Unique Knitted Wire Jewellery

Rachel has developed her wire knitting technique over the last twenty years using colourful enamelled copper wires to produce wearable sculptured jewellery for night or day.

Rachel trained at Sir John Cass College, London seen by many as one of the best jewellery and silversmithing schools in the country. As an undergraduate she discovered small reels of colourful wires in a broken television. From that day her exploration of the material has never ceased. The copper wire Rachel knits with is lacquer coated. The lacquer is available in many colours. Rachel can knit three or four strands together at a time creating endless vibrant and subtle colour combinations.

She has an international client base and works with a fashion designer in London’s Kings Road.

Linnet’s designs for jewellery accept the fascination and limitless possibilities of melted wax poured onto various surfaces. The characteristics of each wax is viewed to realise its potential, influenced by subconscious memory and the disciplines of Ikebana. Final objects are assembled from chosen pieces to be cast in silver or gold, after which they can be further worked on, finished, polished and Hall Marked.  Original sculptures are unique, although some can be reproduced to extend the design possibilities. “The delight is always in the outcome of wax transformed into metal”, she says.

Linnet trained at Bromley College of Art in order to become a Medical Artist and subsequently worked in the Illustration Departments of Guys and Marsden Hospitals. Later she graduated from Birmingham Polytechnic School of 3D Design as an Interior Designer and joined an Architect’s Practice in London and on moving to the Midlands, she worked for another Architect’s Practice in Birmingham. The enthusiasm for making jewellery originated several years earlier during her studies at the School for 3D Design.

Flower arranging is an important art form for Linnet, both Western Style and Japanese, as she belongs to the Sogetsu School of Ikebana. Her name is pronounced in the same way as the bird. We can work with Linnet on special customer commissions. Items can be gold plated on silver. She has produced a number of letters of the alphabet which can be hung on chains, leather or ribbon to form a necklace or pendant.

Lesley is a British jeweller specialising in the use of cellulose acetate with Sterling silver. Because of its vegetable origins, the material will not provoke allergies and has a pleasant warm and silky feel.

Lesley’s passion for designing and making jewellery started in 1976 at The City Literary Institute, London, England. Since then she has continued to evolve and develop her personal style. Her inspiration comes from weathered, natural forms and sculptors of the 1950′s. The final finish of each piece is important to her as she likes the wearer to have a very tactile relationship with her work.  Each piece of Lesley Strickland’s jewellery is hand formed and very carefully finished. Over the last thirty years she has developed many new manufacturing techniques with special methods of forming, polishing and matting the acetate. Some pieces are decorated with silver piqué whilst others combine acetate forms with silver cast elements. The two guiding principles that Lesley applies to all her work are to strive for elegant simplicity and empathy with the wearer. This has enabled her to develop continuously fashionable, wearable jewellery.

Cellulose acetate is an unusual plastic as it is made from purified cellulose, with wood or cotton linters being the raw material rather than petroleum. Cotton cellulose is superior to wood cellulose and is used in high quality products such as jewellery. The vegetable oils are completely removed during cellulose purification. The solid cellulose reacts with chemicals derived from acetic acid after which it becomes a viscous and clear slurry. The final material is dissolved in acetone and cast, usually into solid colour, transparent or translucent sheets. Vegetable and mineral pigments are used to give the sheets a huge range of colours and patterns. By repeatedly cutting and laminating these sheets, many designs and patterns can be created. Lesley’s jewellery  is lightweight, durable and a delight to wear.

Much of Fiona Hutchinson’s work takes inspiration from her surroundings in the countryside. For the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee she created her English Rose collection and her sea shell collection harks back to a childhood love of collecting stones and shells on the beaches of Cornwall.

She began her journey into jewellery making in 2004 following a course with Anton Pruden at Pruden Smith’s workshops which were situated in Ditchling. She continued her creative adventure being tutored by Sarah McCrea and then Richard Collett and found that not only was silver smithing and jewellery making creative, but also extremely satisfying. Fiona realised that the ancient skills of making jewellery have not really altered over hundreds of years. She now works from her own studio developing along her own pathway.

With an abiding love of gem stones, she has taken a Diploma in Gemmology and is a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain.  Much of her work is made using the unusual coloured gem stones which give a unique personality to each piece of jewellery design and ensures that clients’ purchases are truly unique.

“RAV-Morph” is the name Roma has given to the material she uses for her jewellery. It is a group of alloys, devised through extensive experimentation with combinations of non- precious metals. The unorthodox heating process she employs subtly alters the crystalline structure of the metals to release their metallic colour array of pinks, purples, blues, bronze and gold; adding vibrant colour and texture to metal in an entirely different way. The material variously fused, forged and manipulated, creates the different layers and textures which are her personal interpretation of the natural world around her. Silver, gold and gemstones are also incorporated to enhance the sculptural storyline.

