Everything is made in this room
Behind a plain door on Silversmith Lane there are a few benches, a rolling mill, a small kiln and a window that faces north. That is the whole of Maison Corvel, and it is where your piece will be made.
One room, a few benches, no shortcuts
We work the old way because it gives the best result. Metal is cast or forged here, then sawn, filed and soldered at the bench. Settings are cut to fit each stone, rather than the stone being pushed into a ready-made mount, and every claw is shaped and finished under magnification.
North light matters more than it sounds. It is steady and cool through the day, which lets us judge colour honestly when we match a pair of earrings or choose the right stone for a ring.
Polishing is done by hand, in stages, until there are no marks left that you could find with a loupe. Inside each band we leave a small maker's mark, so the piece can always be traced back to this bench.
Because we make so few pieces, the person who draws your ring with you is the same person who makes it. You can ask to see it on the bench at any point.
Three things we hold to
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i.
Made here
Every piece is drawn, modelled and finished in our own workshop. If a step ever needs a specialist outside, such as engine-turning or a particular engraving, we tell you before we begin.
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ii.
Sourced with care
We buy from a small number of suppliers we know well, and ask each one where a stone was cut and, as far as it can be traced, where it came from. When we cannot get a clear answer, we do not buy the stone.
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iii.
Made to be kept
We resize, re-polish, re-tip worn claws and check settings for the pieces we make, for as long as you wear them. Jewellery should outlast trends, and so should our care for it.
What we know, and what we don't
We prefer recycled gold and platinum wherever it is available, and we are always glad to work with old jewellery you bring in. A ring that no longer gets worn can become the metal of a new one.
For stones, we ask questions and keep the answers. When you choose a stone, we tell you what we know about where it was cut and where it came from, and we are honest about where the record ends.
No small atelier can trace every stone from the ground to the bench with perfect certainty. What we can promise is to ask, to choose suppliers who answer, to tell you plainly, and to offer lab-grown stones and recycled metals to anyone who prefers them.
Heirloom stones are the most responsible choice of all. Resetting a grandmother's diamond in a new ring is something we do often, and with care.