HERITAGE

It began with Raymond Wilkins, who won his first Goldsmiths Hall Craft Council prize in 1958 as a hand engraving apprentice. In 1971 he went on to establish R.H. Wilkins Engravers Ltd in London’s renowned jewellery district, Hatton Garden. The company specialises in the highest quality precious metal engraving in the jewellery, gold and silversmithing trade. He attracted some of the best hand engraving talent in the country, while training many more apprentices during his career. As tradition would have it, the apprentices would be indentured through the Goldsmiths’ Company, which has supported apprentices and masters within the gold and silver trade for over 700 years.

R.H. Wilkins quickly became very well respected and in 1983 Ray was invited to join the Goldsmiths Craft Council, a group of 24 trade based professionals who are the leading craftsmen and jewellery industry figures in the UK. In 20XX he became Chairman of the Council. It was in 2002 that Ray retired and sold R.H. Wilkins to Emmet Smith, who was one of his apprentices during the 1980s. Over more than forty years, R.H. Wilkins Engravers continues to undertake prestigious projects for our own and international royal families, governments and some of the world’s greatest and most famous sporting events.

In 2005 Emmet began Rebus as a department within R. H. Wilkins. Emmet soon discovered a demand for good quality, hand engraved signet rings and took the decision to design, create and supply these under the Rebus brand.

Today, Rebus has become the UK’s premier creator of finely crafted signet rings, and we are immensely proud of the products and services we provide. We’d love you to drop by our workshop, where you can view the rings, try them on and meet the jewellers and engravers who will be designing and creating your own piece. You’ll see our team at work and get a first-hand glimpse of some of the incredible skills involved. If you’re not able to visit us, we hope our website and Instagram and Facebook pages, where we frequently post photos of our work in progress, will give you an idea of how these stunning pieces are created and the confidence to purchase online.

“With a hand engraved message or symbol, an object can be transformed from the ordinary into the extraordinary, giving it a life and meaning of its own. And in time, the item will acquire its own personality. It will become a talisman – unique and treasured.”
– Emmet Smith, Director of Rebus Signet Rings