Thomas Fattorini Ltd
A British manufacturing jeweller and specialist maker of medals, badges, trophies, ceremonial objects and civic insignia.
Last updated November 4, 2026
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Overview
Thomas Fattorini Ltd is a British manufacturing jeweller and design-and-manufacturing business specialising in awards, medals, badges, trophies, ceremonial swords, civic insignia and related metalwork. Its head office is in Skipton, North Yorkshire, and the company operates across sites in Manchester, Birmingham and London. Rather than functioning primarily as a consumer-facing jewellery label, it works as a specialist maker for institutions, public authorities, sporting organisations, military bodies, livery companies and other customers requiring bespoke or formally specified objects. The company traces its origins to Antonio Fattorini, an Italian-speaking immigrant from Bellagio near Como who settled in Yorkshire. The business was established in Skipton in 1827 after Fattorini had begun trading in jewellery, watches and barometers. His wider family business activities subsequently included Fattorini and Sons in Bradford, founded in 1829, and Antonio Fattorini in Harrogate, founded in 1831. The family’s background in northern Italian precision craftsmanship was particularly relevant to the production and sale of barometers and other finely made instruments. Thomas Fattorini also played an early role in the development of British instalment and mail-order retailing. Its Skipton watch clubs, first recorded in 1869, allowed customers to acquire watches and later a broad range of goods through regular payments. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the company’s club catalogues included musical instruments, bicycles, spectacles, phonographs, sewing machines and travel goods. Related Fattorini enterprises later included Empire Stores and Grattan, although those businesses are distinct from the specialist manufacturing operation described by the Thomas Fattorini Ltd name. The company’s manufacturing focus expanded substantially during the twentieth century. In the First World War it produced badges for military and civilian use, including a Royal Flying Corps badge and Home Front badges. As demand for medals and awards grew, it opened a factory in Birmingham in 1919 and moved in 1928 to a purpose-built Jewellery Quarter facility on Regent Street. The works became known as Trafalgar Works and developed into an important centre for the manufacture of vitreous-enamel badges, medals and trophies. Its product capabilities include struck and cast medals, enamelled insignia, presentation awards, ceremonial weapons, chains of office, livery jewels, maces and other civic or heraldic objects. The company has produced or contributed to notable institutional and sporting pieces, including the Lonsdale Belt and the FIFA Club World Cup trophy, and has made a replica vitreous-enamel version of the Alfred Jewel for the Ashmolean Museum. Its work in precious-metal and silverware contexts is supported by assay-office registrations, including a Birmingham registration in 1918 and an earlier Chester registration recorded in 1898. Thomas Fattorini has also maintained a long-standing role in official honours and insignia. It has supplied the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood since 1975 and received a Royal Warrant of Appointment to Queen Elizabeth II in 2008. The business has manufactured decorations and orders for international governmental ministries, including bodies in the United Arab Emirates, and produced the Order of Danilo for Montenegro in 2010. In 2022, the British Hallmarking Council selected a commemorative platinum-jubilee mark designed by the company; the design used an orb and referenced the traditional platinum fineness mark. Medal-making is another important dimension of the company’s identity. Its earlier sporting medals were often made in gold or sterling silver, sometimes enamelled, and personalised on the reverse. By the 1930s, the business offered more than 1,000 medal designs made to order. Since 2002 it has supported the British Art Medal Society’s student medal project. The company received the society’s President’s Medal and the Marsh Award for the Encouragement of Medallic Art in 2011. Overall, Thomas Fattorini’s positioning rests on continuity, craft expertise, heraldic and ceremonial knowledge, bespoke production and the ability to manufacture objects carrying institutional, civic or national significance.
History
Thomas Fattorini Ltd emerged from the jewellery and precision-instrument trade established by Antonio Fattorini in Yorkshire. Antonio, born in 1797 near Bellagio in northern Italy, appears in trading records in Leeds in 1826 and established the Skipton business in 1827, with assistance from his brother-in-law Baldisaro Porri. The company’s early activities included jewellery, watches and barometers. Other family enterprises were established in Bradford in 1829 and Harrogate in 1831, creating a wider Fattorini commercial network in Yorkshire. The Fattorini businesses were associated with the rise of instalment-based retail in Britain. In Skipton, a watch club established in 1869 enabled customers to obtain goods through regular payments. By 1906, the company’s annual club catalogue offered not only watches but also pianos, travel goods, bicycles, spectacles, phonographs, sewing machines and other products. This collective-purchasing model anticipated later mail-order retail, although the specialist Thomas Fattorini manufacturing business subsequently became more strongly identified with badges, medals, trophies and ceremonial work. The company’s involvement in insignia expanded during the First World War, when it produced military badges, including a Royal Flying Corps badge, as well as badges for civilians on the Home Front. Its assay-office registrations document participation in precious-metal work, with registrations recorded at Chester in 1898 and Birmingham in 1918, among other offices. Growing demand for medals and awards led to the opening of a factory in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter in 1919. In 1928 the operation moved to a purpose-built jewellery factory on Regent Street, a building designed by Mansell & Mansell and originally constructed for Adie & Lovekin Ltd. The site was renamed Trafalgar Works. At Trafalgar Works, Thomas Fattorini developed production in vitreous enamelling, badge-making, medal manufacture and trophy construction. Enamel was particularly valuable for civic and heraldic work because it could reproduce strong colours and detailed insignia. The company’s output came to include