Craft

I find inspiration everywhere: in jewellery shops, in small online makers, in the pieces I have loved over the years, in the jewellery I see people wear. Then I design my own. I think about how I would want to bring the pearls together, and how I would want to wear them.

As much as I enjoy making, I also love making something beautiful, though not extravagant. As much as I admire all jewellery, I am drawn to the pieces that are not loud: the ones that are comfortable to wear, almost seamless, and yet still reflect the person wearing them.

I twist and turn the wire, bring the pearls together, and test each piece. Sometimes I gift them so others can tell me what they think. Then I decide which ones I love most.

I am not an expert, only a creative, making because I love the whole of it.

Choosing materials became part of the craft too. Early on, I learned that not just any materials would do. I researched what would be affordable for a beginner but still last, and that is how I arrived at 18K PVD gold over stainless steel, and 316L stainless steel.

Not every metal I found was 316L, but the ones I did source were still high-grade stainless steel, and the PVD layer helps the gold finish last far longer than ordinary electroplating.

(PVD, or Physical Vapour Deposition, is a process that bonds an ultra-thin, highly durable, corrosion-resistant coating to the metal.)

As I made more, I began to think about how to price my work and how to share it. Jewellery making was no longer the only task; I was now putting into practice the business skills I had studied at university: building a website, and creating a system to organise my materials and price my pieces fairly.

I have loved this part too, because it is also a form of creating. The business was never only about making jewellery; it became about building something larger than myself, something meaningful to share, and a way to let my little light shine.