In yesterday's post entitled "The Wedding Gift(s)" I told the story behind some custom wedding gifts we recently made. As it turns out neither bride nor groom had any idea what the other was up to, until the moment the gifts were actually exchanged.
This morning I received the following email from "R", as she give her reaction. (Some minor editing has been done to conceal their names so as to maintain privacy) :
YOU!
The secret is out!! "A" and I were both floored to find out that you made BOTH of our wedding gifts for each other!! We just got back from our honeymoon and are finally getting a moment to take a breath - and I wanted to send you a quick note just to let you know how much we each loved the beautiful pieces that you made. The watch winder is stunning! I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to say it sooner, the days leading up to the wedding were insane. But it is more beautiful than any of the photos showed and beyond anything I envisioned -- and most importantly, "A" adores it. He hasn't stopped talking about it and showing it off to people. And I love the beautiful wine boxes with an exact replica of our wedding logo. Thank you for making our crazy gift ideas come to life even better than we had envisioned. These are pieces that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. It was such a pleasure working with you, and something tells me that this won't be the last time you hear from us :) Thanks again, John.
"R"
Showing posts with label watch winder box. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watch winder box. Show all posts
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Wedding Gift(s)
Today is Groundhog Day which, in my world, is the anniversary of when I proposed to my wife more than a quarter century ago. (Yeah, I could have waited until Valentine's Day to pop the question - but I like being different) . That being said, this is an appropriate day for me to post this story about a pair of wedding gifts we were recently commissioned to make.
Several months ago I received an email from a young man named "A", inquiring about the possibility of having a Valet Stand custom made for him.
Apparently "A" found my Gentleman's Valet Cabinet online during a Google search, but it wasn't quite what he was looking for.
In the ensuing weeks we exchanged sporadic emails discussing design, woods and finishes - and I roughed out a conceptual sketch along with preliminary pricing. All of this was easy to do using digital technology and email.
Shortly after my emails began with "A" I received another email - this time from a young woman named "R". "R" told me she was the fiance of "A", and she was aware that "A" really loved some of my furniture pieces. With that in mind "R" asked about the possibility of commissioning a unique wedding gift specifically for her future husband.
That led to a whole separate series of discussions which ultimately resulted in a custom watch winder box being made. From "R" I learned that "A" really loved the split shell design of my Andiroba Armoire, and since I had already used a variation of this concept on the Pedestal Jewel Box (see earlier post) , this became the starting point for the watch winder box design.
The exterior split shell was crafted from a highly figured sampling of Pommelle Sapele, which was finished in a deep Merlot stain to enhance the grain. The box interior was finished in a satin Chestnut mahogany, with an inset panel to house the watch winder mechanism and a small drawer for accessories.
To personalize the design even further we decided to inlay a small medallion of hand carved Black Walnut, which was shaped to emulate the silhouette of the actual tree that "A" and "R" got engaged under. Renowned wildlife artist Ron Richards was commissioned to make this specific carving.
The making of this watch winder box was well under way when I received a call from "A" telling me that he was engaged to be married and he wanted to commission a special wedding gift for his bride-to-be.
"This is cool" I thought - to have a bride and groom each commission a special wedding gift for the other, with neither aware that they both dealing with the same craftsperson.
In this case "A" wanted to present "R" with gifts of rare wine and fine champagne, in specially made presentation boxes that were uniquely hand carved with their initials, wedding logo, and dates of their upcoming 10th, 20th and 30th wedding anniversaries.
The boxes themselves were crafted from solid maple with mitred corners, with sliding panels made of solid cherry. After the reliefs were carved into the faces of the sliding panels, everything was finished in a protective lacquer and a special glaze was applied by hand to accentuate the carved details.
(Incidentally, the wines shown in the photo above are NOT the actual wines that were given as part of the gift. The wines shown here were selected for photographic purposes only.)
Each gift was individually packed and shipped - each to a different address.
The wedding day came and went, and not a word was heard from either "A" or "R". Under the circumstances I knew they were busy with other things, so I assumed that no news was good news.
Then yesterday, out of the blue, "A" called to let me know how the exchange of gifts went.
The gift of the wine and boxes apparently went over very well, because "A" said that "R" and her bridesmaids were all crying tears of joy over it.
When "A" received his gift he said he wasn't sure what it was at first. But as soon as he pulled open the split shells he said he knew exactly what it was and who had made it - and he was totally delighted with the result.
Two happy customers at the same time. How perfect is that?
Meanwhile, the Valet Stand that started this process is now almost done. (It's taking a little longer than expected, because a couple of rush orders ended up taking priority) . But it's all good.
