A Birthday, a Brough Superior, and a Bespoke Decanter

Some commissions arrive with a story already quietly stitched into them. This one began with a photograph of a vintage 1937 Brough Superior SS80 and a pair of well-worn riding gloves, the kind that have seen real miles. The gift was for our friend Jim, who celebrates his 70th birthday this evening.

Jim was born in 1955, and we wanted the engraving to reflect both the bike he treasures and the year his own story began. So above the drawing we engraved:

“First Registered 1955.”
A nod to the machine and to the man.

Brough Superiors are famously individual. No two were ever built the same, and the lines of each one carry their own character. Because of that, the artwork preparation was a labour of precision. It took around eight hours to prepare the drawing, redrawing every line, curve, and contour from the original photograph until the bike felt exactly right. The sweep of the mudguards, the tank shape, the spoke pattern, the angle of the bars… even his gloves resting on the petrol tank made their way into the final piece. They were in the photograph, and they were part of Jim’s life with that bike, so they belonged in the engraving.

Beneath the drawing we added:
“Brough Superior – SS80 1937.”

Once the artwork was complete, the decanter and matching whisky glass were masked, prepared, and engraved by hand in our studio here in Saline. The process is slow and steady, but that’s the point, it allows the engraving to settle into the glass with a permanent satin finish that won’t fade or wear away.

Gifts like this are never simply about the object. They’re about the care taken in choosing something that reflects a person’s life, passions, and stories. Tonight the decanter will be unwrapped and, no doubt, admired. And long after the birthday celebrations fade, the engraving will stay as a marker of a much-loved machine and a milestone shared among friends.

For those with their own motorcycles, landmarks, or stories they’d like preserved in glass, we’ll be offering this as a bespoke listing soon. Each artwork will be prepared individually from your photographs, so every piece becomes its own one-off.

— Helena & John
Just The Ticket – Engraved in Scotland, Made to Last