Full Gold Leaf Gilding Catalogue page: 8 min read
As London’s pre-eminant reverse glass gilding gold leaf specialists, what ever you’re giving life to, our skills and experience will make the ideal fit with the finest materials.
We apply the purest Italian Gold Leaf, all over town.
Happy to work with your sign notions and designs or provide you with our beautifully detailed, bespoke layouts.
We have a well documented track record of Making London Beautiful.
Making your Mark: London’s Glass Gilding Masters.
Featured on this page: ‘New Classical’ London Reverse Glass Gilding
For Retail signage, Fanlights & House numbers – 3 min read.
Bespoke ‘Restoration‘ lettering styles.
Nick Garrett Signwriting of London
A Reverse Glass Gilding Specialist, since 1981
NGS London glass gilding now adorns many of London’s greatest and most famous shops. Aglow with character and style – gold gives charm, allure and permanence.
It’s a passion going back to the beginning of my career as young gilder with Watney’s Brewery, of Isleworth.
There are many different ways of applying gold to glass and I prefer the time honoured and trusted methods shown below, of my trusted master gilder teachers.
NGS: A SIGN WRITING & LETTERING FAMILY
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOLD
My practice has enjoyed a sharing of knowledge among peers and mentors which include the revered sign gilders Noel Weber, David Smith and the late Richard Apps.
But it is to my grandfather, stone carving letterman, Francis Baker (above) and his son, my uncle Hugh Baker, that I will always remember with affection and thanks, who both guided me firstly, in this the most insightful of the sign-smith’s box of skills and tricks.
I hope you enjoy our examples above and below.
Nick Garrett. NGS
Page | Gold leaf Traditional sign writing London
HANDSET VIEWING: Drag reel/video with 2 fingers to resize.
Part 2
Case: Wartski of St. James
Florentine 2 tone Matte and Mirrored Gilding
3 min read
Introducing ‘Florentine’ gild
This is the home of 2 tone gilding due to Florence’s incredible brilliant sunlit glow. The reflective light of the city is captured with the crafted mix of satin and mirrored gold Leaf. We utilised this technique for the flagship St. James’s, Wartski lettering example.
The 2-tonal schema explained
Having spent a lot of time in Florence, I saw this ingenious gilding system employed by past masters.
With this format they captured the brilliance of Florentine light between the ‘mirrored’ gold lettering and the matt satin facets. It cleverly prevented the letters disappearing into the reflective glare of the Italian golden sunlight.
The Wartski project was thus devised along Florentine lines, allowing the matte gold to remain visible in any light condition – and the refined ‘mirrored’ detailing, adding a glint of sharpness and sparkle across all varied light conditions.
Of 24kt Gold
It just does always look amazing doesn’t it?
It’s not just the material itself, but how we handle and refine its properties – by design…
Making London Beautiful.
Part3: Gilding Insights
4 min read
Learning the benevolent art of Burnished Mirrored Gold Leaf.
When I started out gilding on glass in 1980 I had to pretty much teach myself. It was stressful, hard work and extremely difficult to make progress…
NG
Very few sign painters in the late 70s passed on sacred gilding knowledge. I had to earn my wings through hundreds of hours of solitary practice, eliminating errors, mostly by instinct, trial and error – it’s the main reason I taught to share this journey, for many years.
Possibly the most important information of all as it turned out, was the deep glass cleaning process. The hard earned detail from my early days remains cornerstone in our NGS sign gilding practice today. This coupled with the finest gold leaf available, and of course the gentle shaping of our beautiful letters, with a super steady hand.
Today, after 30 years of gilding works, we have the reputation for the most sought after, exquisite letters in London – nay the World.
Let’s join start the journey with your special name in gold.
The de Gournay showroom doors in fine satin 23-75 karat gold leaf.
Showcasing Mirrored Gild
Highly reflective and illustrious mirrored 23-75 karat gold leaf.
London’s finest ‘bright’ Mirrored Glass Gilding
For houses and businesses
Gold window graphics, house number signs with hand painted matte or mirrored finishes.
Magical Mirrored Gild
Just add very special typography
Below: This ‘William Caslon Restoration’ set of bespoke typography, is finished in mirrored 23-75 karat gold leaf.
Plan your project together with us.
Serving up the best gilding in the world for 3 generations.
4 min read
SATIN OR MIRRORED… ALWAYS SUBLIME
London’s finest Letter Gilding.
MISTER NICE
KAYU
Glorious NGS Gilding across London
Materials charter: Manetti gold
On the advice of my reverse glass giding lettering master grandfather, I sought out the best gold leaf: Manetti Italian 24 carat was the choice of the day at around 9.00 per book 25 years ago!
Today we still use meticulous skills, materials and craft which always shines through in the work we do. These gold fanlights and shop fronts are made in our timeless way across every corner of our hometown.
Whether you prefer and aged burnish or gleaming bling appeal… we’ll create it with love.
London’s finest Glass Gilding.
2 min Read
Choosing Keeping Shop, Gilded Signage, Covent Garden: Reverse glass gilding London.
ABOVE: Gold window signs with matte finish, Choosing Keeping Shop Signage | Covent Garden: Reverse glass gilding London. London’s finest Glass Gilding.
Below: Berry Bros and Rudd St. James’s. Reverse glass gilding and gold foil/leaf lettering London, by NGS. Gold window signs with matte or mirrored finish
Berry Bros & Rudd St. James’s. Reverse glass gilding. Gold window signs with matte ‘Old Italic Antiqua’ script finish.
Decades of Detail and Passion
Gilding is all about meticulous attention to detail and having an established technique passed on flawlessly.
My personal preference is to use double weighted gold which sits beautifully on the glass with a rich depth.
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Secrets OF THE CRAFT of Gold Sign Writing
Yep we have a few secret processes and mixes!
Not too many as we do like to share the intruiging processes that make up our fascinating craft – and it’s always great to inform our clients about the key stages of their creation, so that they too can pass it on.
Italian 24 carat gold leaf along with a particular old school ‘Aglio’ water gild mix from the Northern Italian tradition, is my constant go-to method.
GALLERY
The Le Labo Project
NYC Urban Distressed gold in Shoreditch, Soho, Milan and Paris.
NGS Seraina’s Reverse glass gilding London
Reverse glass gilding masters – NGS
Call us today for a chat
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NGS GILDING & SIGN WRITING LONDON
