Get in touch

Bench visits Tuesday to Friday, by appointment. Everything else starts with an email.

Get in touch

Three desks, one inbox

There is only me here, so the desks are days of the week rather than people. Picking the right one gets you a better answer, faster.

Private commissions

What you want made, roughly what you would like to spend, and a date if there is one. Photographs of anything you are bringing in help enormously.

Answered by
Maren, personally
Answered in
Two working days
[email protected]

Trade and stockists

Where your shop is, what else you carry, and whether you are working to a launch date.

Answered by
Maren, on Thursdays
Answered in
One week
[email protected]

Press and loans

Publication, shoot dates, and which pieces you want. Loans go out insured and come back the same way.

Answered by
Maren, when there is a gap
Answered in
Three working days
[email protected]

Or just write here

Everything lands in the same inbox either way. Say which of the three it is in the first line and it will reach the right day of the week.

Your name
Your email
Which desk, and what you need

State of play

What is happening this month

The bench, this week
Board updated March 2026

Taking commissions for spring

Four places left, then the book closes until September

Bench visits

Tuesday to Friday, by appointment

Half an hour, no obligation
On the bench

Two pairs of wedding bands and a remade signet

Weeks three and four
At the office

Nine pieces, struck and coming back

Due the 19th
Not taking

Watch repairs, engraving on pieces I did not make

There are better people for both
Post

Insured, worldwide, at my cost

Two working days once it is boxed

If you are standing in the courtyard and the door is open, knock. If it is shut I am at the assay office or asleep.

Practicalities

Finding the place, and writing the email

Getting here

Where exactly is the workshop?
A ground-floor room in Merchant Court, a courtyard off Candlemaker Row in the Old Town. There is no sign, only a small brass plate beside a green door. Ten minutes' walk from Waverley, all of it uphill.
Do I need an appointment?
Yes, and one email usually settles it. I am at the bench with a torch lit most of the day and cannot answer a knock safely without knowing it is coming.
Is it accessible?
The courtyard is cobbled and there is one shallow step at the door. Tell me in advance and I will meet you at the street entrance, which is level, and bring the work out to a table.

Before you write

What should I put in the first email?
What you want made, roughly what you would like to spend, and a date if there is one. Nobody has ever offended me with a budget, and it saves us both a fortnight.
Can you tell me a price by email?
A range, yes, within a day. An actual figure needs the size, the metal and a look at whatever you are bringing in, so it comes after the first conversation rather than before it.
How quickly do you reply?
Two working days for a commission, longer for trade, and if it has been a week the email has gone astray. Write again rather than assuming it was a no.

Or come and stand in the room.

Half an hour, Tuesday to Friday, and there is nothing to buy while you are here. Most commissions start with somebody holding a piece and realizing it weighs more than they expected.

Ask for a Tuesday

18 of 22

Commissions taken this year

Four places left before spring, then the book closes until September.