Ever since my fledgling Magpie days – quite a long time ago now – I’ve been captivated by enamelling in jewellery, probably subconsciously ignited by this thimble Polly made when she was a student and I was a junior at school. The colours, the light, the intricacy – everything. The idea of painting a beautiful picture with glass really caught …
When PGG started in 2007 we used, out of necessity, a lot of stones that Polly had in stock already from long ago, or we bought quite inexpensive stones to start off with till we saw how it went. Among these were some flat faceted beads of banded agate and I confess that at the time, while I did acknowledge …
Back in the day as a fledgling magpie I wore lots of silver, and now as a full grown magpie I have managed to up my game to lots of gold (very lucky me!) but it must be said that I do still love silver, and not just in jewellery but as a metal from which so much can …
This week the first ever virtual Goldsmiths’ Fair will begin, and this itself is a huge milestone in the long and illustrious history of not only the Goldsmiths’ Fair but of the Goldsmiths’ Company. It seems like a good time, then, to look at the history of the company and the Fair and see the other momentous changes it’s been …
Ever since I was a fledgling magpie I’ve loved lime green as a colour. In fact I had the walls in my first solo bedroom painted lime green and I must have been about 8, so it’s been my thing for a very long time! No surprise then that every time I go into the stock tray for something, the …
When Polly was a student training at John Cass in London the style of her work was greatlly influenced by various jewellers, the most prominet of whom was Dorrie Nossiter probably because, as a young Magpie, Polly used to play with Mum’s jewellery in which there were two pieces by this marvellous woman, and it must have made a huge …
One of the great features (and there are many to choose from!) about Polly’s jewellery is her use of semi-precious stones. They’re not always cheap by any means, but they go so perfectly with the yellow metal, and quite a plain stone can be lifted to new heights by 22ct gold. One stone that ticks all the semi-precious boxes is …
It could be considered a negetive side effect of the pandemic that hardly any gems are arriving in this country at the moment, or it could actually be viewed as a benefit… it means that we’ve been forced to really sort out our stock and find lovely things we’ve forgotten about, and make something with them. This is exactly how …
Apropos of absolutly nothing I suddenly decided I needed toe rings, so I carved a pair in wax, got them cast in silver (just to test – gold will follow depending on their success…) and then had them beautifully finished with soft edges. I slipped (forced, actually) them on to my toes and completely love them, and while all this …
When I was doing my research for ‘Hey, Pinkie!’ I came across this pot of coral beads the palest of which caught my eye – as I was thinking pink – and Polly told me it’s called ‘angel skin’. How lovely is that! She also suggested that coral would be a good subject for an article and of course she’s …
