Stanley London Custom
Engraving and Brass Plaques

We now offer on-site engraving for most of our products.  We also can engrave brass plaques with your custom wording or corporate logo.  This Compaq America's Cup 2000 plaque mounted on a Directional Desk Compass was made from color artwork.  The four colors were separated and engraved as different crosshatched fill patterns.  Contact us for information on custom engraving your artwork.

Custom brass plaques can be placed on either the outside of a product's case, on the inside, or both.  This 4-inch square black oxidized brass plaque was placed on the inside lid of the Boxed Compass.  Custom plaques and product engraving does not slow the delivery of an order.

Custom plaques are also available in aluminum to compliment products with silver accents, such as the above plaque, which is placed on the base of our beautiful Mahogany Desk Clock with Crystal Globe.

Even single quantity engraved brass plaques or custom engraved products are available most of the year without any delay in shipping your order, like this black oxidized plaque with custom artwork.  Our engraving and shipping status is updated hourly, so check out the blue status banners located throughout our website: The one-time graphics artwork setup fee for 2-color artwork is $25 and engraving price ranges from $3.00 to $15.00, depending on the item, complexity and quantity.  We will keep your artwork on file and there will not be another artwork fee if the same artwork is used in the future, even on a different item.  Artwork must be a sharp two to five solid color image with no shading, gradients, or shadows. The best format for a bitmap image is a .GIF file that measures at least 1100 pixels across (larger than full screen on most computers).  Vector artwork must have fonts embedded, and .PDF files are the preferred format as Adobe Acrobat files are the most compatible across different software versions.  Most artwork we receive from individuals or non-professionals is not of sufficient quality to engrave.  We also accept valid .AI, .CDR, and .EPS files (usually with limited to minimal success).  We cannot engrave bitmaps under 1100 pixels wide, pictures or gray scale drawings, but artwork with a limited number of solid colors can be engraved using different angles and densities of crosshatched lines to represent the colors.  See our detailed explanation of crosshatch engraving.  Send your high quality artwork using the e-mail link on our artwork specification page.  Pre-engraving proofs are available by special order, but are usually not required.  Engraving proofs are only $10 on orders with a total engraving cost of $100 or more, or $25 if the engraving cost for the order is under $100.  Proofs typically delay an order 1 - 3 days, depending on how quickly the proof is approved.  Engraving proofs can be ordered on the bottom of this page. View our many examples of good and bad artwork files.

Custom engraved brass plaques are available with your custom text.  For a square plaque, the number of words per line is approximately equal to the number of lines.  A common error is to request too many words per line, which forces a small font size. Brass plaques are less expensive than engraving actual instruments.  Standard-sized single quantity plaques on a product are typically $10 for one line of engraving and $1 for each additional line of text.  For an additional $1, the plaque can be black oxidized which turns the lettering black and greatly improves contrast and readability.  Ordering a plaque without purchasing a product to mount it on is $1 more.  Non-oxidized plaques will have gold colored lettering on a gold plaque.  Quantity discounts are available.  We offer many different fonts, but suggest Times New Roman (regular and italic), connective script, and Old English fonts for most engraving needs.  You can order custom plaques with your purchase on-line using our shopping cart order form.

A small brass plaque with the recipient's name can be mounted on the outside of a product's hardwood case, and a large plaque with a personal message can be mounted inside.  The Regular-Sized Boxed Compass and the Modern Boxed Compass support a 4-inch square plaque inside the lid, which can be engraved with up to 12 lines of text.

Plaques can be engraved with stock graphics, and Windows® True Type fonts can be inserted into the text.

For an additional $1.00, a brass plaque can be black oxidized to turn the lettering black for improved contrast and readability.

We have many engraving fonts, including all Windows® True Type Fonts.  The best choices are a Times New Roman serif font (including italic), a connective script that looks like handwriting, an Old English font, and Arial block font for high density small text.  See Fonts.

We can also mount bright brass or black brass engraved plaques on 4 x 6 inch or 9 x 12 inch solid walnut plaques.  The engraved plaques are one inch smaller than the walnut plaques (3 x 5 inch or 8 x 11 inch), and are available with square, notched, or rounded corners.  The plaques can be either flush mounted with adhesive or mounted with four corner screws.

Notched or rounded corners are available for custom engraved plaques.  Product plaques are always flush mounted.  Individually ordered custom plaques are available with either a self adhesive backing or four corner holes.

Detail of Custom Artwork on Black Brass Plaque mounted on the inside lid of the Rosewood Captain's Desk Compass.

