Our dedicated team of account managers are delighted to be of assistance. Get in touch. Use our contact form or call us on +44207 751 8844. We respond to enquiries quickly via your chosen contact method. We will ask whether you have an existing design or wish for us to design for you. We will also ask for your budget and what date you need the piece to be completed by. It’s okay to not have all the answers, but the more information you can give will help us to identify the scope of the project and quickly fit it into our design and workshop schedule.
We are goldsmiths and silversmiths to Her Majesty the Queen and many leading organisations and individuals around the world. Our in-house design team are among the brightest minds in the industry, well-equipped to design from scratch on your behalf. We take time to research and explore our clients’ unique identity and heritage in order to find and highlight motifs that can be incorporated into the design. In many cases we also work alongside our clients’ design team or directly with agencies. We are experts in the design and manufacture of custom commissions in precious metals. We understand how to translate creative artwork into exquisite bespoke silverware.
We don’t try to hide it. Clients that commission bespoke gold- or silverware require significant budgets. The quality of our work and the materials used is world class. We shake off our industry’s turn towards mass production. Our highly specialised staff and purpose-built workshops exclusively make each one-of-a-kind commission by hand. Small changes in the design can reduce the number of craft hours. We always aim to offer a range of options in order to ensure we can offer you a competitive price. We offer a range of stock trophies and awards for quick turnarounds and modest budgets.
A key decision that needs to be made before we hand over the final design to our master craftspeople is, which precious metals should we use? While many commissions we create make use of gold, as Thomas Lyte specialises in medium to large commissions the price of gold sometimes becomes prohibitive. If so, we will recommend a sterling silver base with gold plating instead of solid gold. Sterling silver is a softer metal than the cheaper base metals chosen for silver plating, but it also holds more value and is easier to fix if damaged. Elite sporting trophies in particular pass through many hands throughout the year. Consequently, the majority of our most prestigious trophies require regular returns to our workshops for routine maintenance, repairs and restoration. While damaged more easily than base metal, restoring sterling silver items back to their original state is much simpler. Over time, this can potentially be less costly than repairs for silver plated items.
One of the key questions that we will ask you is when you will need your piece delivered. Unlike most silversmiths and goldsmiths, Thomas Lyte’s workshops are purpose-built for the design and creation of unexampled custom commissions. The handcrafting process requires many weeks of meticulous work. From enquiry to delivery we often request at least nine to 12 weeks lead time for a bespoke piece. However, we also try to accommodate shorter lead times whenever possible, so don’t let this dissuade you. Get in touch. The experienced master craftspeople at our London-based workshops will advise whether small tweaks in the design can speed up the crafting process and allow for tighter timescales. We offer a range of stock trophies and awards for quick turnarounds and modest budgets.
