0:00:24 > 0:00:29TAPPING
0:00:31 > 0:00:34My father, who was quite a character and had always
0:00:34 > 0:00:37loads of stories to tell, was using one of these hammers.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40He was hand-raising a piece of silver with this
0:00:40 > 0:00:44smooth-headed hammer, and he caught the edge, made a mark,
0:00:44 > 0:00:48which normally you would file out or polish out and start again,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51but he thought, in this case, "I might just repeat this,"
0:00:51 > 0:00:54which he did, and out came this sort of texturing here.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56And he thought, "This could be really interesting,"
0:00:56 > 0:00:58so, he just developed it
0:00:58 > 0:01:01and decided that the easiest way of repeating it
0:01:01 > 0:01:04is not to keep on using the edge of the hammer,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07but to carve in a section of this texture into the hammerhead,
0:01:07 > 0:01:11which he's done here, and as you're hand-raising a piece of silver,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14as you're hitting the metal, out comes this texture.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24Simon Benney holds three Royal warrants as a gold and silversmith.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30In the 1970s, his father ran a firm employing 25 staff,
0:01:30 > 0:01:35but today, House of Benney is a modestly sized design business.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39His exquisite handmade objects in precious metals
0:01:39 > 0:01:42are renowned for their stunning enamel work.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46As well as crafting bespoke objects for the Royal household,
0:01:46 > 0:01:51Simon creates beautiful individual pieces for private clients.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Silversmith Alan Evans has worked with Simon
0:01:56 > 0:01:58and his father for nearly 60 years.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04The texturing that is the signature feature of Benney silverware
0:02:04 > 0:02:08is still known in the trade as Benney Bark.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10And that's Benney Bark.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28COFFEE MACHINE WHIRS
0:02:31 > 0:02:35What I'm working on now is a commission for a client
0:02:35 > 0:02:39who would like a pendant for his wife's 50th birthday party.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42So, the very first thing is there'd be normally a phone call or
0:02:42 > 0:02:45a quick chat about roughly what they'd like.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49I then start here, with doing some rough sketches,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51just getting ideas in my head.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Also, ideas of colour -
0:02:53 > 0:02:56we have, like, 50 different colours of enamel.
0:03:00 > 0:03:01So, I grew up in a house
0:03:01 > 0:03:03where we had a workshop attached to the house.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06So, I grew up literally going into the workshop with my father
0:03:06 > 0:03:10and bashing bowls around and plates and hand-raising copper dishes
0:03:10 > 0:03:12and things like that.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14And not many kids have that opportunity.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16'What's made here?
0:03:16 > 0:03:18'Gerald Benney, the silversmith who designed the altar bed
0:03:18 > 0:03:22'for Coventry Cathedral, specialises in formal and ceremonial work.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31'As so much of his silverwork is too costly for ordinary people
0:03:31 > 0:03:34'to own, Gerald Benney has now turned his talent to designing
0:03:34 > 0:03:38'cutlery, in stainless steel as well as in silver.'
0:03:38 > 0:03:39Dad was very technical,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41he was a designer in the true sense of the word.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44I basically design the same way.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48I make sort of prettier drawings, rather than technical drawings,
0:03:48 > 0:03:52but the silver industry as a whole has gone through huge changes.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55All the big factories in the Midlands have all gone,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57and what is left are people like me,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00artist craftsmen who do special one-off commissions.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05It's very niche, it's not that huge, but you do make,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08hopefully make, some very beautiful things.
0:04:08 > 0:04:09'You'd never expect to find
0:04:09 > 0:04:12'such a workshop as this inside a sleepy country house.'
0:04:12 > 0:04:16One thing that hasn't changed since the days of Simon's father
0:04:16 > 0:04:21is the young silversmith filmed here in 1965.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25Alan Evans is still working with Simon Benney today.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29I must have been either 23 or 24.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33The thing with the ladle was purely the cameraman's idea,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36we don't normally do that.
0:04:36 > 0:04:42I started as an apprentice in 1953.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44It was a rather good job -
0:04:44 > 0:04:47I was making a spout for a coffee pot on the first day I started.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Alan started work in Gerald Benney's London workshop
0:04:52 > 0:04:55at a time of real change in British society.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Out of the workshop in Whitfield Place,
0:04:58 > 0:05:03you could look straight out onto the Post Office Tower being built.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05It was the new age.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10The enthusiasm for a modern way of living had a significant effect
0:05:10 > 0:05:15on the industry in which Gerald was an important figure.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18'Just drink in the elegance of this young artist's tableware.'
