Jake's Background

During my time in the space industry I worked in many different departments before getting a permanent job as a design engineer. In this time I got a rare insight for a Jeweller - being involved in a world of rocket launches, space exploration and some heavy duty industrial processes. It was an incredibly inspiring experience, seeing my work launched into space, chatting to people who worked on Mars rovers and working in the enormous anechoic chambers built to test the satellites I’d go on to design.

 

Despite my intrigue in what I was doing for my day job, the sun would go down and I would return to my workshop to spend nights and weekends crafting jewellery - creating custom pieces for customers while exploring ideas, learning techniques and experimenting with the tools in my ever growing workshop.

 

There is something particularly special about creating jewellery because the end product is beautiful and tangible - it travels with you, and it carries sentiment. An item I made over the weekend could then be worn into work. I could enjoy its tactile form and think about the meaning behind it: the enjoyment of creating it, the idea behind the piece itself, and the thought that it could last beyond my lifespan. It also sparked interest in the people I showed it to - I think because satellite design is grounded in ‘fit, form, function’, we would like to talk about something made with a completely different design philosophy. These little conversations about ‘matters that don’t matter’ were always so enjoyable and would encourage me to keep making things.

 

Living in this space with these folk had a big influence on me and my jewellery making sensibilities. I grew an appreciation for the bold shapes and structures throughout the industry, realised how important it is to have interesting things in your life, and I learned a lot about how to follow a project through to its conclusion.

 

Although I enjoyed working in engineering, the desire to pursue a career in Jewellery was ever present and eventually a time came where it felt like the right thing to do. So I took the plunge. Since then I have continued to create custom pieces for customers and friends, I’ve created my first jewellery collection which I’m continuing to nurture and grow and my research and development projects are progressing nicely and starting to bare fruit. I’ve also had the joy of working with a couple of artists and an established jewellery studio which has helped me to understand more about the industry I’m now making my home.