Want something truly special for your wedding rings? Textured like beautiful tree bark, this eye-catching set of wedding bands from Christchurch jeweller Sophie Divett is made from sterling silver, and the smaller band is set with a Ceylon sapphire.
Lovingly crafted from native New Zealand timbers and finished with silk thread, the Wooden Arch Necklace from Gwyneth Hulse Design is a stylish, elegant, and contemporary accent to your outfit.
Hana Makin began her jewellery-making journey in England, but now produces her pieces from her home beside beautiful Petone Beach. Inspired by this and the nearby Zealandia Sanctuary, her work features our fauna and landscape prominently (and in the case of the landscape, literally – small found items often make their way into her work). She’s inspired by found things, natural things and old things, and she loves handcrafting her Hana Made Jewellery in her workshop by the sea.
“Oftentimes I will simply work with an idea and let the creativity come to me as I make the piece. For me this part of what I do isn’t work. This is absolute joy! I love being in the studio working on new pieces.” One of the things we love about the jewellery of Sonia Thérèse is the stories she tells.
Motueka-based sculptor Nicholas Duval-Smith makes eye-catching bronze sculptures from Oamaru stone originals. His work reflects his love of clean lines, textural contrasts, narrative, and art that can be played with. He has also recently returned to working with ceramics, producing a range of unique, personality-filled porcelain portrait brooches.
Sally Herbert of HerbertandWilks Jewellery is a designer and maker of contemporary mixed metal jewellery. While first being captivated by the sculptural properties of cast glass and the lost wax process, she fell in love with jewellery making early on. She considers the medium similar – only on a smaller scale. Her pieces are modern and sculptural, with an emphasis on surface and texture.
This stunningly delicate flower implosion pendant is the work of Waikato glass lampworker Bobbie Pene, and it takes our breath away.
We love this sweet hand engraved peach sapphire and rhodolite garnet rosebud ring by Canterbury jeweller Adele Stewart. Says Adele: “They are all different as I engrave each one by eye. I love engraving with a graver – the process, the simplicity, the skill and the result. You just can’t get that bright sparkle and hand crafted feel with laser cut or cast or roll printing techniques.”
Jewellery maker Anna Quartly of Pigeon Thomas says that the inspiration for her work comes from living off-grid and self sufficiently. With the beautiful natural vista of Kahurangi National Park visible from her Golden Bay/Mohua home, she finds she is able to stay focused on what is important. She loves to create pieces that are special – one of a kind – working with natural materials that are simple, pure, and renewable.
Eiko Kawaguchi of Studio A & Co lives and works in Waikuku, North Canterbury, her home for the last seventeen years. From her studio in a heritage mill complex she creates stunning, ethereal jewellery and tablewares in heat resistant borosilicate glass. Her love of glass as a material, and the lampworking method, shines through in her unique, delicate creations.