Several months ago I received an email from a young man named "A", inquiring about the possibility of having a Valet Stand custom made for him.
Apparently "A" found my Gentleman's Valet Cabinet online during a Google search, but it wasn't quite what he was looking for.
In the ensuing weeks we exchanged sporadic emails discussing design, woods and finishes - and I roughed out a conceptual sketch along with preliminary pricing. All of this was easy to do using digital technology and email.
Shortly after my emails began with "A" I received another email - this time from a young woman named "R". "R" told me she was the fiance of "A", and she was aware that "A" really loved some of my furniture pieces. With that in mind "R" asked about the possibility of commissioning a unique wedding gift specifically for her future husband.
That led to a whole separate series of discussions which ultimately resulted in a custom watch winder box being made. From "R" I learned that "A" really loved the split shell design of my Andiroba Armoire, and since I had already used a variation of this concept on the Pedestal Jewel Box (see earlier post) , this became the starting point for the watch winder box design.
The exterior split shell was crafted from a highly figured sampling of Pommelle Sapele, which was finished in a deep Merlot stain to enhance the grain. The box interior was finished in a satin Chestnut mahogany, with an inset panel to house the watch winder mechanism and a small drawer for accessories.
To personalize the design even further we decided to inlay a small medallion of hand carved Black Walnut, which was shaped to emulate the silhouette of the actual tree that "A" and "R" got engaged under. Renowned wildlife artist Ron Richards was commissioned to make this specific carving.
The making of this watch winder box was well under way when I received a call from "A" telling me that he was engaged to be married and he wanted to commission a special wedding gift for his bride-to-be.
"This is cool" I thought - to have a bride and groom each commission a special wedding gift for the other, with neither aware that they both dealing with the same craftsperson.
In this case "A" wanted to present "R" with gifts of rare wine and fine champagne, in specially made presentation boxes that were uniquely hand carved with their initials, wedding logo, and dates of their upcoming 10th, 20th and 30th wedding anniversaries.
The boxes themselves were crafted from solid maple with mitred corners, with sliding panels made of solid cherry. After the reliefs were carved into the faces of the sliding panels, everything was finished in a protective lacquer and a special glaze was applied by hand to accentuate the carved details.
(Incidentally, the wines shown in the photo above are NOT the actual wines that were given as part of the gift. The wines shown here were selected for photographic purposes only.)
Each gift was individually packed and shipped - each to a different address.
The wedding day came and went, and not a word was heard from either "A" or "R". Under the circumstances I knew they were busy with other things, so I assumed that no news was good news.
Then yesterday, out of the blue, "A" called to let me know how the exchange of gifts went.
The gift of the wine and boxes apparently went over very well, because "A" said that "R" and her bridesmaids were all crying tears of joy over it.
When "A" received his gift he said he wasn't sure what it was at first. But as soon as he pulled open the split shells he said he knew exactly what it was and who had made it - and he was totally delighted with the result.
Two happy customers at the same time. How perfect is that?
Meanwhile, the Valet Stand that started this process is now almost done. (It's taking a little longer than expected, because a couple of rush orders ended up taking priority) . But it's all good.
Pedestal Jewel Box from the "Boxed Jewels" Exhibition
In 2006 The Guild Shop in Toronto showcased some examples of my work at an exhibition called "Boxed Jewels". The following Pedestal Jewel Box was one of the pieces on display.
Oddly enough it's only been recently that I've finally made the effort to have this thing photographed, largely because this design became the inspiration for a custom watch winder box we recently completed .
The box interior is made of African Padauk, with the 5 undulating drawer fronts sculpted from solid stock. The drawer boxes are solid mahogany fitted with sliding dovetails. The drawer bottoms are lined in black Tuscany leather.
Oddly enough it's only been recently that I've finally made the effort to have this thing photographed, largely because this design became the inspiration for a custom watch winder box we recently completed .
This Pedestal Jewel Box measures 12-5/8" wide x 11-1/8" deep x 49-1/2" overall height. When open it measures 16-3/8" wide. The pedestal is made of FSC certified Nero Vermelho which has been sculpted into an entasis shape using the same geometric proportions used by the ancient Greeks to construct the Parthenon in Athens.
The exterior of the split shell box is crafted out of some of my core stash of rare veneers - in this case the last of my spectacular Amboyna Cluster Burl that was first used to make the Amboyna Bed back in 1998.
The box interior is made of African Padauk, with the 5 undulating drawer fronts sculpted from solid stock. The drawer boxes are solid mahogany fitted with sliding dovetails. The drawer bottoms are lined in black Tuscany leather.
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