BELCHER CHAIN

Our Engraving Fonts and Styles

Hand Engraving  is a traditional craft and skill dating back to the middle ages, that involves a considerable measure of skill, knowledge and training.

It involves an in depth knowledge of different precious metals, impeccable attention to detail, artistic skill and patience.

Hand engraving is known to be deeper and longer lasting than other methods of engraving jewellery.  The engraving also tends to be sharper and has a more even cut.

Our entire aim is to create quality pieces of jewellery that you and your future generations can treasure.

The hand engravers we work with have many years of experience and are experts in their field.

We are confident that they are able to engrave most styles of writing onto our keepsakes, including your own signature and samples of your own handwriting. 

For those customers interested in having samples of handwriting engraved, our hand engravers are able to engrave almost any style of handwriting onto your piece of fingerprint jewellery.

Their specialist knowledge and attention to detail are second to none.

Some examples of handwriting that we have engraved, include signatures; personal messages; writing from the inside of old birthday cards; writing from children’s drawings and writing from the backs of old photographs. 

Writing can be from a child or adult, but it is important that it is legible.

The handwriting sample you send will be replicated on your keepsake. 

We are unfortunately unable to improve your handwriting!

There is no need to send us your original, sentimental writing samples.

If you have a scanner, you can scan and email us a copy of the handwriting, or, you can send us a good photocopy.

Every custom fingerprint keepsake is individually made by hand and is completely unique.

Even if you order multiple copies of the same piece of jewellery, there will be slight differences.

The finished piece will completely depend on the fingerprint taken by you.

Fingerprints vary hugely between individuals, so every keepsake is naturally one of a kind.

We welcome any questions you might have.

Our fingerprint jewellery is made to accommodate real, unique fingerprints of different shapes and sizes.

Fingerprint quality varies hugely between different people due to many factors, including age, health and condition the hands.

Some people naturally have less defined fingerprints than others. This can simply be hereditary.  

All of these things will alter the look of the fingerprint keepsake you receive.

INFANTS  We do not recommend fingerprinting infants below the age of  18 months, as before this, we find that their fingerprints have not fully developed.

Instead of a fingerprint with whorls, loops and arches, you will see a lovely little dimple, but no lines or detail.

Some infants have amazing fingerprints at a much younger age, whereas with some, their print is still not wonderfully clear by two years old or more.

If, when you submit your fingerprints we find that this is the case, we can simply try again at a later date for no additional charge. 

Some customers are happy to go ahead with a tiny dimple impression.  We are completely happy to proceed if this is the case.

OLDER PEOPLE    In elderly people and where there has been a lot of wear and tear on the hands, fingerprint ridges can become less prominent.  This can make the prints look less detailed and in some cases, a little blurred.

Many adults also have wrinkles and scars over their finger tips which can appear as missing sections in the ink print, but they are still very much part of the individual fingerprint.

PLEASE NOTE :  If we do not feel that the fingerprint submitted is suitable, we will inform you immediately.

At Sophia Alexander, we understand that losing a loved one can be the most impossibly difficult and emotional time.

We also know that deciding how you will remember a lost loved one is an incredibly personal decision.

At Sophia Alexander, we able to incorporate your loved ones ashes into many of our custom necklaces and charms.

We can carefully set your loved ones cremation ashes behind beautiful diamonds.

Or, we can capture them behind hand-cut gold hearts.

A small, descrete way to allow you to carry a little piece of them with you always.   

We are honoured that our clients entrust us with this very special service.  To create something that will be truly cherished.

We welcome any questions you might have.

Each piece of fingerprint jewellery is first handmade in premium jewellers wax, then it is sent to be precision cast at one of the UK's leading precious metal casting houses. 

Here, a mould is made and molten silver or gold is poured inside, leaving a pure, solid, quality keepsake. 

We hand finish, polish, engrave and stone set.  Finally, each piece is hallmarked by a UK Assay Office to verify it’s quality and purity.

1.   Once you have placed your order, we will contact you to make sure we have all the correct personal information.

2.   A gift wrapped impression kit will then be posted out to you straight away.  We will arrange a suitable delivery date with you.

It will be delivered via Royal Mail Special Delivery. This is a tracked and insured service and your kit will arrive before 1pm on a specified day.

We supply different impression kits, depending on whether you require a fingerprint, handprint, paw print or hoof print on your chosen keepsake.

