March 2008 - ClanArt launches online Ebay shop for mail order customers.

February 2008 - Katherine and Simon Lane asked to judge Somerset Education Business Partnership awards 2008.

January 2008 - Website updated to include mail order prices for cantles and Buckles

May 2007 - ClanArt joins Ebay's VeRo program to combat counterfeit products being sold.

March 2007 - New catalogue launched including new kilt pins, cantles and buckles.

December 2006 - Katherine and Simon Lane, who run ClanArt, have won the prestigious npower Business Volunteering Award 2006 in a competition organised by the national Education Business Partnership. The awards are designed to recognise business leaders who give up their time voluntarily to forge closer links between industry and education. For more information click here....

May 2006 -ClanArt starts designing new products to expand it's range

March 2006 -ClanArt joined ACID - Anti-Copying In Design to further protect its intellectual design and copyright.  All our designs are original designs by our own designers so by joining this international organisation we have a full specialist legal team able to stop any infringements of our designs.

1988 The Bulldog Buckle Company was formed in July 1988 by two brothers, Graham and Simon Lane. Graham trained as an engineer and worked for one of the largest American engineering companies. Simon, after training as a model-maker for four years, spent a number of years as a professional model-maker specialising in the highly competitive world of advertising in London.

1989 In February 1989 they opened a specialist belt and leather shop. They then identified a market for British jeans buckles and using their combined skills, with Simon sculpting the first two buckles. The Bulldog Buckle Company was born. The quality of the workmanship along with the great attention to detail was soon appreciated and The Bulldog Buckle Company built up an enviable reputation.

1998 In February 1998 Graham left the company to set up a promotional company with Simon taking over the running of the company, with his wife. The company still manufactured a large number of stock products although the main area of the business was the special order/custom manufacture of small promotional merchandise.  Katherine started working for the company in 1998 handling the mail order and trade stock order side of the business.

2000 In February 2000 the company started manufacturing cantles and buckles for Scottish Highland Regalia out of pewter and quickly became the premier supplier of cast pewter cantles and kilt buckles for use on dress sporrans

2006 In January 2006 Katherine and Simon decided to close Bulldog Buckle Co and set up ClanArt specialising in only the Clanart range of Celtic and highland dress related items, supplying sporran manufacturers with fittings. Katherine took over the running of all the day to day business covering the administration, sales, production and accounts while Simon oversees the design and special orders side of the business.

2007/8 In 2007/8 a range of new products have been added to the range.

Our Customers

We have supplied many of the top makers throughout Scotland, Wales, Ireland as well as many companies in the USA, Canada, France, Spain, Norway and Australia

The Products

The products are produced using some of the finest materials available. Most items are cast in solid English pewter. They are sculpted using traditional skills combined with modern materials and then are cast, polished or antiqued, and hand finished to a unique quality finish. Some items are then enhanced enamelling. Buckles fit the standard highland dress belts.

Manufacturing process

Designing the products:

After a brief has been set, our designers start by researching original artefacts, old books and through the internet.  They then start sketching a number of rough concept drawings before short-listing the best designs.  These short-listed designs are then draw up in either Adobe CS Photoshop or Adobe CS Illustrator, a further selection is then made and the best designs are then agreed.  One of our Sculptors then creates an original master by hand, using a combination of materials in our fully equipped workshop.  The masters are then further checked before being moulded.

Moulding:

Each master is then put into a Vulcanising machine to produce the master castings.  These master castings are then carefully checked and re-worked to make sure that it can be quality passed.  These castings are then remoulded to make production moulds from which the castings can then be produced.

Casting:

The production moulds are then put into castings machines and each one is made by hand and fettled (cleaned up) and checked before going to be finished.

Finishing:

Each product is washed, de-greased, cleaned and dried before being antiqued and finally polished by hand.

Packing and shipping:

Each item is carefully checked again and is then individually packed before being despatched.