Defined by the handmade nature of the way she works – each piece is constructed and heated individually. She is constantly evolving and developing her designs so no two pieces will be entirely identical.

In year 2000 Roma moved to Cumbria, after studying the traditional skills of silver Roma Vincent works with a material called My-Morph. This is the collective name jewellery making at Sutton College of Liberal Arts – Surrey, West Dean College – Chichester, and a Foundation year at Reigate College of Art and Design.

Then followed a short stint as a blacksmith’s assistant when she started to produce sculptural metal pieces and to explore other media and disciplines. She felt liberated by the magic and breadth of her new surroundings.

Tessa studied Fine Art, painting, at Exeter College of Art and Design having already trained as a Primary school teacher. After working in schools and the theatre she started making jewellery over 25 years ago. She still teaches at the biennial Fresh Air Sculpture Exhibition, at Quenington, Gloucestershire. She feels that all these experiences count towards her style and inspiration keeping the work fresh.

Working with semi-precious stones and silver beads her approach is very much influenced by her painter’s eye; colour, weight, texture and implied movement are all considered.

Northamptonshire based artist Clare Mason grew up in the Worcestershire countryside and has always been inspired by nature. In her early 20′s she had a ‘Satori’ – a Buddhist term meaning ‘vision’ telling her to use her creative talent to inspire the world. She wanted to take the natural gifts of the earth i.e. semi precious/precious stones and fresh water pearls and create a collection of handmade designer jewellery that would be not only aesthetically pleasing but also healing to the wearer. She combines colour perfectly with shape to create what she calls ‘chaotic order jewellery’ that almost looks organic as if it grew naturally from the earth like a flower. I think you will agree she has achieved this goal as you browse through her unique and individual designs. Ranging from simple cut stones, silver and gold wire rings to elegant floating pearl necklaces, to intricate and elaborate wire necklets and tiaras with complimenting bracelets and earrings.
She started out in Camden market in London and over the past 12 years has shown work in over 20 different boutiques and galleries around the UK and Europe including Selfridges of London, Manchester and Birmingham, Jenners of Edinburgh and the Birmingham National Wedding Show.
Her work has also been used in the movie industry having had the blockbuster movie star Anne Hathaway wearing necklace, earrings and tiara in the film Ella Enchanted.

Steph enjoys the challenge and satisfaction of exploring new ideas with distinctive and unusual combinations of materials. At the moment she sees copper as “the new gold” and is creating beautiful patterns and effects with copper beads and semi precious stones.

She lives in the West Country and delights in being within a stones throw of the sea.

Inspired by love and nature Emma designs and makes beautiful jewellery in her workshop in the West of England. Her jewellery ranges are cool and elegant with a bespoke handmade feel. Designed with the wearer in mind every item is functional and comfortable as well as eye catching. Her new range this season has an art nouveau feel to it. The pine Tree Collection is an elegant and charming suite of jewellery inspired by the trees near her home.
Emma is a self taught designer, maker, jeweller and she began her jewellery business in 2004. Her work is sought after and she has created a happy and loyal client base.
Inspired by nature and childhood daydreams, Emma designs and makes beautiful pieces of jewellery which capture a sense of fairytale magic. This fairytale motif works wonderfully for brides and Emma loves the creativity involved in designing a tiara or bridal set to complement a dress or wedding theme.

Katie Gayle was born in Austria and studied Metalwork and Jewellery in Epsom School of Art and Design and did her Master’s degree at the Royal College of Art. She has been living and working in Devon since 1999 and is a member of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen. She works mainly in Silver, Gold and Platinum. All her pieces are original designs and made by hand. Great attention is given to detail and finish. Commissions are welcome.

Solange grew up in Peru and Switzerland and trained in several jewellery workshops, but is largely self-taught. She has been making jewellery since 1975. Together with her partner, the late Martin Doyle, she founded and ran the Nucleus Gallery in Glastonbury from 1979-82, showing the work of established West-Country jewellers, and in 1984 they were among the founder-members of Makers. Solange was elected to membership of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen in 1986. In 1983 Solange and Martin launched their first collection of fashion jewellery, becoming regular exhibitors at the British Designer Show, and selling their work through Harrods, Liberty and Harvey Nicholls. Their collections were exported to America, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Solange’s jewellery is abstract using traditional techniques in contemporary and minimalist designs. She works in gold and silver, with precious and semi-precious stones. She finds her inspiration in a structural approach, creating forms out of geometric shapes, exploring contrasting surface textures.

Holly trained as a jewellery designer at Loughborough and is a founding member of Makers, the longstanding craft co-operative that formerly occupied No 6 Bath Place. She would be the first to admit that she designs in different styles.In fact she’s rather proud of this. In Holly’s work you’ll find an eclectic mix of handmade jewellery, mostly silver, often highlighted with gold or semi-precious stones. We are delighted Holly continues to exhibit at Harlequin and we often work with her on customer commissions.