We meet Alexander Roden, workshop manager at Yard-O-Led, makers of sterling silver pens and pencils for nearly 200 years. From their studio in Birmingham’s jewellery district, the writing instruments they create are second to none – and have no trouble finding loyal customers across the globe.

Gorgeous objects, often destined to become heirlooms, each is hand-shaped, and laboriously hand-engraved using machines and tools that look as if pulled from the history books.

From the whistle of a flame, to the click of the engraving machine, the Yard-O-Led workshop is awash with sounds of making. All are part of an arsenal of sensory experiences that help the craftsmen here to ensure a precision in their task – one gets to know the machines intimately, says Roden, and to interpret feedback they give throughout the process.

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Sound plays an important role in writing, too, not only in the craft of making the writing instrument: you need silence. The smoothness with which one can let their ideas flow onto page, without distraction, is a kind of zen-like headspace that Yard-O-Led aims to provide.

The Sound of Craftsmanship is an editorial collaboration between London Craft Week and KEF.