I just called to say...

 In 1957, when our customer left National Service he became a telephone engineer for the General Post Office (GPO).  One of his regular visits was to the telephone exchange in Rogate where he met his wife to be.  She was the daytime operator for the exchange.  

For a connection to any number in Rogate, you would first speak to the exchange operator and they would put you through, this was a few years before the automatic exchanges we have today!

During the the night, there was a resident operator, who would be woken by a ‘trembler’ bell at the end of their bed and they would have to rush downstairs to the switchboard to connect any calls.  

Our customer wanted to celebrate his golden wedding anniversary with a special gift that meant something to both he and his wife.

In our workshops in Chichester we made a bespoke copy of the original ‘150’ model telephone that she used when she worked as an operator.   The base of the phone was engraved with the important dates and a number ‘6’ on the dial - this was her personal number when she lived in Rogate. 

We designed the telephone in our computer aided design (CAD) software, built a wax model on our 3d printer, which was then cast into yellow gold.  To finish it off, we added a fine trace chain to the detachable ear piece which clips into the cradle on the side.