Founded 2016 by Tom Hanlon, today run with his brother Toby, who joined as co-director in 2025. The shop sits at 42 Shambles, the corner of the medieval Shambles street with the side-alley called Little Shambles, in a Grade II* listed three-storey timber-framed building raised in the late fifteenth century. The crown post roof is still up there. The workshop is on the floor above the cabinet, so your ring goes up the stairs, not into a courier's bag.
A curated showcase of period pieces sourced and re-set by the workshop upstairs. Sapphire, diamond, emerald, ruby, amethyst and tanzanite, in 9 ct, 14 ct and 18 ct gold settings. Every piece is checked, repaired and polished on the bench above the shop before it reaches the cabinet, so a Victorian cluster on the shelf is wearable the day you buy it.
Pieces designed alongside you at the counter, then made at the upstairs workshop, on the same floor where the shop has stood since 2016. Heirloom remodels keep every stone you bring in. Sapphires, emeralds, rubies, tanzanites, amethysts and diamonds supplied and set. Indicative turnaround four to six weeks from the moment the design is signed off.
Fairtrade Gold registered since opening. Fairtrade certifies the small-scale mines the metal came from, sets a minimum price for the miners, and audits worker safety. The shop carries a working spread of Fairtrade Gold engagement and wedding bands alongside the conventional 9 ct, 14 ct and 18 ct lines, with the certification paperwork supplied with every Fairtrade piece.
Ring resizing, chain and clasp repair, rhodium plating on white gold, alteration and remodelling, claw retipping, stone replacement, gold and platinum buying. All work is done in the upstairs workshop, in the same 15th-century timber-framed building as the shop, so your piece never leaves 42 Shambles.
The Shambles itself appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. The word comes from Old English sceamol, meaning bench or stall. By 1885 the street housed thirty-one butchers' shops. The last butcher closed in the early twentieth century. The upper storeys of 41 and 42 still hang out over the cobbles on jetties; the crown post roof inside, raised in the late fifteenth century, survives intact. Historic England Grade II* listed the building in 1954.
Tom Hanlon opened Little Shambles Jewellers at number 42 in 2016, Fairtrade Gold registered from day one. In June 2025 his brother Toby joined as co-director under Shambles Jewellers Bro Limited. The shop on the ground floor, the workshop on the floor above it, the timber frame around the whole thing. Same building since opening. Same family since opening. Ten years this year.
“Stumbled on the shop walking the Shambles, found the perfect 25th anniversary ring, sized on site in a few hours. Tom and Nick could not have been kinder.” Facebook recommendation · June 2025
Most Shambles jewellers send repair work away to a trade workshop in Birmingham or Sheffield. That means a grandmother's ring is in a courier's bag for ten days. Little Shambles runs its own bench upstairs, inside the same fifteenth-century timber-framed building as the cabinet, so a resize-down can be done on your coffee break and a rhodium re-plate on a white-gold band is usually inside an hour.
Metal removed or added by hand at the bench. Never stretched. The original profile is restored and the band refinished, so the alteration is virtually invisible and the shank keeps its full strength.
The original setting is examined, the matching stone sourced, the claws retipped and the setting rebuilt before final polishing. We do not cast-and-swap.
White-gold rings need replating every one to three years to keep their cool platinum-like finish. We do it on the premises, usually within the hour, no appointment required.
Bring a sketch, or bring an heirloom. Tom or Toby will talk through stone choice, setting style and metal weight across the counter, and the workshop upstairs will do the rest. The bench is in the same building as the shop, so the stones you bring in stay with us; nothing is sent away. Indicative turnaround on a from-scratch bespoke ring is four to six weeks once the design is signed off.
We have been a Fairtrade Gold registered jeweller since opening. Fairtrade certifies the small-scale mines the metal came from, sets a minimum price for the miners, and audits worker safety on the ground. The shop carries a working spread of Fairtrade Gold engagement and wedding bands alongside the conventional lines, and the certification paperwork is supplied with every Fairtrade piece. A short list of what that actually means in the cabinet.
A short note about the piece, the repair or the redesign you are thinking about. We will reply with what we have in the cabinet that fits, and what we would suggest from the workshop upstairs. No appointment needed to walk in (we are open seven days), but if you want a quiet half hour with a tray laid out, the form is the way to book it.
42 Shambles
York YO1 7LX
Phone · 01904 628 781
Email · littleshamblesjewellers@hotmail.com
Find us · on the corner of the Shambles and Little Shambles. Five minutes from York Minster, two minutes from the Shambles Market on Newgate.
Open seven days a week. The Shambles is busiest on weekends with day-trippers; the seven-day pattern is a Shambles choice, not a workshop one. Repairs go upstairs to the bench between 09:30 and 17:30.
On site. Upstairs in the workshop, in the same 15th-century timber-framed building as the shop. Your piece never leaves 42 Shambles. The shop’s own Facebook line, "completed in their upstairs workshop", is exactly that.
Sized-down rings are usually same day. Sized-up takes four to six weeks, because additional metal has to be added and the band finished. We call you when it is ready, never the other way round.
Yes, and have done since the shop opened. The certification paperwork is supplied with every Fairtrade Gold piece. Fairtrade audits the small-scale mines the metal came from, sets a minimum price for the miners, and checks worker safety.
White-gold rings need replating every one to three years to keep that cool platinum-like finish. We do it on the premises, usually within the hour, no appointment required.
Yes. Bring it in. We will talk through which stones you want to keep, what new setting style suits them, and what metal weight makes sense. The whole job is done at the upstairs bench, so every stone you bring in stays in the building. Indicative turnaround four to six weeks from sign-off.