Bicks of Montpellier has traded at 5 Montpellier Walk for 130 years. Owners Stuart and Sonja Bradley run the shop and the bench above it. Bespoke commissions are sketched with Sonja at the counter, rendered in CAD before any metal is cut, and made by Stuart on the bench upstairs. Engagement rings, wedding bands, antique period pieces, repairs and remodelling, designed and made on the premises.
Sonja sketches with you at the counter. Stuart cuts and sets at the bench upstairs. A CAD mock-up before any metal is touched, so the ring you see in render is the ring you collect. Diamonds and coloured stones sourced through ethical channels. Most commissions run six to ten weeks from first sketch to hallmark.
Solitaires in platinum and 18ct white, yellow and rose gold. Sapphire-and-diamond clusters, ruby halo, the marquise and emerald cuts that sit cleanly next to a band. Bespoke fitted wedding bands shaped to an existing engagement ring, so two rings sit together as one. Fitting and resizing on the premises.
A hand-picked rotation of Art Deco platinum diamond rings, Edwardian and Georgian period pieces, and signed antique silver. Bought to sit alongside Bicks’ own contemporary commissions rather than as a separate concession. Each piece passes the bench before it goes in the case.
Ring resizing, claw rebuilding, chain repair, clasp replacement, pearl re-stringing. Remodelling is the bench’s favourite work. An inherited ring is melted down or reset with new stones, to become a piece that gets worn. Most repairs handled in days, not the weeks the postal trade workshops in Birmingham take.
For 130 years a jeweller has traded under the Bicks sign on Montpellier Walk, in the Regency parade of the Caryatid statues, half a mile south of the Cheltenham Promenade. The bench has passed through generations of custodians; the shopfront has not moved.
Today the shop is run by Stuart and Sonja Bradley. Stuart, a master goldsmith with thirty years at the bench, was previously founding partner of the largest jewellery manufacturer in the southern hemisphere. Among the pieces that came off his bench in that earlier life: an 18ct yellow-gold pen used by Nelson Mandela to sign South Africa's new constitution, and the sterling-silver elephants the South African government presented to the Three Tenors. Sonja runs the design side, the CAD work and the day-to-day of the shop. The bench is Pforzheim-trained, in the German "gold city" that has set the standard for goldsmithing for two centuries.
“A goldsmith who knows his trade, and therefore highly recommended.” From a customer review of Stuart's bench at Bicks
Sonja sketches with you at the counter. The agreed design goes into CAD; you see the render (scale, stone proportions, setting style, finger profile) before any metal is touched. The render is the contract; the ring you collect is the ring you signed off.
Stuart cuts, sets and finishes upstairs. Claw rebuilding, calibrated stone setting, mille-grain edges, pavé runs, channel work, soldering. All done at the bench, not posted to a trade workshop in Birmingham or Sheffield for ten days. Repairs and remodels move through the same bench, on the same week.
Diamonds and coloured stones are sourced through channels that document where the stone came from. The certification travels with the stone from the dealer through to the finished piece, and we will talk through provenance at the counter. It is a fair question and one customers ask often.
A short form to start a commission. The sketch session itself is at the counter at 5 Montpellier Walk; the form is for a first conversation by email so we can plan the visit and the budget before you come in. Most commissions run six to ten weeks from first sketch to hallmark.
5 Montpellier Walk
Cheltenham GL50 1SD
Phone · 01242 524738
Email · bicksofmontpellier@gmail.com
Walk-up · The Regency parade with the Caryatid statues, opposite Montpellier Gardens, six minutes from the Promenade
Mondays we are on the bench. Stuart works through commissions without walk-in interruption; Sonja catches up on the design side. It is how we keep the lead times on every other day of the week.
Yes. Sonja works the design at the counter with you, and a CAD render comes back before any metal is cut. The render shows scale, setting style, stone proportions. You approve the render, then Stuart starts the piece at the bench. No commission begins until the render is signed off.
Remodelling is the bench’s favourite work. Bring the piece in, leave it with us for a sketch session, and Sonja will draw two or three options that use your stones in a setting that suits how you actually wear jewellery. Most remodels reuse the gold as well, so the new ring carries the same metal as the original.
Yes. We source through channels that document provenance, and the certifications travel with the stone from the dealer through to the finished piece. We will talk through where a particular stone has come from at the counter. It is a fair question and one we get often.
Most commissions take six to ten weeks from first sketch to hallmark. Simpler bands can move faster; cluster settings with calibrated stones take longer. If you are working to a date (a proposal weekend, an anniversary) tell us at the first meeting and we will work back from it.
Monday is the bench day. Stuart works through the commissions on the bench without walk-in interruption, and Sonja catches up on the design side and the CAD work. It is how we keep the lead times on every other day of the week. Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 17:00, we are at the counter.