0:05:21 > 0:05:24The days when middle-class families had their own silverware have gone,
0:05:24 > 0:05:26but Gerald was a canny operator
0:05:26 > 0:05:30and his cutlery and tableware designs were licensed
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and mass-produced in stainless steel.
0:05:33 > 0:05:39Nowadays, how many people want to have a silver tea set to clean?
0:05:39 > 0:05:44People probably want their new BMWs as a status symbol,
0:05:44 > 0:05:45rather than silver.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49This house here is where I was brought up.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51I was born here in '66.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56My parents bought the house in 1962, I think, from memory.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Of course, in the early '60s,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01you could buy an old country house like this for very little money.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04They weren't rich by any means, so they literally bought a wreck.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05Their bedroom was here -
0:06:05 > 0:06:08I mention that because I was born in this bedroom
0:06:08 > 0:06:11on New Year's Day, during one of my parents' many parties,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14but Dad delivered me, which was curious,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17and then he went back to the party afterwards,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20so Mum was up there with me on New Year's Day
0:06:20 > 0:06:21with the party raging downstairs.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24When I was a kid, sort of seven, eight years old,
0:06:24 > 0:06:26I started going into the workshop
0:06:26 > 0:06:30and bashing bits of metal around, which used to drive Alan crazy.
0:06:30 > 0:06:37I first saw Simon when he was a day old, and as he grew up...
0:06:37 > 0:06:41He used to go off to school, but when he was at home,
0:06:41 > 0:06:46there was this period of time when we had a job to keep him
0:06:46 > 0:06:49out of the workshop, because every time he came in,
0:06:49 > 0:06:53he couldn't leave anything alone, so, he would pick up a hammer
0:06:53 > 0:06:55and you'd say, "No, put that down, Simon."
0:06:57 > 0:07:01Anyway, I'm glad that's over with!
0:07:04 > 0:07:06After a consultation with his client,
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Simon brings his ideas for the pendant to Alan for appraisal.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12There you go, that's the idea about the pendant...
0:07:12 > 0:07:15The advantage of such a bespoke piece
0:07:15 > 0:07:18is that the pendant will be a highly personalised item.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23George's wife, Lucy, is on the Court of the Mercers.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27In their crest is this Mercers' Maiden.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32Well, I think the best way to do this hinge is to...
0:07:32 > 0:07:36instead of having it on the side, to have it on the top.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38OK.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43With the design agreed, work can begin.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54Like so much else in the workshop, the 1953 milling lathe
0:07:54 > 0:07:57came from Gerald Benney's workshop at Beenham House,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01and has been lovingly maintained by Alan ever since.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07The main body of the pendant will be made from
0:08:07 > 0:08:09two pieces of 18-carat gold.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Of course, everything that comes off, the scrap,
0:08:14 > 0:08:16always goes back and they re-melt it
0:08:16 > 0:08:21and that will probably be the next lot that we buy.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26You never really know where the gold actually comes from.
0:08:26 > 0:08:31Whether it's from a mine or from Brink's-Mat, we don't know.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35This is the front part of the pendant.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38We are turning this out to take the enamel.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54The racks of ancient silversmithing tools contain many items
0:08:54 > 0:08:57that are genuine museum pieces.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00Dad got them from some of the old workshops which were going bust
0:09:00 > 0:09:02in Sheffield and Birmingham, they had thousands
0:09:02 > 0:09:05and thousands of tools just lying around,
0:09:05 > 0:09:07and you could come and pick them up and buy them.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Just went up and filled the back of the boot, you know, full of all the tools,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14brought it back to Beenham. So, some of these guys are 100 years old.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17There's one particular tool here
0:09:17 > 0:09:20that I used when I was an apprentice.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27It's very rusty now, because it hasn't been used for many years,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30but it used to make chalice bases.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40This is one of our simplest beakers, it would be called a 101 beaker.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44They are normally textured, that kind of classic bark texture.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47The hammer marks - we use a flat, polished hammer
0:09:47 > 0:09:52instead of a carved hammer, which leaves all these hammer marks in,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55then we do a light polish, which makes it nice and bright,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58but doesn't polish out all these hammer marks,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00because it creates a nice ripple effect.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Like his father, Simon is amongst a very select group who have
0:10:04 > 0:10:07simultaneously held four Royal warrants.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11Royal warrants are very significant to me, especially with new clients.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14It's kind of a seal of approval - the Royal family,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17who obviously love your work, have given you a Royal warrant.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20So, it must be a certain quality or a certain standard
0:10:20 > 0:10:21and a certain amount of trust,
0:10:21 > 0:10:25which, if you can get that very early on in a relationship,
0:10:25 > 0:10:26it becomes so much easier,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29because they basically trust what you can do for them.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31It's very personal.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33Say, if you were supplying cornflakes -
0:10:33 > 0:10:35there would be no real direct relationship, particularly.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38But with what I do, it is a very personal thing, it's very personal
0:10:38 > 0:10:41gifts you're making, so from that point of view, it's lovely,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44because you do get a feel for how they operate, the family.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53I did a blue bowl for the Queen - I didn't actually meet the Queen -
0:10:53 > 0:10:56some key rings for Princess Diana.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05The 101 beaker starts as a flat circle of silver and is gradually
0:11:05 > 0:11:09raised by repeated hammering over different-shaped formers.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17You could probably raise up the shape within a day, then, say,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20another two or three hours to smooth it out again.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24It's a state of mind, isn't it, really?
