Often visitors to Aurum can be found staring with deep fascination at the impressive silver ship, Nelson's HMS Victory, a piece commissioned by the Coombe Trust in London. The ship has been on display in Lloyds of London and Portsmouth and is now on permanent display in the Aurum showroom.
Commencing in 1986 Richard Blampied and Derek Uren spent many long hours crafting a model of the locomotive 'King George V' using all the skills they normally employed to manufacture jewellery to the highest standards.
This sterling silver replica is a faithful scale model of the locomotive, constructed using copies of the original plans.
It was entirely handmade over a period of six years, comprising of 659 pieces weighing a total of 883 gm. 18ct yellow and red gold have been used in place of the brass and copper fittings and two-brilliant cut diamonds, total weight 0.25 ct., are set into the lamps. The tender holds 179ct. of sapphires which represent the coal. All the valve gear and wheels are in working order and the model will roll on the track if required.
As the workshop's reputation for fine and individual work grew, Aurum was selected for many diverse commissions. Among these was an extremely important piece; the replica 17th Century Bailiff’s mace that was presented by the States of Jersey to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to commemorate her visit to Jersey. The original mace, which is housed in the Royal Court in Jersey, was given by King Charles II to the Bailiff of Jersey on 28th November 1663 in gratitude for the Island’s loyalty and hospitality and to remember his happy experiences in the Island on the two occasions he had stayed in Jersey during his years in exile.
Julie Blampied-Symth followed in her parents' footsteps and became a qualified goldsmith, training, as they did, at the Goldschmiedeschule, Germany, before joining the family business in 1997. During her time at Aurum she has made many trips to Europe and Asia sourcing and acquiring rare and beautiful gemstones which are of utmost importance to any prospective jewellery item. They are intrinsic to Aurum's success and only the most breathtakingly beautiful, high quality stones are chosen.
As an Old Victorian it was a great honour for Richard to create, along with Derek Uren and Nick Scott-Tomlin, a sterling silver model of Victoria College for the college's 150th Anniversary year. The sterling silver scale model is on permanent display at Victoria College, on the staircase up to the Great Hall.
2004 saw Aurum's talented goldsmiths create the first of several desirable limited edition collections. They have been designed by Richard's wife Alexa, and as well as being extremely beautiful they have proved highly collectible resulting in most of the unique pieces being sold.
The limited edition chess set was created to celebrate and commemorate Aurum's 40th birthday.
The 'Bailiwick' chess set depicts the friendly rivalry between Jersey and Guernsey with customers proposing which Channel Island characters would create the most interesting and practical chess pieces. After the design and wax carving stage, each cast sterling silver model is hand finished and polished. The board is made of 32 squares of Jersey Mont Mado granite and 32 squares of ‘blue’ Guernsey granite, cut and polished by a local firm. Each box is handmade from Jersey oak by a local craftsman.
We are proud to lay claim to the creation of the original Jersey 'Bean'. A fun range of silver jewellery and accessories from earrings to key rings honouring our roots.
Fifty years ago, Jerseyman Richard Blampied started a jewellery business. He couldn't have imagined then that a small jewellery workshop would come so far.
To celebrate 50 fabulous years in the business of making gorgeous fine jewellery we designed and created five key jewels using our top five favourite gemstones to represent each decade. The five stones are, (of course), diamond, ruby, sapphire, (in this case a stunning pink sapphire), emerald and tanzanite only using the finest examples of these coloured gemstones.
Naturally our thoughts tured to our roots in the business and this was something we really wanted to celebrate. So, an idea developed which incorporates hidden gems within the earth, spied through a cavern mouth surrounded by lush leaves, sinuous vines and knotty roots, the whole scene illuminated by a beam of sunlight. We decided to call our special production, 'The Blampied Collection.' After creating the initial five key and very intricate pieces, which signify leaves, stems, roots, dappled light and hidden crystals, our team of highly talented goldsmiths added to these by producing diffusion ranges of complementary jewellery in the theme of each key piece, bringing the total number of collection pieces to fifty!
In addition to our 'Blampied Collection' we turned to our family name, Blampied, which means 'White Foot.' We created a delightful emblem, not only symbolic to our jewellery business, but also for everyone on life's journey... so put your best foot forward!
In celebration of the 75th Anniversary of Liberation day for the Channel Islands, a day so special to so many Islanders, we decided to commemorate it by creating a white dove symbolising both peace and liberty.
We created a limited edition of 75 18ct white gold dove pendants with diamond wings. In addition, we also created a selection of silver dove pendants.
We hope that our Dove is a symbol of peace, love and freedom.
With Covid putting paid to our plans for this collection, scheduled for 2020, it made for a huge celebration when we felt it timely and right for us to launch it in November 2022.
Alexa Blampied designed exquisite pieces that ignited our imagination and pushed boundaries of both design and craftsmanship. Our in-house team of goldsmiths produced over 30 skilfully made pieces to be proud of.
With inspiration taken from the 'Wild' this collection included everything from a highly technical 'Quiver Tree' pendant, 'Stretch' a stretching panther ear cuff meets topaz drop earrings and 'Bananas' the climbing monkey ring and bracelet, to name but a few.
This collection also saw the creation of 'Beluga', a magnificent collier honouring a remarkable colourless pear shaped diamond.
