The small details: Bell & Ross inspirational screw heads

Calder's leather and stainless steel handles are a key feature of our cases. In the early prototypes the screws holding the handle were covered by the leather but I soon decided they should be visible. This change satisfied my desire to have the engineering of the visible rather than hidden.

It is the mark of an obsessive owner/designer that I then had to find the most perfect quality screws. I was spurred on in this quest by the exceptional elegance of the screws on Bell & Ross wristwatches.

Finally, in the last few weeks, I've found a small English engineering shop who will make me screws of the quality I want. These are shots of the samples they sent me (I'll be using a 3mm cross head screw, much smaller than either of these) and a shot of a Bell & Ross in acknowledgment of the inspiration I took from them.

Calder materials for custom cases

It is a pleasure to bring together unique materials for a custom case. Here are the materials for the series of custom cases we are building at the moment.

For the Fender Strat case, corn coloured printed leather exterior with matching zip, pale yellow internal trim, deep red hand painted silk velvet linin.



For the Fender Esquire case, cognac print exterior leather, natural calf internal trim, burgundy hand painted silk velvet lining.



For the rolling suitcases and custom briefcases, corn coloured printed leather exterior, pale yellow internal trim, bright yellow moire satin lining.

Calder new red violin case

I'm planning to build an all red version of the new violin case design. Here are some early concept sketches.

Calder laptop on YouTube

We're making some short videos to show Calder cases in use. Here's the first, shot in London with help of my very good friend Brian Hill at Century Films, the excellent camerman/editor Martin McDonnell and Amie Powell who carried the red case so elegantly.

Calder new violin case - version 4

More changes to the violin interior - seeking always simplicity, functionality and elegance. This might be close to what we want.

Calder new violin case

The development of the violin case design progresses. Here is how the interior is shaping up

Violin case: next generation

I constantly review our designs in the belief that there are always ways we can improve our cases. Recently I've started on revisions to the violin case.

My mantra for the cases is - stronger, lighter, smaller - and these changes will achieve all this aims.

These rough sketches show my early thinking on a new interior layout. By laying the violin at a slight angle the width of the case is reduced by about 4 cm - smaller size, less weight. Being narrower, the top and bottom of the case will be stiffer - so the case is stronger.

I've also introduced an additional storage pocket.

I'll post more on this as I firm up the changes

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