Every Drawer Holds A Ring Waiting To Be Made.
Bring what you no longer wear — in a pocket, a pouch or a biscuit tin. We test each piece in front of you, weigh it, and tell you what it could become and what it is worth. The valuation is free and nothing leaves your sight.
- Wedding bands
- Broken chains
- Single earrings
- Signet rings
- Old sovereigns
- Charms & lockets
What Leaves Our Bench Most Weeks
Five kinds of piece, each drawn for one person. Prices are for new recycled gold; remaking your own usually brings them down.
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Engagement Rings
Drawn around a stone you choose, or the one you already have.
From £1,450
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Wedding Bands
Forged as a pair, often from both families' old gold.
From £420
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Earrings
Drops, hoops and studs, sized to how you wear your hair.
From £260
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Signet Rings
Cut and engraved by hand at the bench, never by laser.
From £680
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Pendants
A stone or pearl from an old piece, given a new setting.
From £340
Where Our Metal Comes From
Every gram we work has been gold before. We would rather refine a ring you'll never wear again than buy metal fresh from the ground — and we can show you the paper trail for every stone we set.
Read Our Questions-
Your Own Gold
Tested and refined in our studio, alloyed back to 9, 14 or 18 carat. You get your own metal back, not an equivalent.
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Recycled Bullion
When yours runs short, we top it up with recycled grain from a British refiner, hallmarked at the Edinburgh Assay Office.
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Traceable Stones
Diamonds and sapphires with a record back to the mine, or the stones you bring, re-cut only if they need it.
Five Sittings From Drawer To Hand
Most commissions take six to eight weeks. You're welcome at all five sittings; most people come to three and leave the rest to us.
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Sit & Sketch
An hour at the bench with the goldsmith who will make your piece. We draw it around your hand, not from a catalogue.
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Melt & Refine
Your gold is tested, weighed and melted while you watch, then alloyed to the carat and colour you choose.
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Saw & Forge
The metal is rolled, sawn and forged into shape. Come back and hold it before the stone goes in.
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Set The Stone
Each claw is raised and closed under the loupe. A solitaire takes our setter most of an afternoon.
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Polish & Hand Over
Polished, hallmarked and handed to you across the same bench it was made on, with a note of its weight and story.
Proposing? Use A Stand-In.
Not sure what they'd choose? Propose with our silver stand-in ring, then come back together and design the one you'll both remember. Nobody has to guess a ring size in secret.
A silver stand-in, sized on the day
Its £60 comes off the real ring
Then draw the real one together
Three Pieces That Came Back Different
What people carried in, and what they wore home.
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Three Grandmothers, One Band
Three worn wedding rings from three generations, melted together and forged into one wide band with a sculpted top. The three golds still show as faint stripes when it catches the light.
“It's the first ring all three of them have been in at once.” — Eilidh, Portobello
Came in
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A Necklace With A Broken Clasp
A pearl necklace that had sat in a drawer for twenty years became two pairs of pearl drops — one for each daughter — and the clasp's gold became their hooks.
“They wore them to their mum's seventieth. Nobody guessed.” — Graham, Stockbridge
Came in
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An Engagement Ring From 1962
The band had worn paper-thin. We saved the old diamond, cut two small ones to sit beside it, and set all three in a new gold band of the same pattern.
“Same stone my gran said yes to, on a ring that'll last me.” — Priya, Leith
Came in
Four At The Bench And A Seat For You
Oriel is four people and one long bench under the window. Whoever draws your piece makes it.
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You
Your Seat
Bring a sketch, a stone or nothing at all
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Isla Gowan
Goldsmith and founder, draws every commission
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Tam Rennie
Stone setter, thirty years under the loupe
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Morag Baird
Pearls, restringing and the front desk
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Calum Shaw
Apprentice goldsmith, in his third year
Asked At The Counter
Something else? Call the studio on 0131 000 0000 and Morag will answer.
How long does a commission take?
Six to eight weeks from the first sketch for most rings; wedding bands about four. If there's a date, tell us at the first sitting and we'll plan backwards from it.
What if my gold isn't enough for the piece?
We weigh it at the valuation and top it up with recycled gold. You pay only for the difference, priced per gram on the day.
Will my piece be hallmarked?
Yes. Everything over the legal weight is sent to the Edinburgh Assay Office and comes back with its hallmark before you collect it.
Do you buy gold too?
We do, at the day's rate, and we'll always give you the figure in writing. Most people decide to remake instead once they've seen the sketches.
Can I see the work in progress?
Every commission includes a visit to approve the wax model and another before the stone is set. Many clients drop in more often; the kettle's always on.
Looked After For As Long As You Wear It
Cleaning and a claw check are free for every Oriel piece, for life. For everything else — ours or not — these are our prices.
- Cleaning & claw checkFree, for life
- Ring resizingfrom £45
- Pearl restringingfrom £55
- White gold re-plating£60
- Chain & clasp repairfrom £35
- Stone re-settingfrom £80
- Hand engravingfrom £40
- Insurance valuation£50
Come Round To Tanner's Wynd
Valuations and first sittings are by appointment so the bench is free for you. Book below, or ring and we'll find a time.
- 1 Example Street, Edinburgh EH1 0ZZ
- Tue–Sat 10:00–17:30, Thu until 19:00
- 0131 000 0000 · Email us
