An English Crystal jug with a handmade, hallmarked, sterling silver neck. Part of the contemporary 'Appetite' collection from JA Campbell Silversmiths, the silver neck has the double turned line Campbell signature decoration. 

This beautiful silver and crystal jug is perfect to use throughout the day to give your table that 'luxury' look. Try using it at breakfast to serve freshly-squeezed orange juice or even Bucks Fizz on Christmas morning. For lunch, a twist of lime and ice cubes into sparkling water will refresh your palette. Early evenings, especially in Summer when thoughts turn to a cocktail, a jug of Pimms with strawberries floating on top will appeal. Whatever your tastes, this superb silver and crystal jug will enhance every drink. On a Winters evening, why not enjoy a glass of mulled wine from the elegant jug? Candlelight will intensify the glow on the silver and crystal.

As a silver present, it will be an instant success whatever the occasion, from a wedding to a special anniversary or birthday present. The silver neck or the crystal body are suitable for engraving a message of your choice.

For those interested in how we make this item, a brief description follows. The jug has 4 components (9 if including the optional lid and stirrer) 2 spun, 2 cast, 2 sheet , 2 wire and 1 ball finial.

Spun items: the body for this jug is made from 2 spun components soldered together in the middle with hard silver solder. The top is made from 1.3mm thick silver and the lower from 0.8mm thickness. This extra thickness is because the top item is cut in an oval shape to form the pouring lip and is polished inside and out. It is also the area where the handle is attached and there can be quite a lot of weight strain here.

Spinning is an old process of forming hollow objects from sheet metal and is still used today for small-to-medium size production runs. It is also good for one-off or prototypes. Other industries also use this method. You will often find lampshades and cooking utensils made this way. This technique takes place on a metal 'spinning' lathe, rather like a heavy-duty wood-turning lathe and involves making a former or 'chuck' as it is known and 'wrapping' a disc of metal (in this case silver) around it, using a highly polished steel burnisher, held in a long wooden handle and lots of lubricant. The spinner tucks the handle under his arm and uses his body weight to move the disc. As you can imagine, the disc tries to buckle and fold as it comes off the flat plane to form a vessel and it is the skill of the silversmith to prevent this happening. The spinning tool is usually made by the craftsman during his apprenticeship. During the spinning process, the silver, in common with most other metals, will work-harden and become unmanageable. It will need to be removed from the lathe and made red hot to soften the metal. This process is called annealing. Once the component is back on the chuck and has been coaxed to fit snuggly, it will be trimmed to size using a hand turning tool.

Cast items: the handle of the jug is cast in 2 halves, i.e. front and back, using the 'lost wax' process and is formed by having a master pattern made and, from that, a rubber mould. Molten wax is injected into the mould to produce wax copies of the master. These wax copies are then placed together onto a central feeder stem and an open ended steel tube, called a 'flask', placed over them. This is then filled with liquid Plaster of Paris which, when set, is heated to melt out the wax. It is then heated even further to about 1200 degrees C until the last remaining traces of wax have been burned completely. The flask is then allowed to cool down to about 400 degrees C and a carefully measured amount of silver 'spun' in, using a centrifuge. The filled flask is cooled to about 200 degrees C and plunged into water, causing the plaster to disintegrate and allowing the castings to fall out. The castings are then 'pickled' to remove the plaster and oxide and then cut free from the feeder stem.  When the 2 halves have been cleaned, the contact surfaces are filed and flux added. A long length of iron 'binding' wire is then wound around. Starting at the top and keeping it taut, the halves are pulled snuggly together. More flux is added and the assembly is heated to a dull red glow then using a gas and oxygen torch, several hard-solder tacks are made. It is allowed to cool and the retaining wires removed. More flux is added, the handle reheated and more solder added until the seam is properly soldered. It is then left to cool and 'pickled' in dilute sulphuric acid to remove flux and residues. It is rinsed in water and inspected to check the solder seam is perfect. If not, it is back to more flux and solder. At this stage, the handle is quite rough and lumpy with solder and the remains of the solder stem. It needs filing flush and polishing until perfect.

Assembly: with the body made and pre polished, the handle is perched onto the body with a support on top to stop it falling. The joint is fluxed and the whole assembly made red hot, ready to feed the solder and make the jug complete. Once again the unit is 'pickled' to remove flux etc. Then it is rinsed several times, especially inside the handle where pickle might be trapped. The handle joint is inspected and the jug dried using heat.

At this stage the article is punched with the maker's mark, in this case JAC in a triangle which are the initials of John Campbell. It is then taken to the London Assay Office to be scraped and tested. Once a positive result has been received from the laboratory confirming that the article has been made with metal at least 92.5% pure silver, the remaining hallmarks are punched into the surface. This independent hallmarking process began in the 1400s and is one of the world's oldest and most secure forms of consumer protection.

Upon arrival back at our workshop, the hallmarks are inspected and 'set'. This is to remove the dents put in by the punching process. Following this, the JA Campbell name punch is applied and the polishing process begins. First using coarse compound on the inside and outside, moving up to medium and lastly a fine compound until the high polish associated with silver is achieved. Four grades are used and around 20 different operations employed. It is then ultrasonically cleaned and dried with a flame to remove fluid from the hollow handle and then attached to the crystal body using Plaster of Paris. When fully dry, any excess plaster is removed and finally checked and packed into presentation boxes.

In the unlikely event of damage, JA Campbell provide a full replacement/repair service. You can be assured that all our products are made up to a standard and not down to a price. Nothing leaves the Brentwood workshop until Master Silversmith John Campbell is completely satisfied.