Most smaller products like this brass pocket compass key chain can be custom engraved in single quantities for a $10 set up fee (per engraved surface), and 40 cents per character for the first 30 characters, 20 cents per character for the 31st through 49th character, and 10 cents per character for engraving in excess of 49 characters.  View a chart of product engraving (not plaque) cost.  Engraving for small quantities is performed in-house and usually does not delay the shipment.  Most engraving orders are shipped the same business day.  For engraving and shipping status updated hourly, see the blue status banners: With a minimum order of 50 to 500 pieces (depending on the item), the text engraving is typically $3.50 each and there is a substantial discount on the product.  The cost for engraving graphics depends on the density and requires a sample of the artwork for an estimate.  Products requiring disassembly to engrave such as the sextant key chain, large telescopes, clock compass, and spirit levels are subject to an additional $3 fee.  Contact us for information on engraving or ordering large quantities.

We can also engrave your camera-ready artwork. Non-recurring artwork and set up fee is usually $25. E-mail your requirements and attach your artwork for a quotation.

We can engrave your 2-color artwork or graphic designs, and we specialize in ultra-fine line crosshatching.  We can usually ship a sample or low quantities the same day the artwork is received, as in the case of this Polished Solid Brass Large Pocket Compass.

Initials vs. Monogram
There is often confusion on the difference between initials and a monogram.  Initials abbreviate a full name in the standard order of first, middle, and last name.  For example, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's initials would be FDR.  A monogram is where the first letter of the last name is placed in the center and made larger than the other two letters.  In this way, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's monogram would be FRD.
Initials Initials and Monograms can be engraved using any font. Here are just a few examples: Monogram
When ordering initials or a monogram, simply type the three letters in the order they will be engraved (i.e. FDR for initials and FRD for a monogram), then in the special instructions section specify whether your want initials or a monogram.  If you desire a monogram, you may wish to specify that the center letter is larger for clarity.
More Personal
Initials are great where space is limited, but people identify with their full name.  When space allows, consider engraving the recipient's full name.
The Most Personal
A heartfelt message definitely creates the most memorable and cherished gift.  Don't forget the recipient's name, your name, and a date for special events.
Engraving Tips: 1. Don't over specify your engraving request.  We use the best engraving equipment and our engravers have many years of experience.  We perform some of the best work in the industry.  Usually the more a customer specifies engraving details, the worse it looks. 2. Many customers specify too many words per line.  This forces the use of a small font size and makes the engraving hard to read.  We will format it for best appearance, and we know not to break up names, company names, and dates.  3. For round or square engraving areas, the number of words per line is approximately equal to the number of lines.  On round items, the engraving area should have a round shape, with shorter first and last lines. 4. It's all right to use one font for initials or a monogram, and another for a personal message but don't mix too many fonts within a message.  One font and its italic are usually sufficient. 5. Formal Old English is fine for initials or a monogram, but never for long messages.  Don't use any of the Old English fonts for lengthy messages as they are difficult to read.  Don't use Old English Newsprint font unless you have a good reason and use it sparingly as it is very difficult to read.  If your salutation contains the word "Love," consider Fancy Cursive Script or Connective Script fonts.  If this is for business, consider Times New Roman or the italic version.  If you have a lot of text on a small item and you know the font size will be very small, use Arial font.  If you don't know which font will look best, leave the font selection for our Master Engraver who has over 30 years experience. 6. Unless otherwise specified, we center all engraving.  It is almost always a mistake to right or left justify lines, especially on a round object.  Engraved gifts should not look like business letters. Note that on the back of some brass compasses, there is a hardened steel compass pivot point on the exact center of the back of the compass.  Since we cannot engrave on hardened steel, engraving on the back of these compasses should be broken into an even number of lines to straddle the center compass pivot point.  Single lines of text and most monograms on the back of these compasses will be engraved on the top half above the compass pivot point. 7. Except for initials and monograms, never use all capitals with cursive or connective script fonts, or with any of the Old English fonts.  All capital letters in script or Old English fonts don't even look like English. 8. If you don't know if you want initials or a monogram, first consider if the recipient knows what a monogram is.  If you just learned what a monogram is today, there's a good chance the recipient doesn't know.  Monograms are more often used with older recipients.  Also, consider which results in the best symmetry: Albert A. Wilson's initials are AAW, but his monogram is AWA, which is very symmetrical.  If you decide to use a monogram, read the above instructions on ordering carefully as you need to reverse the last two letters as they would appear in the initials format.  Unless otherwise specified, three letters are assumed to be initials. Initials are usually the best and safer choice.  When in doubt, use initials as they are what most people relate to (who ever put a monogram on their lunch sack?).  9. If you have lengthy text, such as a poem or a long message, consider Times New Roman or Arial fonts.  Script fonts are more difficult to read, especially when using a small font size.  You never see a newspaper, novel, or book of poetry written in a script font. 10. Black oxidizing plaques makes the engraved letters stand out against the gold brass plaque and makes the plaque easier to read.  Artwork or logos with fine crosshatching look better without oxidizing.  Only bright brass plaques can be black oxidized, not aluminum plaques or engraved products such as brass telescopes or compasses. 11. Carefully check your grammar and spelling.  We DO NOT check spelling.  Whatever you enter in the engraving section is electronically routed to our engraving machines.  We do not retype your engraving so we cannot make typographical errors. View our suggested fonts     View all characters     Chart of Engraving Cost

