With 30 years of expertise beneath his belt, The Repair Shop’s Richard Talman is aware of a factor or two in regards to the jewelry business, from the up-and-coming engagement ring developments to the money-saving proposal hack you would be “crazy” to not attempt.
Richard based RTFJ, which stands for Richard Talman Fine Jewellery, in 2010 and his experience has seen him assist quite a few prospects on-screen and off-screen. Outside of filming, his co-stars Will Kirk and Jay Blades have turned to him for assist creating their engagement and wedding ceremony rings. We sat down with Richard to listen to all about his household life, his inexpensive new jewelry model, and the behind-the-scenes course of for Will and Jay’s rings…
Inside Emilice
Emilice was sweetly named after Richard’s two younger daughters, Emily and Alice, whom he stated might observe in his footsteps sooner or later. “I just wanted something that was unique,” he stated of the identify. “And something that potentially one day they could continue. Bearing in mind now that they are seven and five, one day, they might want to get involved.”
After growing his curiosity in rocks, gems and treasured metals from a younger age, he added that they’ve already begun exhibiting a shared ardour for his work. “They absolutely love coming into the shop. I’ve got all of my original collection of gemstones which I collected from about the age of my youngest actually, which they come in and look at. Who knows! Sometimes people show up, show a massive passion early on and then it fades away, other people don’t show a passion immediately and then follow it. I would never, ever lead them into something against their will. But they certainly are very excited about the prospects at the moment.”
Even in the event that they select one other profession path, he joked that he hoped they might flip to him for assist in the event that they ever bought engaged. “The boyfriend would be missing a trick if he didn’t. I’d be pretty disappointed, yes!” he laughed.
When requested about his motivation to begin one other jewelry model, following the success of RTFJ, Richard defined he needed to handle the hole available in the market for lovable jewelry, which is extra vital than ever because of the rising prices of the dear metals.
© Steve Ullathorne“We are now finding even some of the most basic bespoke pieces are running into the thousands which is totally out of a lot of people’s budgets. I know I had become increasingly frustrated that a lot of very, very good clients who had previously used bespoke services, would want a gift for a friend, family or birthday present that doesn’t fit the bill of our bespoke service. So in order to meet the needs of our customers, we decided to source some very well-made jewellery that can be made on a more industrial process.
“So they don’t seem to be distinctive one-off, however after all, then the value displays as the entire items are presently beneath £150. And there might be plans to make it a bit of bit greater, a bit of bit smaller within the worth vary. But it is extra about jewelry for everybody’s pocket – one up from costume jewelry, however not fairly up so excessive as our bespoke service.”
Proposal mistakes to avoid
© RTFJSpeaking of cost-saving, Richard opened up about his bespoke service, which permits prospects to soften down treasured metals and have them repurposed right into a new piece of jewelry – a hack that not many individuals reap the benefits of. Not solely does that imply that it might have sentimental worth – for instance, utilizing damaged household heirlooms – however additionally it is a terrific transfer financially and environmentally.
“We are currently experiencing the highest gold price that I have ever seen in my life in the trade, which is 30 years. And therefore I say to people, if you’ve got gold, in any format that you’re not using, you’d be crazy to scrap that gold for a scrap price, which is a lot lower than the buying price, and then use that money to buy new, you might just as well reuse it,” he defined, including that a number of totally different items of jewelry might be melted down collectively so long as it is the identical materials.
“People might have chains that are broken, but they don’t throw them away, they have an earring that they’ve lost, but they don’t wear them because they’re not a pair, they might have an old bracelet that just doesn’t fit them anymore. And they would accumulate these items in a jewellery box without any real thought about the quantity they have.
“You want as little as 10g of gold to make an engagement ring (half of that to make a marriage ring), so what lots of people do not realise is earlier than they begin asking a goldsmith for quotes to produce them an merchandise, they could very properly have that merchandise sitting at house of their drawer. The price of the supplies is over half of a marriage ring, and a couple of third of engagement rings, due to course, you may have the stone – a diamond or sapphire or ruby.”
© Steve UllathorneFrom an environmental perspective, that is prone to change into extra and extra standard with an growing concentrate on sustainability, which Richard stating it’s “absolutely” the way in which ahead in 2024. “So rather than buying new mined gold, it’s using about as much energy as boiling an egg to take old gold and make a new wedding ring,” he stated.
The second greatest mishap he sees within the engagement ring business is getting the dimensions flawed, which Richard reassured “is very fixable.” Despite quite a few hacks on-line claiming to make sure you get it proper the primary time, Richard stated issues like taking one other ring with you do not all the time work for one essential motive – it is by no means been worn on the ring finger.
© BBC“It’s more common than not most people propose with a surprise, and nine out of 10 will be coming back to you for a finger alteration. That’s normal, it’s almost impossible to accurately predict your partner’s ring size unless they are invited to go into a jeweller to have their finger properly measured and then leave the information conveniently on display for people to find. Occasionally you find people organised like that!” he joked.
He stated sneaking into your associate’s current jewelry field and borrowing a hoop worn on their proper ring finger “is the closest you’ll ever get” to nailing the dimensions. “But the ring finger will differ left to right depending on whether people are left or right-handed. If you’re right-handed that finger will be ever so slightly bigger and more muscular. You can usually drop a size and that’s quite accurate. No one’s made the same,” defined the TV star.
The Repair Shop secrets and techniques
© InstagramTwo stars who’ve taken Richard up on his experience are Will Kirk and Jay Blades, and he stated he was “honoured” they needed him to have such an important function of their love tales. “I was really, really honoured about it. And indeed I’m honoured when anyone asks me to make a piece of jewellery for them because they’re entrusting my style,” defined Richard.
“When people walk into a shop, they see an item of jewellery they like and they buy it, there’s no element of trust. Whereas when someone comes to me they’re relying on me to get it right. With the likes of Will and Jay, they could have gone anywhere, any jeweller would have loved their business, but they chose me and I was honoured by that.”
© Guy LevyJay had each his spouse Lisa’s diamond engagement ring and “imperfect” wedding ceremony rings with sentimental gems crafted by the Master Goldsmith, whereas Will requested him to create custom-made wedding ceremony rings for himself and his spouse Polly for their 2021 wedding ceremony.
When requested about his off-screen relationship together with his The Repair Shop co-stars, he had nothing however optimistic issues to say in regards to the solid. Richard insisted that the entire crew is fast to help each other, and he has little question that may lengthen to his new enterprise. “Everyone is supportive of everyone. I can assure you definitely the friendliness that is portrayed on screen is not acting, everyone is that friendly with each other and everyone is that supportive, and people will come to you for advice,” he stated.
LOOK: The Repair Shop stars’ weddings: Will Kirk’s Cotswolds nuptials, Suzie Fletcher’s bridal sports activities bra & extra
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