How a commission works · Turnaround
Design, Approval, Casting, Finishing
Four stages, and the one that varies most is the one you control.
Four or five good photographs is enough to tell you whether this will work, what it costs, and how long it takes.
.999
Fine silver, hand-poured, made in the USA
1 of 1
The design is retired after casting. Yours is the only one
2004
Casting solid metal since
Approved
You see and sign off the design before any metal is poured
Approval is the variable stage
Design, casting and finishing each take roughly what they take. Approval takes as long as it takes you to look at the design and respond — which on a piece this personal is often several rounds, and that is entirely reasonable. Plan for it rather than being surprised by it.
Approval also tends to take longer on the pieces that matter most. A memorial commission gets looked at, put aside, and returned to, which is entirely appropriate and it makes the timeline unpredictable. Where there is a fixed date, that has to be understood at the start.
The four stages
- Design, built from your photographs.
- Your approval, including any changes you want.
- Casting, in .999 fine silver, hand-poured.
- Finishing and any engraving.
- Shipping, insured.
Working backwards from a date
Tell us the date at the first email and we will work back through shipping, finishing, casting, approval and design to a point where the decision has to be made. That date is the useful number rather than the total duration.
It also makes the trade-offs visible. A stock form personalized well can move considerably faster than a custom design, and knowing the deadline is what makes that a real choice rather than a compromise discovered late.
How we handle it
- 01Give a realistic timeline at quote, not an optimistic one.
- 02Tell you the date by which approval is needed to hit a deadline.
- 03Keep you informed at each stage rather than going quiet.
- 04Ship insured, timed to arrive before a date rather than on it.
If it is for a specific date, say so at the first email. We will tell you plainly whether it is achievable, and a piece that arrives after the occasion has passed is a poor outcome for something made this carefully.
Said plainly
Where we stop
We will not rush the approval stage to hit a date. Casting is irreversible, and a piece approved in a hurry is how somebody ends up with a permanent object that does not look right.
FAQ
Common questions
- How long does it take?
- It depends on the piece and on how quickly approval comes back. Tell us your date at the first email.
- Which stage takes longest?
- Approval, usually, and that is fine. It is the stage worth spending time on.
- Can you rush it?
- Sometimes. We will not rush approval, because casting cannot be undone.
- When does it ship?
- Insured, timed to arrive before your date rather than on it.
The animals
Dogs
The most commissioned subject, and the one where people notice the smallest thing being wrong. A dog's owner knows that face better than they know most human ones.
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Cats
Cats are recognized by how they sit, curl and hold themselves far more than by facial detail — which changes what we need from your photographs.
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Horses
Horse people can read conformation at a glance, which makes this the least forgiving animal we cast and the one where accuracy matters most.
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Birds
Parrots, raptors and companion birds. Feathers look like fine detail and behave in cast metal like a trap.
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Small Pets
Rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, rats and hamsters. Frequently a child's first animal, and frequently the one that matters most in a household.
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Reptiles & Exotics
Snakes, lizards, tortoises and the rest. The one group where cast silver does something no other material does as well.
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More how a commission works
The Photographs
The photographs are the whole brief. Everything about the finished piece comes from what we can see in them.
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Size & Metal
The weight of metal is the largest single input, so size and cost are almost the same decision.
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Memorial Pieces
Many of these are commissioned after an animal has died. It changes nothing about how the piece is made and quite a lot about how we handle the conversation.
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Next step
Run it both ways before you decide.
No credit check and no obligation. Tell us what you hold and what the money is for, and if selling is the better answer for your situation you will be told that first.