Sheffield silver spinner wins Precious Metalworker of the Year Award 2024
29th November 2024 | ANNOUNCEMENTS | OUR STORIES
Sheffield-based silver spinner Warren Martin has won this year’s Precious Metalworker of the Year Award, supported by The Royal Mint, including a £2,000 prize and trophy awarded at a special presentation at Eltham Palace on Tuesday 26 November 2024.
The award, supported by The Royal Mint, celebrates a heritage craftsperson who has made an outstanding contribution to working with precious metal over the past year. It recognises a contribution that is far beyond the ordinary, based on a proven dedication to a particular metalworking skill. The Royal Mint is Britain’s oldest maker, with a heritage of crafting precious metals dating back to 886AD. Today it is helping to revive the art of British jewellery making at its site in South Wales.
Warren Martin, from Sheffield, is a practitioner of the craft of silver spinning, where metal is formed on a lathe into vessels and other hollow shapes, over forms known as chucks. The craft of silver spinning is integral to the creation of some of the world’s most prestigious sporting trophies.
Warren is one of a dwindling number of craftspeople in the city known for its metalworking heritage, many of whom work for the trade and rarely receive recognition for their work. Silver spinning is listed as critically endangered on Heritage Crafts’ Red List of Endangered Crafts.
The Precious Metalworker of the Year trophy presented to Warren was made by the fantastic team of coin designers and craftspeople at The Royal Mint, led by Head of Coin Design Paul Morgan. The piece is intended to take viewers on a journey of metalwork from its molten stage, through hammering, planishing, repoussé, chasing, and finally through to texture and engraving.
The judging panel for this year’s award was made up of Leighton John (Director of Operations at The Royal Mint), Dan Thomas (King’s Assay Master at The Royal Mint), and last year’s winner, watch dial enameller Sally Morrison.
The two other finalists for the award were Kitty Griffiths, a goldsmith jewellery maker who studied at Sheffield University and excels at stone setting, and Epona Smith, a silversmith and hand engraver who teaches the art of engraving in London and Birmingham.
The Royal Mint and Heritage Crafts launched their partnership at the beginning of 2023. Since then, they have awarded nine training bursaries to early-career practitioners wanting to develop their skills in precious metals. As an exemplar of British craftsmanship, The Royal Mint is committed to protecting and celebrating craftspeople and developing skills wherever possible.
Photo: Warren Martin, winner of the 2024 Precious Metalworker of the Year Award, and Paul Morgan, Head of Coin Design at the Royal Mint. Photo by Robert Wade.