It was a step up from the company’s embryonic beginnings, when the two brothers had taught themselves to make lead castings over the single-ring stove in the corner of Geoff’s bed-sit, and which included fantasy dragons, etc, and then culminated in bootleg Sex Pistols badges. In true punk style, the brothers were crafting cash from chaos, but punk’s crass and crude style proved limiting to their developing design skills, and it was time to expand both professionally and creatively. In 1979, Alchemy was approached to produce badges to promote the band Whitesnake’s new album, featuring the notoriously phallic ‘Lovehunter’ design, which they duly crafted in all of its lascivious, 3D glory. It proved an influential success. Back then, T-shirts were the only thing to be found on band merchandise stalls – Alchemy led the way in introducing the bewildering range of licensed products the faithful can now purchase to demonstrate their dedication to their musical idols.

By 1980 punk had peaked and was petering out, but new subcultures were on the horizon. Punk’s sulky, more urbane younger sister Goth soon began making her presence felt in Britain’s towns and cities, and these new children of the night found Alchemy’s building range of jewellery perfect for accessorising their funereal fashion statements. Britain’s heavy metal subculture first found a voice in 1981 when Kerrang! began publication, and UK’s metal legions soon embraced Alchemy’s brand of medievalism and Gothic fantasy with enthusiasm. Alchemy’s more aggressive accoutrements also found favour among the UK’s outlaw biker scene, who’d finally found a voice when Backstreet Heroes magazine first hit the racks in 1983. Almost everybody who wore a black leather jacket in the 80s, when that alone was still enough to have you barred from many British pubs, will recognise Alchemy, whose ubiquitous advertising helped support the magazines, that in turn fed the UK’s vibrant alternative scene.

By the mid-80’s, Alchemy had outgrown their original small shop premises and extended curiously sideways by knocking through into several old, adjacent buildings. This was followed by a further expansion into some additional, nearby, canal-side workshops, before the studio, factory and warehouse developed yet further and combined into their present premises by Leicester city’s southern perimeter. Alchemy is an authentic English success story. What had begun as a scheme by a couple of unemployed Leicester kids in order to raise enough cash to expatriate to Benelux had blossomed into the leading firm in a market which they, in effect, had created themselves. While in 1977 there was no alternative jewellery market as such, Alchemy’s success has inevitably since inspired imitation. As their customers became more discerning and demanding, Alchemy’s growing team of designers and craftsmen welcomed the challenge of developing new lines and products to ensure that Alchemy continued to lead the pack. In particular, Geoff and Trevor indulged their love of history and design in conceiving and crafting new pieces, combining modern ideas and techniques with ideas and designs drawn from the distant past. This is, perhaps, also the secret of Alchemy’s success – a company at once reverential of traditional values of service and craftsmanship, but at the same time constantly reinventing itself, innovating, and evolving in order to remain relevant and vital.

For more information contact: gavin.baddeley@blueyonder.co.uk