Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah King.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Sarah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It all began with my previous business of making and repairing residential stained glass windows. In Chicago, a great many of our residential stained glass windows include small pieces of double-sided gold mirrored glass. The gold reflections give the windows a street presence that other types of stained glass do not have – they sparkle at you as you drive by.
Close examination of this glass shows that it is not made with gold leaf. After years of intermittent searching and asking around, I discovered that the gold was deposited on the glass using the same process, but not the same chemical formula, as a bathroom mirror. In the late 19th century the process of making a gold mirror by chemical deposition was called Angel Gilding to distinguish it from gold leaf gilding.
After I finally found out how the process works and learned to make gold mirrored glass, I wanted to share my discoveries with other glass artists to save them the bother than I had gone through. With the help of my husband, who studied chemistry in college, I started an online business to sell the chemicals and share the techniques needed to mirror glass. We developed the chemicals to mirror glass with the four basic colors of metal – silver, gold, copper and blue-black galena.
When we began, we assumed that our customers would be stained glass shops in Chicago and sign painters who made and restored Victorian pub signs. What we did not expect was the number of different ways our customers would use our chemicals. We have customers who make antique silver mirrors for restaurants and bars. There are folks making telescopes and solar collectors. They mirror blown glass sculptures, capillary tubes for lasers and glass slides for biological experiments. They repair antique cars, make daguerreotypes, repair sextants, duplicate phonograph records and silver baby shoes. Who knew that there were so many ways to use and enjoy reflective surfaces?
Has it been a smooth road?
The two biggest challenges were first learning how to make a gold mirror and then learning how to manage an online business.
There is so much more to a business than the products you sell. Website design, customer support, money management, shipping regulations, manufacturing and inventory management all have separate and fairly steep learning curves. If you like to work 9 to 5, don’t start a small business.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Angel Gilding – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We manufacture and sell the chemicals, tools and techniques you need to create your own mirrored surface on plastic and glass using silver, gold, copper and galena.
We are very proud to have found and developed a market niche that no one else had found. There are other companies that sell silvering chemicals in large volumes but none that sell gold, copper and galena in small volumes to supply the needs of artists, inventors and scientists.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the architecture of the Chicago neighborhoods – especially the Chicago style of residential stained glass. I don’t know of any other city that has stained glass windows that contain gold mirror. The mirror twinkles as you walk buy and brightens the lives of those outside the house as well as those inside.
We should celebrate this legacy of the Chicago Prairie School design. The good folks at the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association certainly do.
What do I like least? The traffic, of course.
Contact Info:
- Address: Our address is 1945 Gardner Rd Broadview IL 60155.
- Website: angelgilding.com
- Phone: 708-383-3340
- Email: cust.service@angelgilding.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/anglegilding
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelGilding/
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
