Artisanal traditions, maker culture, and the handmade.
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Showing 21–40 of 167 articles
A chisel sharpened with a hollow-ground bevel, the concave profile left by a grinding wheel, outperforms a flat-ground chisel in the critical operation of paring: controlled removal of thin shavings.
Thomas Nakamura · 2026-06-02
Richard Serra, whose monumental steel sculptures weigh hundreds of tons and curve through public spaces worldwide, trained not in sculpture but in steelworking.
Marcus Wei · 2026-06-02
Gold paint, the aerosol-sprayed substitute adorning picture frames in every homeware shop, is not gold.
Catherine Avery · 2026-06-02
Sitka spruce and European spruce are the dominant species for guitar and violin tops not because of tradition alone but because their acoustic properties are measurable and superior.
Daniel Hurst · 2026-06-01
Geoffrey Preston, one of Britain's foremost decorative plasterers, has executed ornamental plasterwork for Chatsworth House, Kensington Palace, and numerous National Trust properties.
Thomas Nakamura · 2026-06-01
A properly thatched roof of Norfolk reed, installed by a master thatcher to traditional specifications, will last between fifty and sixty years, outperforming most modern roofing materials in both longevity and insulation value.
Sebastian Cole · 2026-06-01
A pair of Church's Grafton brogues, first purchased in 1978, has been resoled eleven times by the same cobbler, James Miller of Edinburgh.
Catherine Avery · 2026-06-01
The Japanese hand plane, or kanna, pulls rather than pushes, uses a laminated blade of carbon steel and soft iron, and is adjusted by tapping rather than turning a mechanism.
Thomas Nakamura · 2026-06-01
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At Dents, the Somerset glovemaker established in 1777, a cutter positions a razor-sharp die over Ethiopian hair sheep leather and presses it through the skin with a single motion.
Marcus Wei · 2026-06-01
The pendant you commission from a contemporary jeweller in Hatton Garden is produced by essentially the same process Egyptian goldsmiths used for Tutankhamun.
James Alderton · 2026-06-01
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Marcus Wei · 2026-06-01
When Loewe appointed Jonathan Anderson as creative director in 2013, one of his first acts was to open the Spanish leather house's archive of patterns, techniques, and materials to a new generation of artisans.
Thomas Nakamura · 2026-06-01
When Coventry Cathedral was destroyed by German bombers on 14 November 1940, the ruins were left standing as a memorial.
Thomas Nakamura · 2026-06-01
Mark Harrell, a retired aerospace engineer from Phoenix, Arizona, founded Bad Axe Tool Works in 2008 with the ambition of building the finest handsaws available.
Catherine Avery · 2026-06-01
In fine woodworking, construction may consume eighty percent of build time, but the finishing determines ninety percent of how the piece is perceived.
Thomas Nakamura · 2026-06-01
Harris Tweed is the only commercially produced fabric in the world protected by an Act of Parliament.
Sebastian Cole · 2026-05-31
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Donze Cadrans in Le Locle, Switzerland, produces grand feu enamel dials for virtually every major Swiss watch brand, from Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin to independents like F.
William Ashford · 2026-05-31
In the workshops of the Compagnons du Devoir, a French guild system tracing its origins to medieval cathedral builders, an apprentice stonecutter begins training at age sixteen and does not achieve the rank of compagnon until approximately age thirty.
James Alderton · 2026-05-31
The sound of a heavy oak door closing on hand-forged iron hinges is distinctly different from the same door hung on cast or stamped alternatives.
Catherine Avery · 2026-05-31
Patricia Lovett, a professional scribe and calligrapher based in Surrey, has lettered thousands of certificates, charters, and honorary degree diplomas for Oxford and Cambridge colleges over four decades.
Daniel Hurst · 2026-05-31