Click any of the thumbnail pictures to view a larger image.

USAF Plaque

St. Joseph Foundation Compass Pocket Compass

Price Waterhouse Coopers Compass

Compass with stock flower graphics and custom text

Lord's Prayer on Pocket Compass (stock, no per character charges)

Knights of Columbus Plaque

Company Logo on Telescope

Custom Compass Rose

Custom Engraved Compact Mirror

Black Brass Plaque

Cigar Holder with custom laser engraving.

Multitool with custom laser engraving.

We can make custom compass roses for any brass compass in large quantity orders (1,000 - 10,000 pieces) at no additional cost.  For single piece or low quantity orders, we can make custom compass roses for the miniature, medium, and large pocket compasses, and the Round Gimbaled Brass Desk Compass, Gimbaled Desk Stand Compass, Directional Desk Compass, and the Three-Leg Desk Compasses.  Custom compass roses cost approximately three times the cost of normal engraving: Typically $75 - $90 each.  We also manufacture custom compasses, made to order based on your drawings.

Custom Engraved Lensatic Compass

Custom Engraved Modern Telescope

Custom Engraved Bookmark

Custom Engraved Jewelry Box

Custom Engraved Sword

Custom Engraved Monogram on Flask

Custom Engraved Logo on a Compass

Custom Engraved Lid on 3-inch Pocket Compass

Custom Engraved Brass Plaque

Custom Engraved Half Hunter Pocket Watch

Custom Engraved Inside Lid on 3-inch Pocket Compass

Custom Engraved Poem on Gold Desk Compass

Custom Engraved Bell Plaque

Custom Engraved Modern Telescope

Custom Engraved Leather Flask

Custom Engraved Brass Plaque

Custom Engraved Silver Business Card Case (multi-angle crosshatching)

Custom Engraved Logo on a Compass

Custom Engraved Emblem on 5 ounce flask

Custom Engraved 1860 Officer's Cutlass

Custom Engraved Piano Finish Clock and Thermometer Plaque

Example of a Laser Engraved Anodized Aluminum Card Case

Suggested engraving fonts & graphics (light reflection)

Suggested engraving fonts & graphics (dark reflection)

All brass plaques have a protective clear coating that prevents tarnish.  For an additional $1, the plaque can be black oxidized which turns the lettering black and greatly improves contrast and readability.  Above are photographs of the same sample plaque shown with both a light and dark reflection.  Product engraving cannot be black oxidized, as there is no protective clear coating.
We offer several Stock Graphics, as shown above and below.  When ordering Stock Graphics, place a unique character such as an asterisk in the Engraving Text box on the custom engraving order box, approximately where you want the Stock Graphic.  Then in the Special Instructions box, specify the Stock Graphic that you want engraved.  If you do not see the graphic you want, we can also engrave custom artwork.
Except for initials and monograms, never use all capitals with fancy cursive or connective script fonts.

View Fonts:

Suggested Engraving Fonts

All Characters of All Fonts

Stock Graphics

Click any of the thumbnail pictures to view a larger image.

Most of our products can be custom engraved.  You can easily select the custom engraving option when the product is ordered from the page where that item is described.  However, if you simply need a custom engraved brass or aluminum plaque, you can conveniently order it below.  Note that there is a $1 surcharge if no product is ordered, and large oversized plaques up to 10 by 12 inches (25.4 by 30.5 cm) are also available.  Black oxidizing is only available as an option for gold brass plaques and is not possible on aluminum material or black brass.  Please furnish approximate plaque size in the special instructions section when ordering.  Unless the exact plaque size is critical, it is best to give us a range of sizes for one dimension only, and we will size the other dimension to best fit the aspect ratio of your formatted engraving.  Plaques are normally supplied with self adhesive backing, however, plaques can also be ordered with four corner holes for screw mounting.  Simply mention your preference in the special instructions section on the engraving page.

