Our story
Made by hand.
Made with love.
Antrobus Handcrafted began with a cycling accident, a long recovery, and a YouTube rabbit hole that changed everything. What started as curiosity became a craft, and that craft became a calling.
Dave Antrobus
Maker & founder
How it began
An accident that opened a door
In 2017 I was hit by a car whilst out cycling, leaving me with a dislocated collar bone and a long, frustrating stretch away from work. With time on my hands and a restless mind, I did what most people do — I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole. Somewhere between countless hours of watching and wondering, I stumbled into the world of jewellery making.
I decided to give it a try. My first rings were, to put it kindly, not my finest work. But I've never been the type to walk away from something just because it's hard. I kept at it, learned from every mistake, and refused to stop until what I was making was something I was genuinely proud of. The accident that slowed me down ended up pointing me toward something I love.
The workshop, England
The craft
Discovering Plique-à-jour
After years of silversmithing and honing my skills across a range of techniques, I discovered Plique-à-jour enamel — an ancient and demanding art form where coloured glass enamel is suspended within a metal framework with no backing, so light passes directly through it like a tiny stained glass window.
It's painstaking, deeply satisfying work. Each section is filled by hand, fired multiple times to build depth and luminosity, and no two pieces ever come out identical. That unpredictability is exactly what I love about it. Every piece is genuinely unique — even when two customers order the same design with the same colours, what they receive will be subtly different. That's the nature of the craft.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Plique-à-jour in progress
The team
Behind every piece, Abigail
I make everything alone at the bench — but Antrobus Handcrafted has always been a partnership. My wife Abigail is the other half of everything you see here. While I'm in the workshop with my hands in silver and enamel, Abigail is the one making sure the work finds its way to the people who'll love it most.
From the presentation and packaging of every order to the care that goes into how we communicate with customers, Abigail brings a warmth and attention to detail that genuinely shapes how the brand feels. She understands what these pieces mean to the people who buy them — often a gift, often something personal — and treats each one accordingly.
We couldn't do this without each other.
What matters to us
The things we won't compromise on
Our material
Why we chose Argentium Silver
Every piece of Antrobus Handcrafted jewellery is made in Argentium Silver — a modern, premium silver alloy developed in England at Middlesex University. It contains a small amount of germanium which gives it remarkable properties that standard sterling silver simply can't match.
For Plique-à-jour work in particular, the quality of the metal framework is everything. A brighter, purer, more durable silver makes the enamel sing in a way that lesser materials never quite achieve. It was an easy decision.
The fired enamel
Japanese leaded vitreous enamels
For the majority of my fired work — including all Plique-à-jour pieces — I use traditional vitreous leaded enamel powders from Japan. These are finely ground glass enamels that are kiln-fired directly onto the metal, fusing at around 760–815°C to create a depth, translucency and luminosity that no other material can quite match.
Japanese leaded enamels are widely regarded as the finest in the world — prized by professional enamellers for the purity and intensity of their colours, their consistency when fired, and their exceptional clarity in transparent and translucent finishes. Many are specifically formulated to be used directly on Argentium Silver without a flux base, which makes them a natural fit for my work.
I draw from three of the most respected manufacturers in Japan — Ninomiya, Nihon Shippo and Hirosawa — each with their own strengths and colour character, giving me a broad and carefully chosen palette to work from.
The other enamel
When heat isn't an option — cold enamel
Plique-à-jour is my first love, and firing glass enamel in a kiln is how most of my work comes to life. But some designs are simply too delicate for that process — fine wirework, intricate settings, or pieces where the heat of a kiln would risk damaging the structure we've spent hours building.
For those pieces, I use professional cold enamel — a pigmented resin specifically developed for jewellery colouring and decoration.
Far from being a compromise, cold enamel opens up a range of effects and colours that hot enamelling can't easily replicate: vivid transparents, rich pearlescents, and subtle lustre finishes. Wherever I use it, you'll find it clearly noted in the product description.
Ready to find your perfect piece?
Browse our collections of pre-made designs and fill them with your own colours — or open the custom designer and build something entirely from scratch.