The Jeweller shot by Curls
photographed and designed by Nicole Faria Barbosa
Upon making a project for my thesis that focused on how people wear jewellery , I wanted to turn my lens on the other side of the coin: the makers. This on going-project will grow in time, and the number of conversations will expand with each maker that will open their doors to my camera. Presenting you Amanda Dave, East London based Jeweller, studying fine arts at CSM.
Do you consider jewlery to be a luxury good, despite being so popular among different cultures, ages, and social classes ?
Ye I’d consider it a luxury good. Even tho jewellery is worn in almost every culture, every group of people, jewellery is still a luxury good. Luxury good doesn’t always have to mean expensive. What I’m saying is that it’s a luxury in a sense that we don’t need it to live. Making jewellery is making a persons wants and desires not making their needs, so I’d say it is a luxury good.
How did you first start making jewlery ?
I got into it when I was with this guy who had made jewellery in the past. He was working on his career in fashion wholesale and I was studying my second year of fine arts. I was a fashion designer before I was a painter and all of a sudden my paintings were harassing me. Like nothing I made was what I wanted and I was doubting if I should go back to fashion or carry on doing art.
I realised one day at this guys house that his desk had jewellery wax on it and he wasn’t using it (well I hadn’t seen him use it) I asked if I could borrow some and he said yes. It started there. I was carving and learning as I went along. We went to an event as well run by his friends called cast where we sat in sketch London and carved wax rings and drank cocktails. By the end of the night I gave in two wax rings that were posted back to me three weeeks later cast in silver.
These were my first silver pieces and the magic I felt when I saw them in silver was enough to hook me in and continue making. It was the perfect combination of fashion and art that I’d been looking for.
Where do you get your inspiration from for your pieces ?
Inspiration comes from cabinets of curiosity. Bones. Abnormally grown skeletons Internal human issues like mental health spirituality Inspired by the loneliness of humans in cities
What is your relationship with jewellery, why do you wear it ?
I wear jewellery because I feel like I always have. I feel like it’s part of my identity now and I can’t leave the house without at least one ring on. I remember clutching a locket when I was younger from my birth parents and wearing it to school under my shirt.
This was an act of rebellion on my dumb school rule about no jewellery but I was trying to rebel against that rule because I felt like that necklace held part of my identity
I wear jewellery to feel powerful, put together and protected and by wearing jewellery every day. I’ve gotten used to it as part of my physical identity.
Has your cultural background influence what you look for in jewlery ?
Ye I wouldn’t wear Indian gold and I’m half Indian. Partly due to avoiding racism, partly to not be so flashy. Your face because Indian gold is expensive in comparison to silver and it does kinda scream: “I got money “.
I had a nose ring once that was a cultural thing I got for my grandma to make her happy. It’s tradition in India for women to pierce their nose when they have a period and become a woman It’s a sign to the males that we can have babies. But in Bristol at 19. I did because my white mum said no when I was 15.
How do you think you come across to others with your jewellery on ?
My jewellery is very much an extension of me as I’ve made virtually all of what I wear daily. But it’s an extension of the bits of me I want people to see. I hope people see me as confident, proud and bold, that’s the kinda armour I’ve made myself.
but it’s all about perception, I can’t guarantee how I want to be perceived and how i am perceived will be the same. Some may just see me as a weakling hiding behind her silver, who knows.
Most claim their jewellery to be their armour, what are you protecting yourself from ?
People. Honestly confidence comes with jewellery and that armour people are talking about is facts. I can wear a £5 dress or a £500 dress and feel just as comfortable and confident in both as long as I can wear my jewellery. People aren’t as confident as we think and a lot of it is about creating a persona to protect your internal life from your external life.
What is your favorite part of the process of making your jewlery ?
The most fascinating part is the transformation from brittle wax to solid metal. You can only imagine what they’re going to look like when it’s in blue wax Seeing it in silver is where it becomes magic took me.
What are your favorite projects to take on ?
I enjoy taking on projects that are based on my own work and concepts. Anything bone related, exoskeleton related, anything silver and raw that’s sculptural and has a creepy underlying tone I guess I’d be into. I also enjoy making rings for couples (cheesy I know) but the two rings I made first with this guy in sketch, we’re for him.
I called them the counterbalance rings, one person balancing another person, a soul balancing a soul, it was romantic. So I feel a lot of fulfillment making rings for couples now, I think it’s because I know how it feels to be given a piece of jewellery that someone’s made for you from love.
we decided to collaborate on a piece to celebrate the completion of my bachelor, so i come by her studio to take my measurements and have an insight into her way of doing things.
What tools do you use to work on your pieces ?
Wax Solder iron Scalpel Assortment of files and buffers Dremel hand drill Hack saws
What do you believe to be your responsability as an independent jeweller ?
My responsibility is to create unique works of art people that are able to wear daily. That’s the core of it. I romanticise it a lot more than that. A lot of the time I’m making things for people’s partners, other halves, lovers Yano. That’s when my responsibility is to make something everlasting. No one wants to receive a piece of jewellery from a loved one that mentally and physically loses value over time.
The metals I use are solid stable and time enduring, which is how my clients see their relationships with the person their commissioning me to make a piece for. It’s a bittersweet being a jewellery maker. I get to gift people objects that their loved ones will cherish and maybe even pass down to the next generation.
It’s incredible. seeing people that are in love, not only with each other, but with my work. I just wish I had jewellery that loved me aha so that I wouldn’t have to keep making myself tokens of love.
The metals I use are solid stable and time enduring, which is how my clients see their relationships with the person their commissioning me to make a piece for. It’s a bittersweet being a jewellery maker. I get to gift people objects that their loved ones will cherish and maybe even pass down to the next generation.
Special thank you to Amanda for opening up about her craft and letting me document her space.
