PPB February 2020

the times. Over the past year, the company has directed its focus to creating products that mesh traditional and modern elements to appeal to its growing base of younger customers. PPB spoke with Bernstein to learn more about the complex process behind Salisbury’s products. Salisbury’s staff is comprised of many skilled artisans. Can you tell us about their different specialties? Our talented artisans perform the highly skilled techniques of metal spinning, machining, centrifugal casting, soldering and finishing to create the line. Metal spinners use an old-world method to turn flat metal into 3D items. They place a disc of pewter on a lathe, and, using tools of their creation, pull the spinning disc of metal slowly over a mold called a “chuck” to form the desired shape. Cups, bowls, trays, jewelry boxes and more are created using this method. Metal spinners can take 10 years or more to train from an apprentice status to become a master spinner. When the metal-spinning is finished, solderers permanently piece together the spun components using a lead-free solder. They attach bases to cups, handles to trophies and tankards, spouts to teapots, and add countless other details to the line. If the product is created from flat, pressed sheets of metal, like picture frames, baby spoons and small trays, the items are then sent to skilled machinists who use Salisbury’s hydraulic presses and drop hammers with metal forms to force the flat sheet into a new shape, creating beautiful heirloom-quality gifts. After the products have been spun, hammered, pressed and soldered, they go on to one last process: finishing. Finishing is truly what sets our pewter and sterling products apart from all others. These fine artisans take the nearly-completed products and buff them over and over. This removes any scratches or manufacturing marks, leaving items with a brilliant, mirror-like finish. In addition to spinning, soldering and finishing for large items, we create smaller products and components through the process of centrifugal casting. The process is part science, part art. Molten pewter is poured into spinning, vulcanized rubber molds that are created in-house by our mold and modeling artists. The hot metal flows into the design area and the air is forced out of the existing channels that are cut into each mold. After the molten metal cools and becomes solid, the pieces are removed, sharp edges are ground down and items are sent to the tumbling room. There, they are placed in large machines and tumbled with millions of ceramic beads until the surface of the metal is smooth. Finished products then go through a strict inspection for quality control. Inspectors have a keen eye for every detail. Products that pass our rigorous inspection are either packaged for shipping around the world or sent to the engraving department where we add any type of personalization imaginable. What are some of the ways that Salisbury’s products have been used for promotions, recognition or corporate gifting? Salisbury products are used in a promotional capacity every day. One of our favorite corporate gifting uses was a program created for the labor and delivery unit in a very busy hospital. With a great many babies being born there every month, they decided a new mother gift package would be a great way to congratulate new mothers while promoting the hospital and spreading good will. They chose a beautiful Salisbury pewter baby cup, added the hospital logo engraved on the side—leaving the other side blank for a future monogram—and paired it with a diaper bag set. This included a letter from the CEO, personally congratulating each newmother. It was a beautiful gesture and well-received by newmothers throughout the years the programwas in place. Another of our favorite corporate gifting stories was of a New England insurance company that has always recognized its employees’ years of service levels with different- sized Salisbury pewter trays. One day, the distributor called with a request to recognize a very special employee who had been with the company for 60 years. Our 12-inch sterling silver tray was perfect for the job, and made a presentation that was nothing short of spectacular. Salisbury’s products have also been used by government agencies as gifts to foreign dignitaries, and they’ve been used in the White House since Ronald Reagan held office. “Every piece in the line is made by hand and may be handled more than 16 times.” —Joe Bernstein, sales manager | FEBRUARY 2020 | 79 CONNECT