0:11:24 > 0:11:29If your mind wanders too much, then you find that things can go wrong.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33It's a bit like driving, isn't it?
0:11:33 > 0:11:38If you're driving a car, you're not thinking, "I must change gear now,"
0:11:38 > 0:11:42a certain amount of automation takes over, but you're still thinking
0:11:42 > 0:11:46about what you're doing, otherwise you run into the bloke in front.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12The back of the pendant, which is to be engraved with
0:12:12 > 0:12:15a picture of the client's daughter, is cut from a sheet of gold.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27The difficulty is not breaking the blade.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Right, that has got to be flattened off now,
0:12:32 > 0:12:37so when the two pieces come together, they will meet neatly.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42But the trouble is, when you enamel,
0:12:42 > 0:12:50because it's oval, sometimes it will alter the geometry of it slightly.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11This gold tubing, I'll cut three pieces off,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15which make what we call the knuckles of the hinge.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20There it is, right.
0:13:20 > 0:13:27Many years ago, I was doing a ring, with this valuable sapphire.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31It was quite a largish stone, and what happened was,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35it dropped down this hole at the back and ended up inside
0:13:35 > 0:13:40and it took me about seven or eight hours to find it.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50These are the three components of the hinge of the pendant.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56The middle one is attached to the rear of the pendant
0:13:56 > 0:13:59and the outer two are attached to the front.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04The middle one has the loop on, to take the chain, like that.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17At this point, progress is interrupted by a vital stage
0:14:17 > 0:14:20in the manufacture of any item of gold or silver.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Simon must take the pendant to be hallmarked.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28The name comes from the mark given at the Assay Office
0:14:28 > 0:14:31at the Goldsmiths' Hall in the City of London.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36In order to qualify as 18-carat,
0:14:36 > 0:14:41it needs to contain 750 parts per thousand of pure gold.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45The gold content, which is the one we are primarily interested in,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48as that tells us whether it is up to standard or not.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51The hallmark contains Simon's own maker's mark,
0:14:51 > 0:14:53the crown for a gold item,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55the gold content,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58the leopard's head symbol of the London Assay Office
0:14:58 > 0:15:02and a lower-case "r" for 2016.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06In order not to distort the shape
0:15:06 > 0:15:08of such a small item with a hammered stamp,
0:15:08 > 0:15:13the hallmark can be burnt onto the pendant with a laser.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Yup, absolutely perfect. Thank you.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34The Goldsmiths' Hall has regulated the trade in precious metals
0:15:34 > 0:15:36and looked after the interests of its members
0:15:36 > 0:15:40since its establishment in 1339.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45The Benney name is held in high esteem here.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Simon's father, Gerald, brought about something of
0:15:47 > 0:15:51an Elizabethan Renaissance in English silversmithing,
0:15:51 > 0:15:55and Simon is meeting one of his most ardent collectors.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58They've taken 25 years to put together...
0:15:58 > 0:16:01John is to curate an exhibition of work by both Simon
0:16:01 > 0:16:03and his father in Hong Kong next year.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07It will be their first joint show.
0:16:08 > 0:16:14There are 45 examples of Gerald Benney's boxes on the table,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16many of which Simon has never seen.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21This is a classic of the period,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24sort of Scandinavian influenced, very clean lines.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26A very beautiful piece.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Gerald began to seek an alternative to the prevailing Scandinavian
0:16:30 > 0:16:34look after an American woman visited his workshop in the early 1960s,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38seeking English silverware.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42"But, Mr Benney, this isn't modern English silver, it's Scandinavian!"
