Creating the Gretna Green Anvil Wedding Rings.

Gretna Green rings starts life as rough castings that are first cut and shaped inside and out to the desired width, weight and finger size.

They are next sent in this raw state to the Assay Office to be assessed for its quality of gold and then Hallmarked giving it a guarantee of its gold content, a practice that has been used in the United Kingdom for over 700 years.

Once Hallmarked the mounts are sent back to our workshops to be turned into the unique Gretna Green Anvil Rings.



Heating The Rings

First the rings are heated to several hundred degrees and quenched in water to soften the metal so they can take the Anvil strike.



Marking Out

Then the centre of the rings are marked with a scribe and placed on a steel mandrel supported by wooden blocks.

The Anvil shape is created by a special punch which is struck into the rings by hand.



The First Strike

The Goldsmith has to be very careful with the first five strikes as one off centre and a ring is ruined and can not be used again.

To create the finished Anvil takes between 20 to 30 individual strikes resetting a ring after every blow. It is almost a similar technique to a traditional blacksmith hammering over his anvil which is quite apt considering the finished item.

Finally the rings are polished using a series of spinning cloth mops covered in different graded polishing compounds.



Finished at last.

After finishing the unique rings are ready to post to you or if you make an appointment you can collect them from our studio in Carlisle.

You can order our rings online or by telephoning us.