Although jewellery designer David McCaul characterises the first years of owning his London-based shop as “long hours and little money”, he was able to rely on his old-fashioned goldsmithing skills to keep afloat during quiet times.

“We had no experience in retail so we had a workshop in the back and were setting for other clients. If our jewellery didn’t sell we still had enough money. We’re unique, even within London, because we’re designing, mounting and doing the setting. In the UK these are separate trades, but we’re doing it all ourselves.”

McCaul opened McCaul Goldsmiths in London’s Exmouth Market with his brother Barry five years ago. It is close to the famous Hatton Garden jewellery district, which is useful for meeting traders and buying supplies, although the decision to locate elsewhere was deliberate.

'We're different'
"Hatton Garden has very boring jewellery; it's a dying area. We can't compete with the price but we compete because we're different."

McCaul, who is originally from Portmarnock, Co Dublin, studied design at the National College of Art and Design, where he forged an interest in jewellery upon discovery of the metals department. Three years in, he deferred his degree to pursue a goldsmithing course with the Crafts Council of Ireland in Kilkenny.

“We spent the first two weeks cutting squares out of copper sheets just so we could saw accurately. It was a life-changing experience; it totally changed my career. I could work anywhere in the world because I had these very, very old skills.”

After returning to NCAD and emerging with a first-class honours, he set off for an apprenticeship with a master goldsmith in Stuttgart, Germany, arranged through a tutor in Kilkenny. "I was learning a lot; he was an amazing craftsman," says McCaul. "I had no money. I was paid €300 a month and my rent was €260. It was one of the best years of my life."

A short stint with a jeweller in the US followed before McCaul was asked to return to NCAD as a tutor.

Having always been interested in teaching, he thought he would enjoy the opportunity, but ended up missing his practical work. “It was a great eye-opener. It made me realise that I much preferred making jewellery and being at the bench tapping away.”

And so to London, where he did a master’s degree specialising in rings while working for a diamond-setter and goldsmith in his spare time to buy materials. In his final year he won a bursary from the prestigious Goldsmiths’ Company to exhibit at its annual show, one of the most exclusive jewellery exhibitions in the UK.

“I decided to go all in; I was used to working with fine, expensive material. I made a few pieces but big pieces, €4,000 to €5,000 each.”

At the exhibition, where he displayed only six rings, McCaul won two awards for his stonesetting skills.

Meanwhile, his brother was looking for a change of career so the two decided to go into business. “He had a PhD in computer programming but fell out of love with it,” says McCaul. “I knew he’d be good at jewellery because he spent a lot of time in my workshop making jewellery for his girlfriend – now wife.”

Barry McCaul went on an intensive four-month diamond setting course in Antwerp, a skill the UK trade was “crying out for”.

Biggest risk
McCaul says the biggest risk in setting up the business was the brothers' relationship.

“It works because we’re very different skills-wise. He does a lot of diamond-setting. Computer-aided design is also coming in so there is a lot of projects I can’t make in the traditional way.”

They often talk about coming back to Ireland but McCaul doesn't think he'd be able to do the same level of business here. "People buy our jewellery because it's contemporary and hand-made. In Ireland it's about the size of the stone; people don't care that it's a one-off."

His advice to others is to have the courage of your convictions and not be afraid of hard work. “If you believe in your skills and ideas, you have to be prepared to tough it out for a while and be quite poor. We weren’t making good money for years but we knew our product was good and we enjoyed making it.”

It is a strategy that has paid off for McCaul, although there is still an element of novelty to his success. “I managed to get a mortgage by making jewellery,” he says, clearly delighted. “It’s mad that I was able to make a living from this kind of work.”