Jewellery Designing

As a jewellery designer it is a constant re-evaluation of observing and experimenting with visual ideas. The area of jewellery design has taken me down many paths of ideas and concepts.

Initially I tried to design jewellery by trying to design a ring or pendant or earring etc. Over a period of years I became aware that you needed to develop an idea or a concept first, then when you have you idea evolved you then can turn it into a design for a piece of jewellery.

That has led me to design jewellery with a strong abstract direction. This simplifies my understanding
of jewellery design to curves and straight lines and
how they work together and the shapes that are formed
balance into strong design. This approach has given me great flexibility an my jewellery designing, ranging from fluid freeform jewellery designs through to very strong structured hard edged pieces of jewellery.

The important this that I have found is that there are always new combinations of lines and shapes that can combine into a new design.

Once you have this concept developed then it is relatively easy as a jeweller to see how the design can be adapted into the different pieces of jewellery.

This is where the different jewellery skills come into play, as a lot of designers don't have the technical understanding of how to make a design. Over the last 30+ years I have developed a broad range of skills. This ranges from being taught how to make traditional jewellery designs with the techniques necessary through to learning wax carving and finally hand engraving. This had led me to study traditional jewellery design and get an understanding of how a shape or a line can make the piece become timeless in its design.

All these skills keep developing in lots of different directions, from custom designing one on one for an individuals needs and incorporating their style or emotions into the jewellery design. Through being commissioned be many retail jewellers to design collections based on themes or particular gems.

Over my time designing jewellery this has led to designing pearl jewellery, white diamond jewellery, coloured diamond coloured gemstone jewellery including opals gold and platinum jewellery not including any gemstones, medallions for awards, small sculptures and even more commercial designs for Daffodil Day and Pink Ribbon Day Lapel Pins.

Whether your brief to design jewellery is based on a theme or the materials you are to use it still comes down to the fundamentals of line and shape to work in a harmonious design.

The environment you are in will always give directions or cues to the jewellery designs , and this is why it will always be new and slightly different from before. Even though design can be given rules and structure, in the end it is a emotional reaction. And this is why it is such a wonderful gift to be able to design jewellery.