Mr BeauJangles

Mr BeauJangles Paul Townsend's alternate life as the silversmith Mr Beaujangles My name is Paul Townsend, and I am a self-taught silver smith living the UK (Brighton).

My Jewelry career began one boring summer in 2002 ( while I was living and working in Dubai), when my wife and two daughters had left the heat of Dubai for the relative cool (or rain) of the UK. This was a yearly occurrence that most expat males had to endure. (Note: We were known as WANKERS – Wife Away No Kids Eating Rubbish)
I was wasting my time just looking through our local bookshop, when I p

icked up a book on making silver jewelry. I had loved metal worked at school and was the only boy in my year to get an “O” level in it, (probably due to my Dad being a precision engineer). I bought the book, and spent the rest of the afternoon reading it. The following week, when I joined my family in the UK I asked around and found that there was a great shop in Brighton selling everything I need to do some basic silver work. I bought a few tools, (borrowed a few from my Dad), and was ready to go. When I got back to Dubai I set myself up on the kitchen table and started to play. It wasn’t long before I had made a pair of silver spiral earrings and from that point on there was no stopping me. I bought up every book I could find in Dubai (and on Amazon) that I thought would help me, and slowly I began to improve. My designs became more complicated, I moved from earrings to rings to cufflinks, even to silver stands for hand painted Ostrich eggs! I was up for anything. In June 2006 I found ETSY, initially I was disappointed, I had uploaded 5 items and had 0 response, maybe I was not that good after all. By October, I was beginning to lose the will to live, when one day on the way home from work I came up with the mad plan of making a pair of space invader cufflinks. By 13th October I had sold my first pair!, then my 2nd, 3rd, 4th…OMG what was happening …I eventually found out my cufflinks had been featured on a popular geek blog, (boing boing) and were an instant hit. I have continued to follow the Geek route, and love receiving new nerdy requests. Since this is still my hobby, and not my profession, I can keep my prices low, although now, most of my profit goes to fund my eldest daughter through her veterinary Degree in London. I hope this has given you some idea of who I am, and if you have any questions or commission ideas please contact me, and I will be more than happy to help if I can. UPDATE: As of April 2015, I have now moved back to the UK, to pursue my life long dream of working for myself. I am now a full time silversmith. I create all of my pieces from scratch, and if I think they will sell well, I make mold and cast them. This enables me to keep my prices low, and use 100% recycled silver which reduces my carbon foot print.

Address

Brighton

Website

https://mrbeaujangles.sumupstore.com/

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Mr Beaujangles

My name is Paul Townsend, and I am a self-taught silver smith living the UK (Brighton). My Jewellery career began one boring summer in 2002 ( while I was living and working in Dubai), when my wife and two daughters had left the heat of Dubai for the relative cool (or rain) of the UK. This was a yearly occurrence that most expat males had to endure. (Note: We were known as WANKERS – Wife Away No Kids Eating Rubbish) I was wasting my time just looking through our local bookshop, when I picked up a book on making silver jewellery. I had loved metal worked at school and was the only boy in my year to get an “O” level in it, (probably due to my Dad being a precision engineer). I bought the book, and spent the rest of the afternoon reading it. The following week, when I joined my family in the UK I asked around and found that there was a great shop in Brighton selling everything I need to do some basic silver work. I bought a few tools, (borrowed a few from my Dad), and was ready to go. When I got back to Dubai I set myself up on the kitchen table and started to play. It wasn’t long before I had made a pair of silver spiral earrings and from that point on there was no stopping me. I bought up every book I could find in Dubai (and on Amazon) that I thought would help me, and slowly I began to improve. My designs became more complicated, I moved from earrings to rings to cufflinks, even to silver stands for hand painted Ostrich eggs! I was up for anything. In June 2006 I found ETSY, initially I was disappointed, I had uploaded 5 items and had 0 response, maybe I was not that good after all. By October, I was beginning to lose the will to live, when one day on the way home from work I came up with the mad plan of making a pair of space invader cufflinks. By 13th October I had sold my first pair!, then my 2nd, 3rd, 4th…OMG what was happening …I eventually found out my cufflinks had been featured on a popular geek blog, (boingboing.net) and were an instant hit. I have continued to follow the Geek route, and love receiving new nerdy requests, but I also produce a large range of women’s jewellery including rings earrings, pendants etc, and I also offer one on one jewellery classes.

I hope this has given you some idea of who I am, and if you have any questions or commission ideas, or you are interested in having lessons, please contact me, and I will be more than happy to help if I can. I am now a full time silversmith I also run the website www.forthemanilove.com with my wife.