livery jewels, civic chains of office, officers’ pendants, badges, maces, ceremonial swords, medals and civic silverware. It also produced important sporting objects, including the Lonsdale Belt and the FIFA Club World Cup trophy. A replica vitreous-enamel version of the Alfred Jewel was made for the Ashmolean Museum. The medal business had roots in earlier sporting awards. Many early medals were designed as fob medals attached to pocket-watch chains, made in gold or sterling silver and frequently enamelled or engraved with personalised details. By the 1930s the company offered more than 1,000 made-to-order medal designs. Its continuing interest in medallic art was reinforced by its support for the British Art Medal Society’s student medal project from 2002. Thomas Peter Fattorini attended the society’s inaugural meeting in 1982 and later served as a vice president until his death in 2010. The company’s contribution was recognised by the society’s President’s Medal and the Marsh Award for the Encouragement of Medallic Art in 2011. Thomas Fattorini became an established supplier of official insignia. Since 1975 it has manufactured and supplied items for the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood. It was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment to Queen Elizabeth II in 2008, with Thomas R. Fattorini serving as grantee on behalf of the company. International work included the manufacture of orders, medals and decorations for key United Arab Emirates ministries from the early 1980s into the 2020s, and the production of Montenegro’s Order of Danilo in 2010. In the twenty-first century the company continued to combine traditional craft methods with commissioned institutional design. It exhibited at the 2013 Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace and designed the British Hallmarking Council’s commemorative platinum-jubilee mark in 2022. The mark used an orb and evoked the conventional platinum fineness symbol. With its head office in Skipton and operational sites in Manchester, Birmingham and London, the business remains positioned as a specialist British maker of ceremonial, civic, sporting and governmental metalwork.
- 2022
Platinum Jubilee hallmark designed
[1]The British Hallmarking Council selected a commemorative platinum-jubilee mark designed by Thomas Fattorini.
- 2013
Coronation Festival exhibition
[1]The company exhibited at the Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace.
- 2011
Medallic-art awards received
[1]Thomas Fattorini received the British Art Medal Society President’s Medal and the Marsh Award for the Encouragement of Medallic Art.
- 2010
Order of Danilo manufactured
[1]The company manufactured the Order of Danilo for Montenegro.
- 2008
Royal Warrant granted
[1]The company received a Royal Warrant of Appointment to Queen Elizabeth II.
- 2002
Student medal project support begins
[1]The company began supporting the British Art Medal Society student medal project.
- 1982
British Art Medal Society connection
[1]Thomas Peter Fattorini attended the inaugural meeting of the British Art Medal Society.
- 1975
Central Chancery supply relationship begins
[1]Thomas Fattorini began manufacturing and supplying items for the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.
- 1928
Move to Trafalgar Works
[1]Operations moved to a purpose-built Jewellery Quarter factory on Regent Street, renamed Trafalgar Works.
- 1919
First Birmingham factory opened
[1]The company opened its first factory in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter as its medals and awards trade expanded.
Products and positioning
A heritage British specialist manufacturer combining jewellery craftsmanship, vitreous enamelling, medallic design, heraldic interpretation and institutional production for civic, ceremonial, military, sporting and governmental clients.
Medallic art and awards
Medals and decorations
The company makes sporting, commemorative, military, civic and governmental medals. Earlier examples included gold and sterling-silver fob medals, often enamelled and personalised on the reverse. Its made-to-order catalogue had expanded to more than 1,000 designs by the 1930s.
Badges and heraldic metalwork
Vitreous-enamel badges and insignia
Vitreous enamelling is used to create durable, colourful badges and insignia for military, civic, livery and institutional applications. The process supports detailed heraldic interpretation and is applied to items ranging from small badges to larger ceremonial objects.
Sporting awards
Trophies and sporting awards
Thomas Fattorini designs and manufactures presentation trophies and sporting awards, including the Lonsdale Belt and the FIFA Club World Cup trophy. These commissions combine metal forming, surface finishing, engraving and, where appropriate, enamel or precious-metal detailing.
Civic and ceremonial regalia
Civic and livery insignia
Its civic and livery work includes chains of office, livery jewels, officers’ pendants, badges, maces and related silverware. Such pieces are generally bespoke and use heraldic symbols, enamel colours and formal metalwork to represent civic or institutional identity.
Ceremonial objects
Ceremonial swords
The company produces and decorates ceremonial swords, including work incorporating enamel and heraldic ornament. These objects form part of its broader capability in formal regalia and institutional presentation pieces.
Governmental and national awards
Orders and state insignia
Thomas Fattorini manufactures orders, decorations and insignia for governmental and national institutions. Its documented work includes supplies for the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, the Order of Danilo for Montenegro and decorations for United Arab Emirates ministries.
Brand decisions
2022
Designing the Platinum Jubilee commemorative hallmarkOtherBackground
The British Hallmarking Council selected a new commemorative mark for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
Action taken
Thomas Fattorini designed an orb-based mark reflecting the traditional platinum fineness mark.
Aftermath
The design became the selected commemorative hallmark for the jubilee observance.
2008
Accepting a Royal Warrant of AppointmentOtherBackground
The company’s long-standing work in specialist jewellery, insignia and ceremonial manufacture led to a Royal Warrant of Appointment to Queen Elizabeth II.
Action taken
Thomas Fattorini Ltd received the warrant, with Thomas R. Fattorini recorded as the grantee on the company’s behalf.
Aftermath
The warrant formally associated the company with the supply of specialist goods to the royal household.
Sources1 sources
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