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Grant Macdonald London has always been known as a workshop that keeps the traditional – in some cases ancient – crafts of the master silversmith, goldsmith and journeyman crafts alive. However, we have also always blended high tech innovation into our work as well. 

Our interest in technology began when we developed a signature style called ‘Electro-texturing’ in the late 1960s and early 70s. Using the electroforming technique and introducing small alien particles onto the surface of the silver created small bobbles as a...

It’s not every day a master silversmith, even one as prolific as our founder Grant Macdonald, is commissioned to create a mace. Grant’s father – Dr. George Grant Macdonald – was the master of this ancient company of doctors and surgeons, founded in the 14th Century. When the Barbers Company needed a new mace, Grant was in the right place at the right time to win the commission.

The mace holds a ceremonially symbolic role denoting the authority for the Master, while chairing the company’s Court (or management committee). Grant was still a student at the Department of Silversmithing and...

One of the defining strengths of the Grant Macdonald London workshops over the last half-century has been our commitment to tradition. This isn’t just expressed through the traditional silversmithing skills of our craftsmen, but sometimes in the pieces we produce, pieces that are so specialist, there are very few workshops with the skills and experience to take the commission.

A classic example is the Loving Cup, a ceremonial object that can be traced back to the chivalrous traditions of the Norman knights of the 11th Century, first recorded at Corfe Castle in Dorset (a favourite hunting spot for William the...

Grant Macdonald London’s candelabra commissions over the last five decades represent a fine study in both artistic interpretations of the form, and practical design concepts. The execution of the form needs to reflect the tastes and aesthetic preferences of the customer, however it also needs to function as effective table lighting. There is something special about the light from wax candles at an evening function that cannot be reproduced by electric bulbs, and it’s for this reason that people and institutions still commission candlesticks and candelabra from our workshops.

Many of our candelabra commissions have come from City of London...

Royal Ascot is one of Britain’s oldest racecourses, and it is as much a part of British sporting culture as Wimbledon and the FA Cup.  Royal Ascot is the horse racing equivalent of Le Mans, The Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy 500 all rolled into one, staged over five gloriously sunny (or miserably wet) June days.

The spectacle of Royal Ascot is instantly recognisable, the eye-opening parade of ever more unusual hats, the A-list celebrities and international royalty mingling with sporting heroes and the great British public, all dressed in their finest formal wear. It’s almost as though the...