A London working day begins before sunrise and ends with a pair of silver cufflinks. In between come coffee, a bacon sandwich, a journey along the Thames and a visit to Hatton Garden. This feature-length film brings the city and the workbench together, showing the everyday routines around making jewellery.
Originally published on 7 November 2015, Making Coffee + Cufflinks in London was my experiment with a day-in-the-life vlog. I wanted to bring more of my work into the channel, alongside the London places I was already filming.
An early run beside the Thames
The day starts while London is still dark. I head out for a run along the river, with illuminated buildings and reflections giving way to a grey morning. By the time I reach Albert Bridge, there is enough daylight to see the clouds and a little rain is beginning.
The bridge becomes a thread through the film. I decide to return with the camera as the light fades, hoping to record its transformation from a daytime river crossing to an illuminated evening landmark.
Making coffee before work
Back at home, the pace slows for coffee. I begin with a French press and hand grinder before moving on to espresso. The point of the sequence is the care that goes into a familiar daily ritual: choosing beans, grinding them and paying attention to the result.
For the espresso, I use Workshop coffee and a Sage Dual Boiler. Scales and timing help me keep track of the extraction, while small changes to the grind make a noticeable difference. The film records my own setup and approach in 2015, including the adjustments and tasting that make the process satisfying.
Breakfast is a bacon sandwich made with fresh white bread, toasted in the griddle pan, and HP Sauce. Then it is time to leave for meetings in Hatton Garden.
A river commute to Hatton Garden
I take the river bus rather than the Tube. The journey provides a stretch of open water and changing views before the busier streets of central London. The camera follows the boat trip to Blackfriars, where I get off and continue on foot.
Hatton Garden is familiar working territory. In the commentary I describe the workshops behind, above and below the shopfronts, and the network of specialist businesses that makes it possible to source different services close together. It is a view of the jewellery district through an ordinary working day.
Ye Olde Mitre and Goldsmiths’ Hall
After the meetings, I collect rectangular silver stampings for another cufflink design and stop at Ye Olde Mitre, tucked into Ely Court. The little passage and pub offer a change of pace before the next errand.
From there I walk towards Goldsmiths’ Hall to collect cufflink components from the London Assay Office. The hallmarks are a visible part of this design, so the film follows the pieces from collection through the finishing and assembly that still remain.
Making sterling silver feature-hallmark cufflinks
Back at the bench, I introduce the equipment and the oval silver fronts. The prominent hallmarks have been struck into the components before assembly. The first job is setting back: working the displaced metal so the fronts are flat again, then refining their shape and preparing the backs.
The film shows the hands-on sequence of filing, surface preparation and fitting the swivel backs. I position the parts, apply flux and solder the fittings to the fronts. Close views make it possible to follow how two separate components become a cufflink.
Cleaning and polishing take several stages. I work through progressively finer finishes, cleaning between them, before the final inspection. The result is a pair of sterling silver cufflinks with polished oval fronts, feature hallmarks and swivel-back fittings.
Dinner and Albert Bridge after dark
The working day gives way to dinner: steak with leftover roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings. Before the closing river sequence, I reflect on the extra time involved in filming an entire day. Including the work makes the story more personal, but it also makes even familiar tasks take longer.
The final view returns to Albert Bridge. Although the sky is overcast, the bridge lights and their reflections provide the ending I had hoped for in the morning: London moving from day into night.
