A sterling silver candle snuffer from the JA Campbell 'Appetite' collection with turned maple wood handle.

An interesting talking point when entertaining friends and family and an indicator of your status and knowledge of arts and crafts and the finer things in life. All very well if you only have one candle to put out but with more it gets messy blowing them out or squeezing them out. With this candle snuffer, it is a joy to extinguish them!

You can spoil yourself and buy one for your own use or a special present for someone close. It is also very suitable as a silver wedding present, a birthday present, a corporate gift or incentive gift. It can even be made in gold for the very special golden wedding present. The snuffer can be engraved with a date or initials of your choice to further personalize the gift.

This candle snuffer was designed by John Campbell to match the contemporary 'Appetite'collection The manufacturing process for this item is interesting to hear and is described by Master Silversmith John Campbell.

It is made from 3 components. The body is made by the 'spinning' method in 3 operations. The silver handle socket is made from sterling silver tube by Cookson Precious Metal using the continuous casting method and wire drawing method.  Both components are again pre polished before the handle socket is put to the body at a precisely correct angle using easy silver solder.

It is now time for a visit to the London Assay Office which has been in  Goldsmiths' Hall since the 1400s. Here the 2 components are sampled and 'assayed' (tested). Providing  the components are on or above 925 parts silver out of 1000, the hallmarks are punched into the surface of the silver using a stake inside to support the item. The remaining 75 parts per 1000 of the metal alloy are pure copper. This mix is centuries old and hardens the otherwise too soft pure silver. This is enough copper to harden but not enough to discolour.

Upon return to the silversmith's workshop the slight dent from the punching of the hallmarks is removed by 'planishing' with a small hammer. This item is now polished using 4 compounds, ending with jeweller's rouge which imparts the high lustre for which silver is well known. Finally it is ultra sonically cleaned, the maple wood handle fixed in and the snuffer wrapped and boxed.

The design features and quality in every item made by craftsmen at J A Campbell are unique. In the unlikely event of damage, JA Campbell provide a repair service. You can be assured that all our products are made up to a standard, not down to a price. Nothing leaves the Brentwood workshop until Master Silversmith John Campbell is completely satisfied.