0:16:42 > 0:16:47After that incident, he set about altering the very way
0:16:47 > 0:16:52that he worked, and this is in House Beautiful of June 1962 -
0:16:52 > 0:16:56"I am trying to design silver which is immediately
0:16:56 > 0:16:58"recognisable as English.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03"I think English silver should be rugged, solid and functional,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06"but at the same time, modern."
0:17:06 > 0:17:09One of Britain's best-kept secrets is the quality of its craftsmanship
0:17:09 > 0:17:14and design with silver, and your father is instrumental in that.
0:17:17 > 0:17:22Gerald's boxes were mainly made as commemorative gifts.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24This one has been engraved with a prospect
0:17:24 > 0:17:28of the Ford Motor Company's Dagenham factory.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35The Hong Kong exhibition will include some of Gerald's pieces
0:17:35 > 0:17:38from the Goldsmiths' own collection.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42This chalice shows the influence of contemporary British sculptors
0:17:42 > 0:17:45like Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore.
0:17:49 > 0:17:50They also have a coffee pot
0:17:50 > 0:17:53from a set made for Number 10 Downing Street.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56Well, in the 1960s, this was the time
0:17:56 > 0:18:00when Gerald really became well known as a designer-silversmith,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04particularly of modern tableware, and here at Goldsmiths' Hall,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07we use the 50 settings that we commissioned from him
0:18:07 > 0:18:10for cutlery every week at lunch.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12He was a very modest man.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16Here was someone who had four Royal warrants, who would just,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18as an aside, say, "By the way, I'm going to be staying
0:18:18 > 0:18:21"at Balmoral next week, so you won't be able to get hold of me."
0:18:21 > 0:18:26But Gerald's significance extended beyond his own work.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31As Principal of the Royal College of Art, he inspired future generations.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35He has been THE major influence - no other country in the world
0:18:35 > 0:18:39is as good at modern silver design as we are.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43We have 66 living silversmiths who are all antiques of the future.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Now bearing its hallmark, the next stage for the pendant
0:18:53 > 0:18:57is a visit to two relics of London's once flourishing silver industry,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01who are still making a living doing things by hand.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11The trade itself is completely dying.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15We are dinosaurs, we are a dying industry.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17People want technology sooner -
0:19:17 > 0:19:19new TV, new phone.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Now, this has come in for a refurb, it needs a little flick-up.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28So, that would be what you would call the outside done,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32but to do the inside, we have to make our own little tools.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41I worked for Gerald for about 28 years.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45He was very what I would have called Edwardian.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Always turned up in a nice big car with his chauffeur.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53I remember one occasion, he sent me two five-light candlesticks.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55I rang him up and said, "They're done."
0:19:55 > 0:19:57He sent his daughter that afternoon to collect them.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59She turned up in a sports car.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01I said, "You're never going to get them in there."
0:20:01 > 0:20:03She said, "No, they'll be all right."
0:20:03 > 0:20:05"Are you going back to work now?" She said, "Yeah."
0:20:05 > 0:20:08At the time, she was working at Buckingham Palace for Princess Diana,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12so the car was quite safe being parked up with the boxes in it!
0:20:13 > 0:20:15On the other side of the workshop,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18the design for the engraving is finalised.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24So, the Plasticine goes onto the back of the paper.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Once you draw through with a point,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29this will leave a fine line of Plasticine
0:20:29 > 0:20:32on the surface of the metal,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35which you then can draw over with a fine scribing line,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39and from the fine scribing line, you can engrave
0:20:39 > 0:20:44the outline that you are eventually going to cut up to,
0:20:44 > 0:20:46to remove all the background of the metal.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58Steve grudgingly admits that there are machines that do engraving now,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01but the human touch still gives the best result.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06With an engraving tool, it's about catching the light,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10so, you can do a cut that you turn it round
0:21:10 > 0:21:12and it will look sort of positive or negative,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16whereas a piece that's done on a machine or on a laser,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19for the most part, once it's in metal, looks flat.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22You still need to be able to look at something and think,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26well, if I put a little flick over the top of her eye,
0:21:26 > 0:21:32it will look slightly different, whereas the machine doesn't do that.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42The pendant now makes its final journey
0:21:42 > 0:21:44to London's Jewellery Quarter,
0:21:44 > 0:21:46to a basement in Hatton Garden...
0:21:48 > 0:21:50..where the diamonds will be added.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21This is the enamel we are going to use on the pendant.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25It's an emerald green colour.
