to either engrave a message in straight lines or to curve a name around the outside, you are able to personalise the necklaces perfectly for the occasion.

So gift like a prince, give like a queen and choose something that’ll be remembered for many years to come.

Bringing a little colour to an engraving

At Engravers Guild of London, we always go to great length to impress on the ‘purity’ of a diamond-cut engraving.

By this, we mean that an engraving is purely an impression cut into the surface of metal, whether that be a personalised hip flask, engraved pocket watch or custom cufflinks.

There is no burnishing (as there would be with laser engraving) and there is no colour (as there would be with UV printing).

We believe that a clean diamond-cut engraving achieves the best result, and also looks the most visually pleasing.

However, even we at Engravers Guild have to acknowledge when a coloured engraving really hits the mark.

And there is nothing that showcases it better than a new watch we saw this week.

Vacheron Constantin, the famous Swiss watchmaker, earlier unveiled its new 2019 Les Cabinotiers collection ‘La Musique du Temps’.

The range features eight unique models which are all touted as “one of a kind”.

And the way that the brand has made them individual is through… engraving.

This engraving, though, is a little bit special.

Four of the watches depict the four seasons, with carp swimming across the four different dials in scenes associated with spring, summer, autumn and winter.

The engraving for each watch took no less than 60 hours.

But then further detail was added, with glorious seasonal technicolour enamelled on top of the relief designs.

The result is mesmerising. The final watches are works of art, destined for museums and exhibitions around the world.

As a London-based company, we also approve of the nods to our capital city in the watch.

At each hour the watches chime. The sound was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and pays homage to the rich audio history of Northern London.

While we do not offer engravings which are enamelled with colour, we can offer a little bit of London all wrapped up in a little black box and tied with crisp white bow.

An “Engraved Tablet”, but it’s not what you think

engraved tablet medicine

At Engravers Guild, we always say that an engraving can mean a lot.

And we can think of few engravings that mean more than this one…

Just read the following words that were engraved:

I can’t configure / A tablet / Chiselled by God’s finger / Or forge / A scrawled prescription / But here’s an inscription formed / On the small white dot / Of its own / Full stop, / The sugared pill / Of a poem, one sentence / That speaks ill / Of illness itself, bullet / With cancer’s name / Carved brazenly on it.

It is a poem indeed, and a beautiful one certainly.

But it takes on new depths of meaning when learning what it was engraved on.

The whole poem was engraved on a pill; to be precise, a 2cm x 1cm chemotherapy pill.

The micro engraving was commissioned by the Institute of Cancer Research in London, intended to symbolise the end of cancer being considered an unmanageable disease.

Hence the poem is titled, “Finishing It”.

The entire work has a beautiful symmetry.

Just as scientists around the world pore over microscopes as they create new treatments, so the engraver had to work through a microscope to create the inscription.

The engraver is no stranger to followers of the Engravers Guild journal, and is none other than Graham Short.

Credited with crafting some of the world’s smallest engravings, the precision required when working at that scale is such that he works with a stethoscope to make sure he only applies pressure between heartbeats.

This piece was a collaboration with Simon Armitage, the new Poet Laureate.

The nation’s wordsmith was following in the footsteps of many literary greats, who had established a strong tradition of having their works engraved.

William Blake famously made etchings and engraved printing plates of his poems, and this project has pushed the boundaries of poetry and engraving to new heights.

Should you like to see the work, the engraved pill will be on display at the Centre of Cancer Drug Discovery when it opens in 2020.

…just remember to take your microscope if you want to see it!

An engraved gift for Meghan’s birthday

meghan markle engraved gift

Engravers Guild of London would like to wish the Duchess of Sussex a very special birthday!

Today Meghan Markle celebrates her 38th birthday, and her first as a mother since giving birth to Archie earlier this year.

Though the Royal couple will have been giving all their attention to the latest member of their family for the last few months, Harry will have had to find some extra time to think on what special gift to give his wife.

As a prince, the Duke of Sussex could no doubt gift anything in the world he wanted.

Followers of this blog will have read previous article where we look at some of the wonderful and coveted items that members of the Royal family have gifted each other over the centuries.

A common theme is to gift something that is… personalised.

Although Royals have the means to give the best gifts that money can buy, often there is nothing better in the world than something that is made special by a personal message engraved on it.

And indeed, this year Harry is thought to have opted for the sentimental option and gifted a real winner.

It is reported that Harry has given Meghan a black and white picture of their son, Archie, in a silver frame from Asprey.

To give it the extra special touch, there is rumoured to be an engraving on the frame to mark the special year for the family.

No doubt it will take pride of place in their new home, and be a keepsake for very many years to come.

In fact, this is not the first time that the Prince has gifted his wife an engraved present.

Throughout their relationship, Harry has often gone above and beyond in creating something truly unique.

After the birth of their son, Meghan was spotted wearing a necklace with the letter ‘A’ engraved onto it.

And shortly after the couple first made an appearance in public, the future Duchess was seen wearing a bracelet with the initials ‘M’ and ‘H’ intertwined.

While not all of us have the means of royalty, we can all gift like a prince or princess.

Here at Engravers Guild, we pride ourselves on offering beautiful engraved gifts, and invite you to browse our personalised bracelet collection.