FAQS
Questions & Answers
Q. What is the symbol that is stamped on the underside of your straps?
A. It is an old family crest made up of component images that also appear in the Manley P. Hall book 'The Secret Teachings of All Ages.' A wheat sheaf bound by intertwined serpents. The latin legend within the scroll reads Vincit Veritas (truth conquers).
Q. I have a lot of scrap gold so would you cast one of your designs with my metal?
A. No, but I will send waxes all over the world ready to be used for casting in that country which saves a lot of hassle with insurance and postage as the waxes are light. The cost is much like purchasing a one time copyright to cast and potentially saves you a lot of money. This also avoids endless inquiries for different metals which would have to be spot priced on the day. Every country has a large selection of businesses casting various metals daily. It is a worthy exercise to source and in doing so will bring my prices into sharp reality as being of excellent value.
Q. Do you offer the service for making one-off buckles to customer's own designs?
A. You should be looking for a jobbing jeweller or offer the commission to a student or go direct to a CAD service. Also an eye opener as to what can be achieved. You must have a budget and be prepared to state it upfront to avoid wasting your own time.
Q. Do you offer a referral service for the above?
A. That information is better sourced in your area through a jewellery shop or local craft/gift boutique featuring work by local artisans who might appreciate such a commission.
Q. If I see a buckle style on your site but would prefer a bigger or smaller size, will you make it?
A. The cost of developing some of the buckles on the site reached £500 and some were scrapped even after all of the development time. The large Farrier had to be mastered using 'distorted' art generated by CAD to be practical and visually correct. Some buckle designs do not size up or down to become visually pleasing enough to warrant casting or be strong enough to take the bridle leather. If the size is not seen on the site then it is not planned for.
Q. Do you have silver tips for your belt straps?
A. No. Each buckle requires a different width of strap. Full bridle leather becomes extremely soft and strong with wear and at that moment in time the tip would then try to point the end of the strap at your shoes. Not a good look and very annoying.
Q. Do you supply the trade?
A. You are buying at trade prices.
Q. Why do I see items of sterling silver on television auction shows sometimes selling for seemingly quite small amounts?
A. I made my first bespoke belt in the Kings Road Chelsea in 1970. My wages back then were £5 a week. If you look at the auction items for sale, imagine what they would cost to make today when a plumber now bills £65 an hour plus materials plus VAT and the standard hourly rate for someone self -employed, with a vehicle, is around £40 an hour! Good silver items with crisp hallmarks and a prized maker's mark will always achieve top money. Many items put up for sale are dysfunctional for today's lifestyles and are better recycled to keep the never ending innovation of design moving forward.
Q. Do you make articles other than buckles?
A. Yes. Silver buttons, cufflinks and special commissions like the one for The British Equestrian Team who won team bronze in Hong Kong during the Olympic Games in China. The games were in Beijing but the equestrian events were held in Hong Kong.
Q. Why do you offer only dark havana and black leather?
A. The leather I use on the buckles is the best 4mm full bridle, tanned in this country in the old fashioned way in oak bark handling pits. To do a special color ( say blue) requires a major purchase with expensive set up costs to get the rich drum dyed depth of color rather than accept inferior hides with sprayed on or topical applications. It would be a fluke that the color of blue would then match the client's expectation. Non saddlery colors are highly subjective. Black is black but blue has many shades. The choice is kept simple.
Q. Do you appear at any shows?
A. No longer. Most outdoor events have inadequate security arrangements. International shows require a massive commitment in time and logistics.
Q. What is the average turn around time if I place an order?
A. If the buckle is available and hallmarked then about a week. If not then a month which is approximately 20 working days. 4 days of that time are spent with the buckles passing through the hallmarking process at the Birmingham Assay Office which is mandatory.
Q. How much does it cost to have a buckle set hallmarked?
A. The marks on the buckles are most often sent to the Assay Office with a request that each hallmark should be spread apart and individually struck once the metal has been tested to be sterling silver as declared on the submission form.
Most of the buckles are made up of 3 parts, carcass, loop and tongue. Each of these parts is described as an 'article'. Each article carries a surplus charge of 75p if the marks are spread to be part of the design. Each hallmark, in addition, incurs a charge of 15p. On average then a buckle with the carcass and loop hallmarked, will be charged to Buckle & Hide at £3 plus VAT. (£3.52). This is based on a minimum of submitting 5 carcasses and 5 loops (10 articles).
A single buckle set will carry an additional charge of £15 plus VAT plus the above charges.
Q. Which demographic buys your buckles/belts?
A. Mostly by folks over 40 who are exasperated by the difficulty in finding something to buy or gift that represents true value, is handmade and most certainly an obvious investment for their hard earned money. They want the gift that keeps on giving and preferably something 100% British for a 21st, 50th , wedding or any other special occasion.
