Customizable Oakleigh/Ashbury Plaque

A piano finish plaque is a recognition award built from a wood body coated in a reflective high-gloss finish, with a separate engraving plate mounted on the face. Organizations hand it out for years-of-service milestones, retirement presentations, donor recognition and sales achievement. The engraving plate carries the personalized wording, so the plaque body stays the same across an entire award program.

A piano finish plaque reflects light like polished glass, while a matte wood plaque shows open grain texture instead. The gloss surface makes the mounted engraving plate read clearly under stage and banquet lighting, and it also shows fingerprints more readily than matte, so most buyers present the award straight from its box. Both styles hang the same way, so the real difference is surface appearance and cleaning routine.

Yes, the engraving plate carries both the wording and any logo art, including the recipient name, award title, presentation date and a short citation line. Supply the logo as a vector file so thin lines and small type stay legible at engraving size. Confirm the spelling of every name before you approve the proof, because each plate is cut individually and cannot be re-lettered afterward.

Yes, every plate is engraved separately, so a set of 20 plaques can carry 20 different names, titles and dates. Send the full name list in one file, spelled and capitalized exactly as it should appear on the plate. We proof the complete list back to you before any plate goes into production.

Production starts after you approve the engraving proof, not when the order is placed. Turnaround tracks the number of plates being engraved and how fast the proof comes back, so the confirmed ship date goes on your quote. Place the order at least two weeks before a banquet date to leave room for proof approval and transit.

Custom plaques are ordered most often for years-of-service and retirement recognition, employee-of-the-year programs, sales achievement awards, donor and sponsor recognition, board and volunteer appreciation, sports banquets, and building or scholarship dedications. Corporate HR teams, nonprofits, schools, real estate brokerages and municipal offices are the heaviest repeat buyers. Awards with a fixed annual cycle, such as a service anniversary program, usually reorder the same plaque every year.

Wipe a piano finish plaque with a dry microfiber cloth, the same way you would clean a piano lid or a glass photo frame. Avoid paper towels and ammonia-based glass sprays, which can haze or micro-scratch a gloss surface over time. Handle the plaque by its edges before presentation, since the reflective finish picks up fingerprints.

Per-unit pricing on the Oakleigh/Ashbury plaque is quoted per order rather than published as one figure, because size, color and order quantity each move the price. The larger engraving plate costs more than the smaller one, and unit cost drops as the order quantity rises. Engraving setup and the amount of copy on each plate also factor into the total, so request a quote with your quantity and wording to get exact numbers.