My Journey Continues

Continuing to learn, develop and refine my craft

I've been making jewellery for many years, but one of the things I love most about this craft is that there is always something more to learn.

The more my work has developed, the more curious I've become about traditional jewellery-making techniques, construction and the possibilities of working with precious metals. I don't want to simply keep making what I already know how to make. I want to challenge myself, strengthen my skills and continue becoming a better jeweller.

That desire to keep learning has led me to undertake a professional goldsmith apprenticeship alongside running Silver Realm.

Why an apprenticeship?

For me, this isn't about starting again. It's about building on the skills and experience I've developed over the years and giving myself the opportunity to go further.

Through my apprenticeship I'm developing a broader range of traditional jewellery-making and goldsmithing skills, learning new techniques and refining familiar ones. Some projects challenge me technically, others introduce completely new ways of working, and occasionally they make me reconsider how I might approach my own designs.

That's one of the things I find most exciting.

Every new skill becomes another possibility at the design stage.

As Silver Realm continues to evolve towards more sculptural, technically ambitious and one-of-a-kind jewellery, I want the craftsmanship behind those pieces to evolve with it.

The Studio Collection

As part of my training, I create jewellery through practical projects designed to develop particular skills and techniques.

While some of these designs originate from educational projects rather than from my own Silver Realm design work, every piece is handcrafted and finished by me, and hallmarked where required.

Rather than allowing these pieces to disappear into a box in my workshop once I've completed a project, I've created the Studio Collection.

Occasionally, selected apprenticeship pieces will become available there. Each represents a particular point in my development as a jeweller — a new technique practised, a challenge overcome or a skill refined.

They may not be original Silver Realm designs, but they are very much part of the Silver Realm story.

And they are still pieces I've spent time carefully making, finishing and bringing to life. I'd much rather see them worn and enjoyed than tucked away in my workshop.

Always learning

I don't see completing an apprenticeship as reaching a finishing line.

Jewellery making is a craft I expect to spend the rest of my life learning.

There will always be another technique to master, another problem to solve, another material to understand and another idea that makes me wonder, what if...?

That's part of what keeps me excited about sitting down at my bench.

My apprenticeship is simply the next chapter in a journey that began many years ago — and one that I hope will continue for a very long time.