0:22:25 > 0:22:31Basically, it's a type of glass with metal oxides to colour it.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38The green - I believe arsenic is used, and barium.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Some usually nasty things like that.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44So, we have to grind this.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Now we're ready for applying it to the job.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Gerald Benney's enthusiasm for enamelling began in Sloane Square,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03when he saw a multicoloured display of towels in the window
0:23:03 > 0:23:07of Peter Jones and decided what his work needed was colour.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Enamelling was something of a lost art,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14since the demise of the Russian jeweller Carl Faberge.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Gerald made a trip to Zurich to the firm of Burch-Korrodi,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21where he tracked down legendary enameller Berger Bergersen
0:23:21 > 0:23:24and persuaded him to come and stay at Beenham House.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30He was a very tall, slightly heavily built Norwegian.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34He had a great sense of humour, spoke very good English.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36You'd get him coming out with English puns,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39he was a great linguist.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41He taught us what you really needed to know.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44You are learning all the time, with enamelling.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Bergersen had learned his art from emigre Russian jewellers
0:23:48 > 0:23:51who had worked in St Petersburg, and Gerald was proud to be able
0:23:51 > 0:23:55to trace his enamelling DNA straight back to Faberge himself.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Simon has inherited his father's love
0:23:59 > 0:24:01for deep, lustrous colours in enamel.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06This goes on the stand.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08The material is the ceramic that they used
0:24:08 > 0:24:11on the space shuttle tiles.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13It's ideal for firing enamel on.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18It's not so bad on something like this,
0:24:18 > 0:24:23but if it's a beaker, where you've got the enamel on the sides,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25you have to make sure it's perfectly dry,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29otherwise it just drops off the moment you put it in the kiln.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35TIMER BELL RINGS
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Several enamel items Alan made during his time working with Gerald
0:24:39 > 0:24:42are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45But he doesn't let that sort of thing go to his head.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48I don't think I'm particularly proud, no.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51It's pleasing, but if you're exhibited in a museum,
0:24:51 > 0:24:54it tends to make you feel a bit older!
0:24:54 > 0:24:57The sense of depth created by the combination of the glass
0:24:57 > 0:25:00and underlying textured gold becomes apparent
0:25:00 > 0:25:03as the pendant gently cools.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10Well, what we've got here is a motor with a felt mop,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13and what we have to do is
0:25:13 > 0:25:16use a pumice and water to polish the enamel.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28MUSIC: River Man by Nick Drake
0:25:39 > 0:25:43I moved down here about 16 years ago.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46It's just beautiful, it really is beautiful.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48I go to London about twice a week,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52to see clients and to meet with my suppliers.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57It's kind of a perfect combination of living here with the family,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00but working, part of the week anyway, in London.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07It's a lovely place to work - I can sit out in the garden
0:26:07 > 0:26:10and have my pencil and paper and just feel very calm,
0:26:10 > 0:26:13let thoughts gather and do lots of sketching.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19It's quite nice to have that kind of calming environment
0:26:19 > 0:26:22to design in, because sometimes if it's too frantic, too many things
0:26:22 > 0:26:26going on, it's quite difficult to get good thoughts in your head.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28But it's much easier out here.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34I'm very different from my father.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Although I have carried on in the same vein, we are quite different.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40I'm not too worried about dynasty.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43If one of the kids wants to follow on, fantastic,
0:26:43 > 0:26:45but if they don't, are interested and passionate
0:26:45 > 0:26:47about something else which they love
0:26:47 > 0:26:51and hopefully are successful at, that will give me
0:26:51 > 0:26:54as much enjoyment as if they were part of Benney going forward.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00When I die, I want my ashes up there.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05Scatter them right at that little tree at the end.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Make sure the wind is going, like, that direction!
0:27:16 > 0:27:20Yes, it's not too bad. It has turned out reasonably well.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24I'm never really pleased with something when it's finished.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28You can always improve on anything, really.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35I like to be a perfectionist.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39- My wife says I am. - HE CHUCKLES
0:27:41 > 0:27:44What I love about this particular little pendant is that
0:27:44 > 0:27:50it's got all the elements which show off some of the skills we have.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52That is stone setting, enamelling -
0:27:52 > 0:27:56the green at the front and the lovely red enamel at the back -
0:27:56 > 0:27:59hinge making and engraving.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02The guys who helped me with this have done an amazing job,
0:28:02 > 0:28:06and they are all experts in their field.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10The actual overall feel of it is pretty much as I wanted.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12So, yeah, very happy.