At Lyon & Turnbull’s auction house over the next few days there will be an exhibition of gold, silver and jewellery organised by The Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh and Lyon & Turnbull auctioneers.
From 19-20 October Elements 4 will feature items of jewellery for sale ranging from £50 to £15,000. 33 jewellery makers and 17 silversmiths will exhibit their high quality handmade pieces.
About half of the makers are Scottish including Orkney-based designer Sheila Fleet OBE who is dedicating her new collection of jewellery, made with Scottish gold, to the happy years she spent with her husband Rick.
Called Seasons, it was inspired by an autumn walk they took together at Inverewe Gardens, in Wester Ross, not long before his death from pancreatic cancer in 2013.
She said: “We were walking through the leaves that had fallen on the path. Everything was peaceful and tranquil and I looked at the light and the shadows and thought about the cycle of life.
“It’s an image that stayed with me very strongly and a while ago I decided that enough time had passed and I wanted the memories of all the fun, and the wonderful times we had together to be the inspiration for a new collection.
“That’s how I came up with the idea of Seasons – it’s a celebration of what Rick and I had together and I hope that others will enjoy it as a way to celebrate what it special to them.”
Photo : Courtney Lawler pendants from Sheila Fleet’s Seasons collection
Neil Hanna Photography
Perspectives, is curated by Rachel Sweeney, a founder of the UK-wide group Fair Luxury. She said:“When I was a student we could drink Fairtrade coffee but there was no Fairtrade gold yet you couldn’t ensure that precious metals or stones were from ethical sources.
“This exhibition shows how much things are changing and points the way ahead. Sustainability should be the third dimension of luxury for jewellery makers, alongside design and craftsmanship. While provenance is hugely important, there is no need to compromise on any aspect of quality.”
The exhibition is part of the Incorporation’s wider drive to make Scotland a world-leader in ethical jewellery making and silversmithing.Projects include collaborating with art colleges to educate students about ethical making and providing an online resource for established makers and designers.
PHOTO The exhibition curator- Rachel Sweeney wears a necklace by Dorothy Hogg made using re-cyled bike tyres.
Neil Hanna Photography
Mary Michel, Director of The Incorporation, said:“It’s always quite breathtaking to watch as the makers arrive and start putting their pieces on show.
“It’s wonderful for Edinburgh to have an annual event where visitors can enjoy so many beautiful, precious and fabulously designed pieces of gold, silver and jewellery.
“Scotland, and the rest of the UK, are rightly renowned throughout the world for the quality of their design and craftsmanship. Elements shows why. And the Perspectives exhibition absolutely underlines that beauty and fairness can go hand in hand.”
Ruth Davis, Jewellery Specialist at Lyon & Turnbull, added: “We are delighted to welcome Elements back to our saleroom for another year, and can’t wait to see the diverse range of design and craftsmanship which will be available.
“One of the real benefits of Elements is that you can talk to the craftspeople who make these fantastic pieces of jewellery and silverware, learning all about the piece you are buying before you take it home; and welcoming Perspectives to the exhibition space this year means we can learn even more about the journey a piece takes from the mine to the wearer.”
- The full list of participants can be found here: http://www.elementsfestival.co.uk/elements-festival-makers
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
