Charles de Temple (1929-Unknown)

Charles de Temple was a British sculptor and jewelry designer. Reputedly the son of famed American silent movie cowboy actor Tom Mix, Charles de Temple was said to have been born in a traveling circus in Mexico in 1929. At age 14, de Temple fled to America where he learned gold smithing, jewelry design and sculpting. De Temple moved to Europe in 1959, finally settling in London. After a brief career as an actor in the late 1950s and early 1960s, De Temple began his career as a fine jeweler. He became one of Londo’s most stylish and creative jewlers. His work is recognized by the way he encased individual pearls, amethysts, and lapis beads in handmade mantles made of organically shaped, textured gold.

De Temple is known as the maker of the original gold finger, for the James Bond movie, Goldfinger. He also made jewelry for other Bond films including The Man with the Golden Gun and the wedding ring for James Bond in On her Majesty’s Secret Service.

An example of de Temple’s work resides in the public collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Read more about Charles de Temple and his contemporaries in our catalog, London Originals, available for sale here.