Engraver

We are proud to introduce our exclusive engravers of Kindler&Thorpe.
They are truely master of engravers.

Marcus Hunt

Marcus Hunt was born in London, England in 1961, but spent his childhood in the leafy county of Surrey. On leaving school in 1978 he was apprenticed to his father, the world famous master gun engraver, Ken Hunt.

But the seeds of the craft had already been sown many years before. His father has worked from home since 1964 and on more than one occasion he allowed his young son to pick up a graver and often set him at a small vice to scratch away at a piece of copper. Engraving was in his blood so it was only natural for him to follow in his father's footsteps.

Marcus painstakingly learned the traditional engraving methods which had been passed on to a young Ken Hunt by his master, Harry Kell who, in turn, had been taught by his father. Over months and years he mastered the act of pushing graver through steel by hand and the gentle rhythms of hammer and chisel work. He also learned many techniques that his father had developed over the years as well as gold inlay and damascene. Always, his father would emphasise the importance of high quality workmanship to the apprentice Marcus.

Having worked on some of the world’s finest sporting firearms for over 35 years, Marcus has always looked for new and interesting ways of bringing the ancient skill of hand engraving to a new audience, so when Paul Thorpe contacted him with the embryonic idea of Kindler & Thorpe Watches he leapt at the chance to be involved from the outset and has for several years dedicated himself to developing the brand and creating Kindler & Thorpe's unique designs.

“What many people fail to realise is that the history of English gun engraving is intrinsically linked to the 19th Century engraving of watches and jewellery as it was these engravers who applied their skills and designs to the new breech loading shotguns of the time. It brings a smile to my face to see how things have turned full circle and that a gun engraver is now embellishing some of the world’s finest watches!”
- Marcus Hunt

Joanne Ryall

Joanne Ryall was born in 1972 and works from a studio in the South West of England. She counts herself extremely fortunate to be able to work at a profession she loves, while living in a gorgeous environment, surrounded by rich wildlife and stunning scenery.
Coming from an artistic family, Joanne has always enjoyed pen & ink work. This was a talent that initially lead to starting a company producing high-quality sign writing, and later expanded into teaching & demonstrating airbrush techniques.

Some years later, an interest in field related sports exposed her to the possibilities of scrimshaw and engraving. At this point she read a classic book called ‘The art of engraving’ and immediately became fully absorbed by an ambition to produce work in steel.

Although largely self taught, she has had invaluable assistance from a number of world-level engravers and today her work has a keen following around the globe.

Joanne has just one regret, & that is not discovering her love & passion for engraving earlier in life!