The workshop
Romanus Aurelius is the Latin shadow of my own name — the mark I put on things I make with my hands.
I work in metal and light: a laser, sheets of black anodized aluminium, and the old engravings I have loved all my life — the Muses, the constellations, masters like Dürer and Doré.
Paper prints fade and get thrown away. A card of engraved metal lives in a wallet for decades, and the image cannot rub off, because it is burned into the metal itself.
The ledger
Every card that leaves this workshop carries its own number and my maker's mark: Fecit R.A. — “R.A. made this.”
Open numbering
There is no edition limit and no certificate. Each card simply takes the next number in the ledger, in the order it is made. No two cards ever share a number.
Nº 001 stays here
The card in the photographs is the workshop proof. It is not for sale — yours is engraved with its own number when you order it.
Your number is yours
If a card is damaged, the workshop engraves a replacement carrying the same number, and retires the damaged one in the ledger.
The film
The short film made for the design awards — the engraving, the ledger, the wax.
Before it ships, I seal each card into a black envelope with molten golden wax, the way letters were sealed when engravings were young.
Ex officina Romani Aurelii — from the workshop of Romanus Aurelius. Munich, Germany.
See the Muses
Four have left the workshop. Five are still to come.
Follow the workshop
Five Muses are still to come. Until the letter is ready, the shop announces each one as it leaves the workshop.