One complementary impression kit is included with each item ordered.

We provide unique kits and instructions for memorial and cremation jewellery.

3.  All impression kits are simple to use and contain an informative instruction booklet with hints, tips and contact information, just in case you need some additional advice.

4.  Once you have taken your prints and are happy with them, simply return them to us in the pre-paid packaging provided. We will always return your original prints if you wish.

For handprint, footprint or paw print jewellery, and for engraved fingerprint jewellery, you do not have to send us your original precious prints.

We know that a lot of clients prefer to keep their original impressions and we are completely happy to work from scanned and emailed copies.

5.  We are more than happy to provide you with sketches of your keepsake before we create it in wax, so that you can see how the fingerprint, engraving and gemstones will be arranged.

6.  Once you are completely happy with the design, we will create your piece of personalised jewellery. 

We be in touch at every stage of the process to give you regular updates.

7.  Every item of fingerprint jewellery we create is sent to the UK Assay Office to be  hallmarked.

At Sophia Alexander, we are frequently asked to make duplicate copies of charms, necklaces or other gifts.

Each keepsake is individually handmade.  Therefore, it is completely unique.

Even if you order multiple copies of the same piece of jewellery, there will be slight differences.

Every keepsake we make is naturally one of a kind.

We welcome any questions you might have.

All personalised fingerprint jewellery takes 8 weeks to create  once your impressions have been received, not from the order date.

Every piece of jewellery is handmade using traditional jewellery techniques.

Your jewellery is carved in wax, cast, engraved, stone set, polished and hallmarked by the relevant expert.

It is a lengthy process and it is not possible for us to “speed it up” or to provide an express service.

We believe that every gold and silver keepsake we make is worth the wait.

We aim to have all gold and silver jewellery complete within 8 weeks, unless something completely unexpected occurs.

All prices shown on the Sophia Alexander website include free, fully insured postage  within the UK.

We use the Royal Mail Special Delivery™ Next Day service, so your pendant will be delivered to you by 1pm on an agreed date.

The package will be tracked and it will require a signature on arrival.

For international orders, please  contact the Sophia Alexander customer care team on 01440510050.

Overseas shipping is priced for each individual order and varies.

It can be as much as £100 to ship jewellery insured from the UK, depending where on the world you are, so please get in touch.

At Sophia Alexander, we firmly believe that your beautiful personalised fingerprint gift deserves to be  perfectly packaged.

Every piece of fingerprint jewellery will arrive presented in a elegant, branded white leatherette gift box, with a black velvet interior and a white swing bag.

We carefully tie every box with a beautifully designed Sophia Alexander white and silver chiffon ribbon and enclose a complimentary gift card in each bag, which we can personalise for you, or leave blank for you to add a message yourself.

We finish every package with a handmade wax seal.

For those clients who wish to see the item they have ordered before they give it to the recipient, we can send the finished keepsake with the ribbons untied and the wax seal supplied separately, so that the piece can be seen before adding these yourself.

Please let us know how you would like your gift to arrive.

All custom gold and silver fingerprint and impression jewellery is handmade and personalised for each individual client.

We provide you with approximate product colours, dimensions and weights. However, variations in size and the surface appearance of silver and gold may occur, and should be expected.

We provide images and figures as guidance only.

Photographs of fingerprint, handprint, footprint, paw print and hoof print jewellery may not be displayed at their actual size.  Different computer monitors may alter the perceived sizes of products and colours of the precious metals.

Keepsakes are made to accommodate fingerprints, handprints, footprints, paw prints and hoof prints of different shapes and sizes.

Prints taken may vary in quality and clarity. This can simply be due to age, health, condition or hereditary factors.

Names, words and messages are sized according to different fonts and lengths.

Gemstones, diamonds, semi-precious stones and pearls may also vary in colour, size and shape.

These things will all alter the look of your completed piece of jewellery or personalised gift.

If we do not feel that the prints submitted are suitable, we will inform you immediately.

This all means that the fingerprint, handprint, footprint, paw print or hoof print jewellery you purchase will inevitably vary slightly from the photographed images seen on our website, www.sophia-alexander.com, on social media pages and in other locations.

Please see our  Essential Information page for further information.

** Jewellery displayed on this website is a combination of sample pieces and client commissions for which we have permission to include.

Please see our  Fingerprint Jewellery Facts page for further information.