About Clogau
Clogau is a second generation family business based in Wales. For over 25 years, their growing range of jewellery has captured the hearts and imaginations of jewellery lovers from far and wide. Every piece they create contains rare Welsh gold - the Gold of Royalty for over 100 years.
Clogau jewellery is seen as an heirloom with both a personal and cultural meaning and a permanent tie to Wales – something valuable to pass down the generations. It is our heritage that defines what we are, and provides the cornerstone for our future – a future that will hopefully be as successful as our story has been to date.
Founder William Roberts at the Clogau St. David's gold mine
All four children from the Roberts family at the Clogau St. David's gold mine, fascinated by a rock from the mine containing rare Welsh gold. Today, William is the Chairman (above), whilst Samantha (left) is the main creative jewellery designer and Ben, (second from right) is the Managing Director.
Rock from the Clogau St. David's gold mine containing rare Welsh gold
The Birth of Clogau
In 1989 a local man named William Roberts made a very unexpected and exciting discovery - an abandoned gold mine in the mountains of Snowdonia.
This was the Clogau St. David's mine in Bontddu. Despite its disused state, he planned to transform it into a tourist attraction where visitors could pan for gold.
But the idea was opposed due to its location within the Snowdonia National Park.
So instead, he decided to gamble on the idea that there would be some undiscovered gold still buried within the mine.
William gambled on the idea that there would be some undiscovered gold still buried within the mine... luckily there was.
Beauty, originality and quality
To make best-use of this precious gold, William used it exclusively to create jewellery of the very highest quality, beauty and originality, with Wales as his main design inspiration.
But it wasn't until 1994 that the first range of jewellery emerged, which consisted of just five pieces that were sold through a handful of small gift shops near the Clogau St. David's gold mine.
At its height, it used to cost £1,000 to extract an ounce of gold.
Luckily by this time they had already amassed a significant amount of high quality gold and it is from this stockpile that most of the Welsh gold that we use in our jewellery today comes from.
From time to time however, we also use acquisitions of Welsh gold of known provenance from the private collections of individuals in the gold panning community.
Due to its scarcity, only a small amount of Welsh gold can be included within each piece of Clogau jewellery.
This ensures the longevity of Welsh gold supplies, and the affordability of the jewellery.
It never fails to amaze me when I think back to the early days of Clogau, over 25 years ago.
I was a young boy back then but I can remember my father being hugely excited about a gold mine he had discovered in the Snowdonia mountains.
I didn’t quite understand what all the fuss was about at the time but as I grew up I would always be inspired by his passion and dedication.
I'm glad to say that those values have rubbed off on me and we now work together at Clogau with the same drive and passion all these years later.
As the story of Clogau continues to unfold there's one thing that will always remain - our dedication and love for permanently capturing this beautiful Welsh gold in the most unique jewellery possible.
– Ben Roberts, Managing Director
Ben S. Roberts, son of Chairman William Roberts, is the Managing Director at Clogau
The Clogau St. David's gold mine was once the largest and richest mine of all the gold mines in the Dolgellau gold mining area.
It is situated in Bontddu, near Barmouth in Gwynedd north-west Wales.
After producing copper and a little lead for quite a number of years, the mine developed into gold production in the 1862 'rush' and continued as a major operator until 1911, during which 165,031 tons of gold ore was mined resulting in 78,507 troy ounces (2,442 kg) of gold.
It worked the St David's lode of Clogau mountain alongside the co-owned Vigra Mine.
For over 150 years, the mine went through mixed fortunes with the gold veins being most inconsistent and difficult to locate.
Since 1911 the mine has been re-opened several times for smaller-scale operations.
By the late 1990's however, the last train carrying Welsh gold from the Clogau mine clanked to a halt. In 1999 the mine was taken over and held by a local exploration company.
Miners at the Clogau St. David's gold mine at the turn of the 20th century
Clogau Today
From just three employees and a handful of pieces in the early 1990s, Clogau has firmly established itself as a nationally-renowned brand that is sold worldwide in leading jewellery stores, on-line and on some of the world's best airlines.
In 2012 and 2015 we were the proud winners of the Brand of the Year award at the UK Jewellery Awards and we also won the Bridal Collection of the Year in 2015 for our new Clogau Compose® range of bespoke engagement rings.
Despite our growing success, Clogau remains a proud Welsh family business in North Wales that is just as committed to creating jewellery of the utmost beauty and originality with rare Welsh gold in each piece.
Many other brands would be highly envious of our heritage and our unique connection with royalty through our Welsh gold which we include in every piece - the Gold of Royalty for over 100 years.
– Ben Roberts, Managing Director
In 2012 and 2015 Clogau won several prestigious awards
Creating Clogau Jewellery
Creating Clogau jewellery is not just a skill. It is an art. Many hours are spent designing our jewellery, perfecting every last detail.
Our craftsmen hand-finish each piece – accurate to the finest detail.
Clogau employs its own jewellery designers to fashion this rarest of precious metals into exclusive collections.
The designers take much of their inspiration from the themes and traditions found in the Welsh landscape and culture.
The circles and swirls of eddies in rock pools, the intertwining flowers and patterns of Celtic art are all found in the intricately crafted Clogau pieces.
The love and dedication that our craftsmen show for their work is reflected in every piece of Clogau jewellery.
Each piece is hand-finished and then passed through a strict and thorough quality control procedure.
This dedication to quality is instilled by William Roberts and his son Ben who run Clogau as a family business.
The Clogau St. David's gold mine, situated in one of the most stunning parts of Wales, amongst the hills and mountains of Snowdonia, is famous for supplying the gold used in some of the wedding rings worn by the British Royal Family.
The tradition of using Welsh gold in the wedding rings of the British Royal Family was carried into its 88th year with the most recent royal wedding of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on 29th April 2011. Catherine commissioned her wedding ring to be made from pure Welsh gold.
This has made Welsh gold some of the most sought-after gold in the world.
Every piece of Clogau jewellery contains rare Welsh gold as used by some members of the British Royal Family for over 100 years.
Welsh gold is famous for being selected to create generations of Royal Family wedding rings including those of Her Majesty The Queen, the late Diana Princess of Wales, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, HRH Princess Margaret, HRH Princess Anne, Their Royal Highnesses Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall, and most recently, The Duchess of Cambridge. This has made Welsh gold some of the most sought after jewellery in the world.
Clogau jewellery is guaranteed to contain rare Welsh gold. It carries a unique Welsh Dragon and “CG” mark, stamped during the creation of each Clogau item. Each piece is crafted using traditional jewellery-making techniques and painstakingly hand-finished to give the lasting pleasure which ensures the Clogau jewellery will remain as special as the day you received it, as it is passed down through generations.
Statement from the Edinburgh Assay Office on the content of Welsh gold in Clogau jewellery
Since 2014, The Edinburgh Assay Office has continued to work closely with Clogau Gold of Wales developing and witnessing their chain of custody for the addition of Welsh gold to their jewellery products. We are satisfied that the quality management process followed by Clogau Gold of Wales provides assurance of the statement "Welsh gold is contained within each piece of Clogau Gold jewellery" by supporting:
• The validity of the source of Welsh Gold used by Clogau Gold of Wales.
• That a pre-determined quantity is being included in the production of all Clogau Gold items.
• That the quantity is consistent across their range of jewellery.
• That verifiable records are being kept to provide clear audit trail to support these assurances.
John Hadden
Quality Manager
Edinburgh Assay Office
31st October 2018