Clogau - Autumn and Winter 2021

14 15 THE MINES Gold was first discovered at the Clogau St David’s mine in 1854, becoming the richest and most productive gold mine in the Dolgellau gold mining belt in Snowdonia, North Wales. It had been producing copper for a number of years before the discovery of gold – and it is the copper that gives the distinctive pale rose cast to the beautiful Clogau gold blend. Our company founder Bill Roberts acquired the Clogau St David’s mine in the 1980's to begin a small scale mining operation. His first range of Clogau jewellery would follow in 1994, with items sold in local gift shops. It was to be the start of a brand now renowned across the world for our highly coveted range of design-led pieces using traditional jewellery-making techniques. In 2014 Clogau Gold of Wales Ltd acquired the rights to the Gwynfynydd mine, also located on the Dolgellau Gold Belt, which was first discovered in 1860. It was from this mine that the Queen was presented with a kilogram ingot of Welsh gold on her 60 th birthday (in April 1986). THE WORLD’ S RAREST AND MOST SOUGHT AFTER GOLD The magic of Clogau is contained in every piece of our jewellery – thanks to our rare Welsh gold mined from Snowdonia in North Wales. During the early 20 th century the Clogau mine was Britain’s largest and richest gold mine, producing nearly 2.5 tonnes of gold between 1862 and 1911. But it was also one of the toughest to mine – with the gold veins proving increasingly tricky to locate. As one miner famously put it: “Finding Welsh gold is like finding the sixpence in the biggest Christmas cake you could imagine. There’s no pattern, no logic and you never know when you’re just inches away.” By the 1990's, production had ground to a halt – making the gold that has been found here one of the rarest, most expensive and most sought-after golds in the world. The unique heritage of the Clogau brand continues to give lasting pleasure to jewellery-lovers across the world. Our jewellery is guaranteed to contain rare Welsh gold – carrying the unique CG mark and Welsh Dragon. stamped during the creation of each Clogau item.