Magical & Whimsical Jewellery With Manom Jewellery

How did you learn jewellery making and do you have any top tips for beginners wanting to try the craft?

Particularly for silversmithing, I was lucky enough to learn everything to start with by working at Alex Monroe Jewellery, where I’ve been for the last 12 years, starting from an internship. Working with other skilled jewellers is such a great treat too. We always share little tips and useful knowledge.

But more than anything, experimenting is a massive part of learning for me. I’m never very good at being in a "class’’ (my brain gets frozen when I try to read the textbook or am verbally told things) so the only way for me to learn is to have a go. Have a go, analyse the result and repeat until I get it. I enjoy working things out / problem solving, and when you finally learn one thing then that skill opens up 10 different ideas of things to make which is such a great and exciting feeling (sometimes almost overwhelming!). Loads of late night crafting / practice was involved too.

So I guess the top tip from me would be to just have a go making anything you get excited to think about. Imagine how great this thing will be when you finish it (doesn't matter if it’s actually turned out great or not) and if you make a start once, and if you don’t stop, I believe you’ll get there sometime!

Also, when I have absolutely no idea where to start, I watch Youtube videos. There are so many generous people sharing their great knowledge & skills. I get the general idea of it and then start my favourite part of ‘’have a go and work out, then practice’’. Probably not the quickest way but seems to be working for me.   

"Each piece has different stories behind it and I feel very grateful to make them to be loved by the owner and be a part of their life story..."

"This is jewellery for you to daydream with. I’d like my pieces to be a little trigger for people to feel a magical moment to pause, smile and be drawn to this tiny miniature world..."

Your illustrations are beautiful, tell us more about your design process!

Ah that’s so amazing to hear! Thank you! I’m a completely different person when it comes to talking about my illustrations. I never have an idea what I’m doing like I do when I make jewellery. There are loads and loads of rubbing-out involved.

I usually (at least I feel like) have a clear vision of what I’d want to draw / how each element will look. Even quite specifically to the details. They all live in my brain before I start drawing. If it’s a character I know what she looks like, what she wears or hair colour, what her personality is like. If it’s scenery, I know how they look, what exists where etc… those things would’ve been pre-imagined to the detail in my brain before I start drawing, so my design process is more just transferring what I see in my mind exactly onto the paper and confirming if it looks correct. There are loads of frustrating moments when I know how exactly they should look but my drawing skill isn’t quite enough to express it. To help capture the detail, I’d have to study each element a lot, ideally seeing them in real life but also google images are very helpful.

As much as I LOVE drawing since being a child, as I mentioned above I feel like I’m still discovering my ''aesthetic’’. Perhaps I haven’t found my chemistry area yet. Those 3 things I mentioned before – what I’m in love with (in terms of seeing other artists work), the style that naturally comes from me, and also the skill – those 3 things are still floating separately in the air.

However I am very much enjoying the process, and in my drawing journey there is more to try, more to discover, more to learn.

I recently finished my first story book, and I was so so so happy to be able to finally share my imagined forest and characters with other people with some visual content. No matter how I feel about my drawing quality, this has been one very exciting way to share the story and make my imaginary world to be in a more solid place.

What was your experience like launching a website?

It was a very important moment. I was always making my original jewellery alongside of a full time job and my jewellery range grew very organically. But after 10 years it seemed to be a good time to put it all together in one place to showcase, and that’s how Manom Jewellery officially started.

"My favourite is when people say my jewellery reminds them of something from childhood - a little trinket or something precious for them and I always love listening about it..."

You outsource casting and gold plating, is this something you’d recommend to other jewellers?

It would be depending on what your pieces are like, and what the format of your business is (are they one off pieces? or bulk produced pieces or work on commission etc).

It suits to my production so personally the answer will be yes. They are the pro. They know what they do and manage to do such a fine job. Because my work is so intricate, it is very important to work with the caster I trust and know that they can make reliable moulds and cut the mould in half in the most magical way (honestly, mould cutters, you have all my respect!). Same goes for plating. Happy to leave that to its professionals, and I’m just the happiest when I work on my little bench.

Also to add for gold plating. I work with D&M jewellery who is certified to use Fairmined gold for plating. I am also a certified brand by the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM). I was really happy to switch my gold plating to Fairmined Gold last year. It’s really important for me to know that the people mining are paid fairly, are in a safe working condition, and that there are no sad scandals to be found there. Also they're making a great effort for protecting the environment too. Switching to Fairmined gold and working with ARM allowed me to have great transparency also – I can track back all the way and know exactly where the gold that I use comes from and who mined it. And particularly with this mine, they are managing to operate the process without using mercury which is amazing.

Are there any techniques you’d like to try in the future?

I’d love to enamel! I did a day course that completely overwhelmed me and almost made me to be shy to it. I use cold enamel for my pieces which has a good effect and I’m happy with the outcome but oh imagine if I can do a real enamel to create a beautiful night sky in my locket! Also wax carving. I have a few ideas that I want to explore by using this technique and then casting. Alway too much ideas and too little time! Gold or silver? Gold! Or combo!

What steps do you take to be an eco-friendly jeweller?

Steps that have been made:

As talked about above, one of the biggest changes has been switching to Fairmind gold for my gold-plating, which I’m really happy about! Additionally most of the silver I use is recycled, and any scraps / dust etc will also then be sent for recycling again. (But this is a common procedure in the jewellery industry for all of its history).

Other than the metal side, my studio is run with green gas and electricity (from Bulb). Also I hate throwing things away so I keep everything for potential future use – and usually it comes in handy for something later! I make my jewellery to last for years or over generations even. And I am here for any re-conditioning / repairing. I’d like to think that my pieces are existing outside of the trend / boom cycle, so there will be no going too out-dated. Packaging as mentioned earlier is mostly recyclable (apart from the foam insert – on my list to upgrade soon!). And I’m a part of the Ecologi community, so every month the business donates to plant some trees, in the UK and other countries, and also to carbon offset projects to reduce carbon pollution.

Steps I’d like to make:

My pieces are mainly made to order which is known to be eco friendly but actually I’d like to work on carrying some stock for all the pieces, but small amount when I can afford, so I don’t need to order materials as frequently to reduce postings. Some gemstones I use don’t always have 100% transparency available for its origin or production. I’d love to spend some time exploring the options and switch them to more traceable alternatives and to make sure it’s ethically sourced. I’m working at the moment on some of my items to be available in 9ct Fairmined gold. I’m still on a big learning curve and so I’d love to hear more about what others do too. I’m sure there will be things I haven’t thought of! 

"One day I hope all of the things I make whether it’s jewellery or not, all comes together to tell magical and strange fairytales..."

What do you see in the future for Manom Jewellery?

Eek, I don’t actually know. My brain is full of ideas and excitement for things that I’d like to make but I don’t necessarily know where those things will take me.

When I have side things going on that isn’t jewellery I use the label "Manom Creations". I’d like to see those two labels coming together more. Jewellery is one of my tools to express my mind (most favorite tool!). But it’s always the stories, which are the core of my creations, that I want to share and translate into experiences I can provide.

It must sound like such a bad example of ''business planning’’, but seems like I am only just having a go with things I’d like to create one by one from a huge list, there is no clear vision / goal I’m aiming towards for the future. I also know that things take time especially with me because I’m such a wobbly snail.

But one day I hope all of the things I make whether it’s jewellery or not, all comes together to tell magical and strange fairytales. And it would be so amazing if my creations somehow re-call or enhance everyones imagination, and create connections between people’s hearts. 

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