Fellows Auctioneers Ltd

Creating your own jewellery is a hugely admirable skill which designers practice. A wide range of jewellery from renowned designers and pieces of historical interest, ranging from antiquity to modern day go under the hammer at Fellows. Furthermore, the Gemstone Sale is a timed auction ideal for those who love designing jewellery or collecting minerals. It is packed full of both precious stones such as diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, as well as many other semi-precious stones. We have been speaking to Alice Stewart, who designs her own jewellery, about what the process involves. Alice Stewart offers personal bespoke jewellery services from her leafy-garden studio in Stratford-upon-Avon. In a world surrounded by mass-produced fast fashion, Alice came to realise she wanted to create something that would be treasured for its fine craftsmanship and timeless unique style - beautiful jewellery that would last forever. Alice designs and creates each piece of handcrafted nature inspired jewellery, giving attention to every little detail.

Alice Stewart. Credit: alicestewartjewellery.com We asked Alice about some of her favourite pieces of jewellery and how she makes them. What are some of your favourites? Aside from my nature inspired collections, I offer one of a kind bespoke jewellery services where customers come to me to either redesign a heirloom piece or remodel stones from it into something that better suits their style, or to re-create an idea they have for a timeless piece of nature inspired jewellery. My favourite pieces to make are the personal bespoke commissions; unique engagement rings or special personal pieces of treasure - knowing they will go on to be loved for generations is very humbling and rewarding. - How do you make your jewellery? Each of my nature inspired pieces is hand-carved by me out of wax, then cast into precious metals. If I'm working with a customer on a personal commission sometimes they will have an idea of what they have in mind and I will work with them to create a wax 3D model which gets reviewed for any possible alterations, before we go ahead with casting it into their chosen precious metal. Working by hand when designing really allows for the tiniest details and most subtle qualities of nature to be recreated in the pieces - something I don't think you can achieve in the same way by other methods such as CAD.

Alice Stewart creates her own jewellery. Credit: alicestewartjewellery.com I have been eagerly keeping an eye out for the next gemstone auction, and I'm planning on having a good look at what treasures can be found to use in my collections. As an ethically conscious designer I love the idea of giving vintage stones a new lease of life in a piece of jewellery. In today's throwaway society it's so important to make the most of what we already have around us, rather than always looking for something new. I currently only source gemstones from reputable tradespeople that I know source them fairly and ethically, but to be re-using vintage stones minimises the mining of more new gemstones which is something I would definitely love to be doing more of! I don't tend to remodel jewellery from auction as such - but I have been involved in remodelling the gemstone at auctions into new pieces of jewellery. Along with fellow jeweller Julia Davenport, who re-created some earrings from gemstones in a previous auction, I created a statement ring in silver with a lovely turquoise gemstone (which can be seen below). This simple ring was made from sheet silver which was hand pierced and filed to create the perfect bezel setting for the stone to sit in.