Brass Plaque	Black Brass Plaque	Silver Aluminum Plaque
Black Aluminum Plaque	Blue Aluminum Plaque	Copper Aluminum Plaque
Six Plaque Materials Available

Quantity discounts are available starting at only three plaques, and custom artwork and logos can be engraved.  Contact us with questions or for more information.

Custom Engraved Self Adhesive Plaque Standard Sized; Up to 6-inches wide or tall. Specify approximate size when ordering. Select Item... Custom Engraved Brass Plaque Custom Engraved Brass Plaque with Antique Patina Finish Custom Engraved Black Brass Plaque Custom Engraved Silver Aluminum Plaque Custom Engraved Black Aluminum Plaque Custom Engraved Blue Aluminum Plaque Custom Engraved Copper Aluminum Plaque Quantity

$10 + $1 /line

Small 4" x 6" Walnut Award Plaque with Standard-Size 3" x 5" Metal Plaque Select Item... Small Walnut Award Plaque with Brass Plaque Small Walnut Award Plaque with Black Brass Plaque Quantity

$34 + $1 /line

Custom Engraved Self Adhesive Plaque Oversized; Up to 10 x 12 inches. Specify approximate size when ordering. Select Item... Oversized Custom Engraved Brass Plaque Oversized Custom Engraved Brass Plaque w/Antique Patina Oversized Custom Engraved Black Brass Plaque Oversized Custom Engraved Silver Aluminum Plaque Oversized Custom Engraved Black Aluminum Plaque Oversized Custom Engraved Blue Aluminum Plaque Oversized Custom Engraved Copper Aluminum Plaque Quantity

$19 + $1 /line

Large 9" x 12" Walnut Award Plaque with Oversized 8" x 11" Metal Plaque Select Item... Large Walnut Plaque w/ Oversized Brass Plaque Large Walnut Plaque w/ Oversized Black Brass Plaque Quantity

$54 + $1 /line

Custom Engraved Regular Sized 2-Hole Perpetual Plaque Brass or Aluminum: 2 1/2 x 7/8 inches Black Brass : 2 1/2 x 1 inches 1 - 3 lines, maximum 3 words per line Select Item... Custom Engraved Brass Perpetual Plaque Custom Engraved Aluminum Perpetual Plaque Custom Engraved Black Brass Perpetual Plaque Quantity

$10 + $1 /line

Custom Engraved Large Brass 2-Hole Perpetual Plaques 3 1/4 x 1 inches 1 - 4 lines, maximum 5 words per line Select Item... Custom Engraved Large 2-Hole Perpetual Plaque Custom Engraved Large Black 2-Hole Perpetual Plaque Quantity

$11 + $1 /line

Small Beveled Brass Plaque 2 x 3/4 inches Gold Plated and cannot be black oxidized 1 - 4 lines, maximum 5 words per line Quantity

$11 + $1/line

Large Beveled Brass Plaque 2 2/3 x 7/8 inches Gold Plated and cannot be black oxidized 1 - 4 lines, maximum 6 words per line Quantity

$12 + $1/line

Antique Rectangle Plaque 2 1/2 x 1 inches 2 lines maximum, up to 3 words per line Quantity

$12 + $1/line

Oblong Brass Plaque 3 x 1 inches 1 - 4 lines, maximum 5 words per line Quantity

$12 + $1/line

Oval Brass Plaque with Faux Screws 1 7/8 x 25/32 inches 2 lines maximum, up to 2 words per line Quantity

$12 + $1/line

One-Time Non-Recurring Custom Artwork Fee $25 plus $10 per Additional Color Separation Select Item... $25 2-Color Black-and-White Artwork (Most Common) $35 3-Color Artwork, 2 Densities of Crosshatching $45 4-Color Artwork, 3 Densities of Crosshatching $55 5-Color Artwork, 4 Densities of Crosshatching $65 6-Color Artwork, 5 Densities of Crosshatching Quantity

$25 - up

Optional Custom Engraving Proof Not usually required.  Delays shipping by 1 - 3 days Select Item... $10 Engraving Proof for Engraving Total Over $100 $25 Engraving Proof for Engraving Total Under $100 Quantity

$10 - $25

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Stanley London is a registered trademark of Castle Navigation Inc.
All Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed * Revised 5/29/2012