is a master engraver,
not a title that is easy to earn, amongst his clients are the Royal Household, the Scottish Parliament, The National Gallery, Rolls Royce, gunmakers James Purdey & Sons, Chanel and Vivienne Westwood amongst others, what makes him so special is the fact that he is known as 'the world's smallest engraver' for his miniature art masterpieces, Graham Short has spent almost 50 years honing his craft, going to physical and mental extremes to produce the finest-quality miniature art engravings in the world,
take this one, engraved on a fleck gold,
placed in the eye of a needle,
all 278 letters of the Lord's prayer engraved on top of a domed 2mm gold pin,
for football fans, the FA Logo engraved onto a football stud surrounded by the
names of every English footballer who has ever scored a goal during the world
cup finals, but this skill takes extreme dedication to produce his tiny masterpieces, Graham works in complete
silence, because even the slightest sound could produce vibrations that might
ruin his work, He steadies his right arm by securing it with a strap attached
to a piece of heavy machinery, His mobile is switched off, and he mostly works
at night to avoid the vibrations of vehicles passing in the street, starting at
midnight, he works through the night until five or six in the morning, and
continues for three to four nights in a row, until he gets too tired and his
body clock needs readjustment,
as much as he tries to eliminate distractions, there is one
vibration that Graham cannot silence – his own heartbeat, but he’s come up with
an ingenious technique to work around that as well, Graham tapes a stethoscope to
his chest and places the earpieces in his ears, keenly listening to his own
heartbeat, with his carving tool in hand, he waits motionless, for as long as
20 minutes, until his heart rate is at its lowest, then, listening intently, he
only makes a carving at his stillest moments – in between heartbeats, age has
finally caught up with Graham – these days he has to consume potassium,
magnesium, and beta-blocker pills to get his heart rate to drop as low as 20
beats per minute, to keep his eyes in top shape and hold the muscles in place,
he gets botox injections every few weeks, a price to pay but what a talent Graham truly has, to see an in depth article about him and his work have a look here.
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