Heming is a British jewellery company, founded in London in 1745. The company has a showroom in the

Piccadilly Arcade Piccadilly Arcade runs between Piccadilly and Jermyn Street in central London. It was opened in 1909, having been designed by Thrale Jell, and is a Grade II listed building. The arcade is composed of twenty-eight shops on the ground floor. T ...

near to the original store on Piccadilly.

History

Heming's history dates to 1738 when Thomas Heming began his apprenticeship to the Huguenot silver and goldsmith Peter Archambo. In 1745 Thomas Heming entered his first mark at Goldsmith's Hall, registered to a Piccadilly address, before going on to trade from his shop at the King's Arms in New Bond Street, opposite Clifford Street. Heming was made a freeman of the

Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths (commonly known as ''The Goldsmiths' Company'' and formally styled ''The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London''), is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City ...

in 1746 and rose to prominence in 1760 with his appointment as Principal Goldsmith to

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

, a position held until 1782. It was

Lord Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Mini ...

, one of Heming’s most important patrons, who encouraged this significant new appointment. Heming was the first working goldsmith to hold this post since the early seventeenth century and the majority of pieces were made in his own workshop. The superb quality and refined delicacy of many of the items reflect the influence of Peter Archambo.

Products

During Thomas Heming's tenure as Principal Goldsmith to the King,

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

commissioned numerous items including the Coronatio
Service
A large number remain with the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...

. Heming's reputation as a British jeweller grew during the 20th century with additional Royal Appointments. Today the company designs classic jewellery as well as contemporary collections incorporating

diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insol ...

and

gemstones A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, a ...

set in

precious metals Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less chemically reactive than most elements. They are usual ...

References

External links

Heming website
Luxury brands Jewellery retailers of the United Kingdom Jewellery industry in the United Kingdom Shops in London 1745 establishments in England English goldsmiths English silversmiths British companies established in 1745 Retail companies established in 1745 {{UK-retail-company-stub