Q. I have an old brass buckle do you offer a service to releather it?
A. Try a saddler located in your area. My commissioned leather is better suited to and reserved for my own buckles. There are plenty of sites offering straps.
Q. Why do people still buy sterling silver christening cups when their fathers could have a belt to wear and then hand it on down in eighteen years time?
A. I think that folks forget that there is a date mark for each year within the five hallmarks which is only available between January 1st. and Dec.31st. Articles hallmarked in 2010 carry the letter L. 2011 will carry an M unless there is a commemorative mark but even then it is optioned.
Q. Is silver strong enough for a buckle?
A. For sure but I can still see the buckle that one customer had absolutely trashed by frequently lying flat in the Scottish Highlands on craggy rough terrain while deer stalking.
Q. Why are buckles more difficult to make as opposed to say chains or rings?
A. Large castings impose a degree of difficulty and additional costs that are different to loading cylinders filled with many small articles. The potential for imperfects and what is not acceptable to bring to the market place is magnified. With little articles these mini flaws are not evident unless looked for with an eye glass. To make this easy to understand, imagine that you were commissioned to design a postage stamp. You would of course begin with a worksheet proportionately much larger than what will be the final reduced image so that all loose lines would eventually become crisp and tight.
Chain is ( unless commissioned) machine made in kilometers of lengths usually in Italy and rings for the low end of the market are most often cut and polished extruded tube. These processed ( blanks) can enjoy the benefits of automation. I have never seen any large casting, be it cup, bowl or whatever, turn out without a tiny small flaw somewhere. B&H buckles are individually handmade with no real opportunity to profit from economy of scale. The Japanese artisans working in the trade call the art of lost wax casting The Search For The Perfect Imperfect.
Q. What happens to the buckles that are not up to standard?
A. They have to be remelted with the introduction of 50% new volume of fresh casting grain. The time to make the original and the cost of making the waxes and pinning up the trees, casting, making good and polishing are now history. All of these time consuming processes plus overhead can never be replaced. Some buckles get fractured during the hallmarking process yet since they have been hallmarked the policy of The Assay Office is that hallmarking charges are still payable!
Q. Why is silver so expensive?
A. Low interest rates have driven up the cost of all precious metals and silver ( poor man's gold) has been dragged upward along with gold by speculators. It's important to remember that the scrap price of metals is another world away from the cost of purchasing new casting grains which as a pre-casting manufactured raw material incurs VAT., plus considers added value for refining etc.. I have records that show purchasing 925 casting grain at £113 per kilo. Last week that same weight was £452. (March 2010)
Q. Are the costs of postage and taxes included in the price?
A. Yes. Your delivery comes via insured Signed For Special Delivery. Postage to areas outside of the UK has a small surplus at the rate set by The Royal Mail at cost. This appears on the package and is not marked up.
Q. If I make a mistake on measuring can I have a new strap?
A. Call me and we will avoid that mistake and any increased charges. It's important that we talk. My business is bespoke, not a click and then checkout on-line store like Argos or Amazon.
Q. Can I buy just a buckle set?
A. Yes but again let's talk especially if you want it for an exotic leather strap. My strap sizes are closer to US sizes which have usual width increments in 1/8ths” whereas UK width sizes are in 1/4” variables. No point in getting fixed on having a buckle set that cannot fit the croc/snake/lizard whatever. Straps are normally are cut to suit the buckle not the buckle made to suit the strap.
Q. I've seen your work and I notice that the belt was personalized with the initials on the underside at the buckle end. Can I have this too?
A. Yes, that should all come up in our conversation. There is limited space so a favorite poem is not appropriate. 4 letters max. please.
Q. I am thinking of something for Xmas so when do you need to know?
A. By early November and earlier for offshore shipping. If I have the buckle set made and hallmarked then very late orders can still be met as long as the postal service is up and running. You may have to consider a second selection.
Q. Why do you operate mainly off a mobile phone?
A. The land line triggers the fax machine after 4 rings. Although not every working day requires being in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham , the diversity of trades and suppliers and talented associates that I deal with demands that I am accessible and rightly embrace mobile phone technology as the most useful business tool.
(+44) 07970 063222
Q. How is your site secure for payment by card?
A. Payment can be made by via Google Payment Services at your end or more simply vocally in our live one to one chat. No electronic data storage is kept at B&H and paperwork is shredded. We are compliant with standards required by Barclays Merchant Services and payment details are encrypted and sent via PayCell. This information is destroyed after authorization and reconciliation.