By Paula Fischer-Fodor
With sustainability gaining traction, people are turning to handmade crafts – jewellery in particular. This helps support local businesses and minimises the impact that mass producing jewellery inflicts on the environment. Read on for a few brands excelling in the world of handmade jewellery.
For the minimalism lovers: Ola Gray Jewellery
“I started Ola Gray as a way of pursuing one of my passions, jewellery making, that I discovered when I was younger,” said Gwen Richards, 42, jewellery designer-maker and owner of Ola Gray Jewellery.
Gwen got a taste of jewellery making back in high school, during a class in fabricating silver jewellery. Later on, she was looking for a career change. She wanted something that would offer her a better work/life balance and creating jewellery seemed like the perfect fit. She started working from a small home studio, based in Deptford, London.
“I love the creative process and seeing customers wearing my finished pieces,” said Gwen.
Ola Gray Jewellery is inspired by nature and Gwen does all she can to source durable and eco-friendly materials for the pieces she creates. She works mostly with recycled silver and natural gemstones, experimenting with different materials from time to time.
“At the moment I am working on some designs in gold vermeil that customers have been requesting,” said Gwen.
Looking at trends for this season, Gwen recommends classic pieces that go perfectly with event wear.
“I always recommend versatile pieces that can work for both casual wear or going out, like my Keshi pearl earrings. Pearls have made a huge comeback and it’s hard not to love them. I think it’s better to invest in pieces that you love and will wear over and over again,” added Gwen.
Jewellery is currently being mass-produced by fast fashion brands to be consumed a few times instead of being more durable. The cost of making handmade jewellery does exceed mass-produced jewellery costs, but they are made to last longer and to give value for money. Gwen also stresses the need for more handmade brands now more than ever.
“We’re living in a fast fashion boom and consumers need to understand the true cost of making an item. Learning how an item of clothing or jewellery is made and who made it can lead to a greater appreciation of the craft and the time that goes into it,” said Gwen.
“If we purchase items that are local, well-made and designed to be worn through many seasons we will purchase less and reduce our environmental impact.”
Dreamy gemstones: Rhea Art Jewellery
“Rhea Art Jewellery was born out of a great passion for gemstones,” said Reta Iovu, 51, handmade jewellery artist.
Reta started making jewellery from polymer clay just last year, near the end of summer, with the encouragement of a friend. She started browsing the internet for techniques and accessories for earrings and her partner came across a website that was selling semi-precious stones.
“Semi-precious stones have been an old passion of mine and my partner insisted we should buy some. I didn’t want to because they were expensive, but little wonders of beads made of amethyst, rose quartz, agate crystals… But I couldn’t resist!” she recalls.
“When they finally came, I was so fascinated with them for two weeks, but I had no clue what to create with them. But one day I just sat down at my work bench and decided to make jewellery. When I started working on them it felt like I have been doing it for a lifetime. And that is how Rhea Art Deco, my old hobby back in Romania, transformed into Rhea Art Jewellery since October 2022,” said Reta.
Reta considers herself a debutante in the handmade jewellery market. But since she started making jewellery, she saw her hobby picking up steam in a very short amount of time. For her, handmade pieces are an expression of creativity.
“A manually crafted piece of jewellery can become a very valuable item for the person wearing it. It makes you feel like you found yourself, that you are unique. That someone thought of you in secret and created something tailored to you specifically, because you are special,” added Reta.
Talking about sustainability, Reta encourages more big brands to look for smaller handmade studios in order to create a balance between the different markets and ultimately fix the division.
“Sustainability is a really generous concept and really complicated on my side. But I do think that there should be more handmade artists in this industry. The handmade market is really vast as there are a lot of creators that do lots of amazing things. However, they are not promoted and supported enough,” said Reta.
Beaded magic: BellamLondon
“I always loved craft and making things and I realised there is a market. Making jewellery is a creative outlet for me,” said Randi Hjelmstad, 53, owner of BellamLondon.
The business came alive during lockdown, period that unleashed the creative spirit and gave way to a lot of successful businesses. Randi started making colourful jewellery by playing around with colours and different stones.
Beaded jewellery rose to popularity with the comeback of Y2K last year, sending everyone into a DIY craze. A lot of people joined the trend and opened businesses, the #beadedjewelry hashtag on TikTok surpassing 983 Million views.
This season speaks colourful tones and playful jewellery is a must-have. Randi has recently added items to her collections and she recommends the new candy colour pieces for this season.
Randi suggested that there has been more support to people with small businesses.
“A lot of customers like the fact that the jewellery is handmade. I do think customers are more aware of supporting people with small businesses.”
Traditional Classics: St Erasmus Jewelry
Traditional classic is dominating this season in fashion so if you’re looking for a splash of glamorous vintage, St Erasmus Jewelry is your go-to place.
“Earrings, big and bold are the trend this season,” said Pieter Erasmus, 47, entrepreneur and designer-maker of St Erasmus Jewellery.
Pieter studied fine arts and his first job was with Erickson Beamon in London. There, he learned that everything can be used to create a gorgeous piece of fashion jewellery.
“Fashion jewellery is the fine art of fashion. All about design, texture and composition.”
Founded by Pieter in 2004, the brand has a long-standing reputation on the handmade market. It combines traditional techniques with contemporary designs and creates a cross-cultural window between African and Indian heritage, transforming simple designs into precious pieces.
Pieter’s pieces have been worn by celebrities around the globe, such as Alexandra Burke, Michele Obama and Priyanka Chopra.
Pieter strives to be sustainable, and highlighted the need for consumer behaviour to change.
“Instead of a commodity, I feel people are looking for items that are special, handcrafted and stuff to treasure instead of just consume,” he said.
“That goes had in hand with avoiding feeling guilty when you purchase an item, it must have some sense of sustainability, be it in the materials or a craft, a way of life.”
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