Jewellery as threshold and form
I'm Ella, a UK-based jewellery designer-maker. Before establishing my practice, I worked as a lawyer, legal diplomat, and academic. I began exploring jewellery-making alongside my legal career and, in 2021, chose to focus fully on making.
I’m drawn to how jewellery can hold a moment, whether inspired by architectural thresholds, geometry, fragile natural forms, or the marks of time on a surface.
My travels often inform my work: light and views framed by ancient archways, geometric patterns and symbols woven into historic spaces, and the interplay of these forms with natural textures all feed into pieces that translate fleeting moments in tactile forms.
Core collections
My core collections explore transformation through architectural thresholds, geometry and natural forms. Each piece considers how structure can hold meaning while remaining wearable and enduring.
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Arches echo architectural thresholds with smooth polished curves suggesting passage and strength. Inspired by ancient arches marking movement from one space into another, these pieces reflect the first steps in leaving the familiar to encounter the unknown, marking moments of personal transition.
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Mandalas draw on centered, radial compositions. Across cultures, they symbolise balance and the interplay of forces within structured patterns. These intricate forms serve as quiet markers of symmetry, rhythm, and personal change, inspired by geometric patterns and symbols found in historic spaces.
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Seedpod textures are sculpted using the surfaces of poppy seedpods, preserving fragile forms in metal. They evoke dormant strength and resilience, reflecting nature's cycles of renewal and growth.
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Conceptually grounded yet made to be lived in, these collections are tactile objects designed for everyday wear, inviting touch and personal connection.
Studio work
Alongside my core collections, I develop more experimental pieces exploring raw natural textures. Fragile structures (seedpods, erosion marks, compressed structures) are translated into metal, preserving moments and forms that would otherwise vanish.
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Here, transformation becomes material rather than symbolic: surfaces shaped through time, wear and touch. Some works introduce subtle movement or kinetic elements, letting change unfold gradually through the wearer's experience.
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These pieces explore the space and tension between decay and resilience, showing how delicate forms can become durable and wearable.
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​I am also currently expanding my practice into inter-disciplinary work that combines electronics and kinetic jewellery, extending the idea of transformation into movement.
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Process
I make each piece by hand. My core collections use silver and gold, sometimes incorporating precious and semi-precious gemstones. My studio work expands into copper, bronze, brass and aluminum.
Where possible I use recycled or ethically sourced metals and gemstones. Each piece is hallmarked where required in accordance with UK standards.
I use traditional jewellery-making techniques combined with metal clay, to explore unexpected textures and forms, and to push how metal can hold both organic surface and precise structure.
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