Richard Talman has more than 25 years of experience working as a goldsmith and is now a regular expert on The Repair Shop.
The Repair Shop welcomes visitors from around the country to bring their worn and torn items for the barn's experts to give some TLC. This week will be no different as a widow hopes to have her deceased husband's wedding ring restored to its former glory. To help make her dream come true will be goldsmith Richard Talman who has plenty of expertise in this field.The Repair Shop star and goldsmith Richard Talman first started working in the trade when he left secondary school in September 1995.
While his exact birthday isn't known, it is believed that the BBC expert is around 44 years old.In terms of the rest of the cast, Talman is neither the oldest or youngest member of the team.Horologist Steve Fletcher is 57, presenter Jay Blades is 53, whereas furniture restorer Will Kirk is 37 and metalwork man Dominic Chinea is 36. Richard's passion for geology came from "a family history of metal work for three generations".
So after leaving school, he joined Sir John Cass Faculty of Arts in Whitechapel where he studied a City and Guilds diamond mounting course before starting his apprenticeship with a well respected goldsmith in Hatton Garden in May 1996.It was then in 2000 that he won first prize at the UK Fine Jewellery Competition which, in turn, secured him a place representing the UK at the 36th World Skills Competition 2001 in Seoul, South Korea.
He was awarded seventh place and given an International Diploma of Excellence for his effort.Richard went on to found RTFJ, a bespoke jewellers in 2010 after previously managing a trade workshop supplying West-End jewellery stores with some of their products.He chose to leave this trade behind to settle down in the Sussex countryside to open up the jewellers near his home who he shares with his wife Jennie and two daughters.The goldsmith prefers to keep his private life out of the spotlight so little else is known about his personal life.
According to his website: "His aim was a simple one: To provide his customers with the finest quality jewellery coupled with the utmost customer service, attention & satisfaction."Talking to Professional Jeweller, Richard opened up about how he came to work on the BBC series.He explained: “It all started when one of the researchers on The Repair Shop called me after seeing my YouTube videos.
"I went along to the barn where it’s filmed and there was no audition, I just came in and started to work on a restoration then and there.I was comfortable in front of the cameras because I’d done a lot of my own videos for customers and after a while you just forget you’re being filmed – apart from when they need to do a retake.I’ve been a guest member of the team ever since, called into the barn whenever they need a jeweller. I’m very fortunate to be involved and I find it extremely rewarding.Richard will be starring in the latest episode which airs this evening, Wednesday, February 22, on BBC One.
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