Jewellery Design | Kate Shore

New brooches

2011-07-13T04:45:00.000-07:00

A little snippet of a brooch I have been working on today. Sign up to the mailing list to find out when these will be available in the shop.

on an entirely unrelated note...

2010-04-06T04:14:00.000-07:00

This is Manisha from Nepal, who I have recently sponsored to attend school for this year. I realise this is not really jewellery related news, but I feel it is important news none the less!

My sister Amanda has recently travelled to Nepal, and upon her return to Australia has started a website and a charity that will support a Nepalese orphanage she spent most of her time at.

The website is newly launched (you can check it out here) and is currently seeking sponsors for the children to be able to attend the school this year. Amanda has done a fantastic job of raising enough money for 9 of the 12 kids, and with only 3 kids remaining any spare dollars you throw towards this great cause would be greatly appreciated! It makes me terribly sad to think of the 3 kids not yet sponsored who will not be attending, so please, take a look.

You can also check out Amanda's story and her plans for her imminent return to Nepal at the blog.

matching but not matching

2010-03-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

recycled 9ct white gold wedding rings

I finished off some recycled white gold wedding rings last week for the loviest couple I have had the pleasure of making rings for - They wanted wedding rings created using recycled materials, and they wanted their rings to be matching but not the same.

How is it March already?

2010-03-23T15:54:00.000-07:00

Sarah's fitted wedding ring

Kate, I cannot begin to thank you enough for creating a piece of jewellery that will still be as beautiful and well made in 50 years as it is now. You were so very easy to deal with throughout the process and had design ideas that I could never have imagined myself. You are one of the truly professional and talented jewellers and I will be recommending you for years to come. A million thank yous. Sarah xxx

I cannot believe how far this year has flown by! I have been so incredibly busy and have been working with some great people - come back soon for a shop update!

November in the workshop

2009-12-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

November has been a very busy month in my workshop, and I have been making some great new work. I thought I would share a couple of the pieces I have worked on lately -

One was a beautiful handmade princess cut diamond engagement ring. 9ct yellow gold with a white gold setting, 0.34ct diamond, created for a woman Kate.

Kate knew she wanted a princess cut diamond so we decided on a solid and chunky simple band that would show off the diamond.

Another piece that was lots of fun was for my friend Shonah. She wanted something to match a ring that she already has with quite detailed engraving work, so we wanted to create something that would tie in with the engraving but still be a beautiful piece on its own and not overpower.

We recycled an old antique mirror with beautiful engraving and set it into the side of the ring, to keep with the similar style of my lace ring that she had previously liked.

I always enjoy creating jewellery out of recycled and unobvious pieces. The mirror backing that we re-used was just a beautiful piece of material that otherwise would have gone to waste, but now be enjoyed again.

I enjoyed making these pieces so much and hope that both of these women enjoy wearing them!

eco jeweller

2009-11-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

For anyone interested in the impacts the jewellery industry has upon the earth, Eco Jeweller is a new(ish) blog I have recently stumbled upon, with some great discussions about these matters. It is a great site for jewellers and jewellery buyers, a wonderful resource for issues and links. The best part is that here is a site finally looking at these issues from an Australian perspective.

The most recent article posted is about "cell phone mining"...

"Thinking of throwing out your old cell phone? Think again. Maybe you should mine it first for gold, silver, copper and a host of other metals embedded in the electronics -- many of which are enjoying near-record prices.

A tonne of ore from a gold mine produces just 5 grams (0.18 ounce) of gold on average, whereas a tonne of discarded mobile phones can yield 150 grams (5.3 ounce) or more"

I thought it was a really interesting read and worth sharing, for anyone who might be interested. Head over to Eco Jeweller to read the rest.

New earrings

2009-10-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here is some of the latest earrings I have made for myself. It is not often that I spend time working on things for me to keep but I love the colour of this sea-bamboo and just couldn't bear selling these ones once I had finished! I have made another pair which are available in my shop.

Sea-bamboo is a sustainable alternative to coral. It is farmed to be used in place of coral which is under threat from climate change, pollution, overfishing and consumer demand. It is dyed red, but it is permanently coloured - it will not fade or wash out.

Read more about coral here.

sneak peak

2009-10-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

Recycled Jewellery

2009-10-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

Something that is really important to me in my jewellery practice is being able to create pieces that impact on the planet as lightly as possible. I do this in a number of ways, mainly by using recycled gold and silver. Usually I just buy this straight from a supplier, that saves the metal from old phones and such from going into landfill. Such a fantastic idea! In no way does this result in an inferior type of gold - it's exactly the same - or does this save any money, in fact it often costs more by the time to refine it, but the important thing is to reduce, reuse, recycle!! Also to avoid supporting a dirty, harmful industry. You can read more about it here or here if you are interested.

Anyway, the above piece was made recycling a customers gold and stones, and I just finished it recently and thought I might share as I think it came out pretty nice! Its using 4 rubies and 11 diamonds set around the edge which you can hardly see in this photo. I really need to get better at taking photo's!

new space

2009-10-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Time for a new space. A new place to share my work and my inspirations in relation to my jewellery making. I can't promise I will be posting here often, but it will be my new little space to keep everyone updated about what I'm working on and what I'm loving. Be sure to check back soon!