IN its 35th year of business Watling Goldsmiths and Silversmiths is still proud to be one of the only places left in the country to design and sell all its own work on site.

The Lacock shop, in East Street, is now run by Jane Watling, 43, and her brother John, 44, after they took over the business from their father 12 years ago.

Mrs Watling said there had been many changes over the past 35 years and the business is twice as big as when her father Graham and mother Jean started it after moving from the Cotswolds.

She said: "My father was a silversmith and used to make domestic, big silver pieces that were very popular in the 1970s. But fashions change. Years ago the shop was full of goblets and no jewellery."

The two designers, while still producing the occasional goblet, now mainly concentrate on creating original, beautiful and detailed jewellery using a range of metals and precious stones While Mrs Watling's style is more contemporary and organic, her brother, a diamond mounter, produces more traditional and classical pieces.

Mrs Watling said the family history was one of the reasons the business had grown into such a success.

"Our mother was the business woman so we've been trained artistically but brought up in business," she said. "We both started from childhood and then did apprenticeships, which is the best way to become a jeweller. We had two very different types of training. There's nowhere else that you get the mixture of contemporary and the more traditional designs in the same place."

She said being able to design and sell their work on site was also vital for a successful jewellery business.

"Most jewellers start buying in a lot of the pieces. They may start making everything in the branch but as their success grows they can't keep up. We're firmly based in the workshop. That's our job, said Mrs Watling. "It's important to keep contact with the customers and I love meeting people but having said that I'm always rushing back to the workshop because I'm passionate about making jewellery."

Some of the items in the shop can sell for up to £30,000 but John Watling said he was not daunted with working with such expensive pieces of metal and precious stone.

He said:"The best part of the job is we take a design brief and turn it into a three-dimensional object which is going to look beautiful and make someone very happy."

On November 24 the shop will be welcoming all their regular customers for a champagne celebration and launching their latest creations.