We have moved to our lovely new website,

www.gillwingjewellery.co.uk

Her you will find an ever changing array of delicious designs.

Currently we are loving new pieces in by Tanja Ufer, Syann Van Niftrick, William Cheshire and Josef Koppmann.

Opalescent blown glass eggs, Capricious carved nut lockets, Ethically sourced sculptural silver and Baroque beauties. Just some of the tempting Earthly Treasures at Gill Wing this season.

Marianne Anderson Inspired by the history of ornament, Marianne Anderson’s jewellery presents a considered exploration of traditional ornamental forms and a refreshingly original interpretation of the decorative.

Working within a restrained palette of oxidised silver, 18ct gold, red garnets and white pearls, she creates luxurious and wearable collections that skilfully reference the human fascination with adornment.

“My interest is rooted in how we learn and draw from the past and return frequently to designs, motifs and patterns of historic and symbolic significance. By purposefully engaging with the past, my aim is to highlight the importance of ornament in a modern context. Far from superfluous, ornament has always had its own vocabulary and meaning and I try to engage with this through my work.”

Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Marianne exhibits and sells internationally.

Alena  Asenbryl creates cobweb delicate pieces using hand dyed plastic that is sliced and carved in to bright shards. Her inventive nature has allowed her to exploit the essence of the materials to transform the ordinary in to extraordinary. Her rich colour palette uses vibrant and flattering shades of green, teal and black. She graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2004. Her work has been featured in ‘The Sunday Times’ ‘The Observer’ and ‘The Independent’. Alena currently works from her studio in the Manchester Craft and Design Centre.

For Islington based Ute Decker each object carries a meaning beyond its functional use. Her ethos is influenced by the ancient Japanese philosophy of wabi sabi: as the silence between notes in music is vital, so does the harmony between the created form and the empty space within magnify the intensity of expression in Ute’s sculptural work.

Serene beauty requires discipline, not ostensible splendour – or even perfection. By leaving small marks of the work-process of bending, forming and joining the hand-made quality of crafting remains visible as a humble recognition of our human flaws and imperfections.

Ute is an artist-maker who cares about every aspect of her craft including the materials she uses. Actively engaged in campaigning for ethical ‘good practice’ from mine to jewellery-box, Ute is striving to apply the most sustainable studio practices, using recycled silver and packaging materials, and substituting traditional toxic resins with bio-resins derived from sunflowers.

Her work has been featured in the Financial Times where they named her ‘the architectural jeweller’ and she was tipped in the hot 100 awards as Britain’s most inspirational designer of the year. Ute manipulates the silver in a svelte and sculptural style. Her pure methodology of working the metal reignites the beauty of the material.

Lynne Maclachlan interests lie in harnessing digital technologies and rapid prototyping alongside traditional craft techniques as a method of creating innovative and exciting forms for contemporary design. Lynne’s fusion of processes can be attributed to her previous incarnation as a graduate in Aeronautical Engineering. Radiant pearls are entrapped by architectural silver structures reminiscent of futuristic landscapes.

Lynne graduated from the Royal College of Art this year and has set up her studio in London. She is the recipient of many awards for her designs including the Gil Packard postgraduate Bursary from the Goldsmiths Craft and Design council.

Kim Gillson presents a collection of bold oversized paper beads in primary pigments. She graduated this year from Manchester Metropolitan University and her fresh designs captured our attention at New Designers in Islington.

‘Taking my inspiration from repeat forms, I create refined wearable pieces from a material underrated in its common use – paper. Having explored many types of paper manipulation I found myself particularly inspired by quilling, the traditional art of paper coiling. I became in awe of what an impact such a simple process of coiling a small strip of paper could have when displayed on mass. I experimented with coiling different types of paper and became particularly interested in using corrugated paper as this gave me structure and versatility when coiled.

‘Paper to me is a seemingly everyday material and by using it in new ways, combined with a traditional technique, I feel that my work shows how versatile paper can actually be.’

Rowena Murray’s eclectic jewels include capricious carved nut lockets and girls on pearls. We are delighted to be showing her collection following her successful graduation from the Royal College of Art.

I’m a jeweller, from a craft background, with a bit of luxury & watch design experience thrown in for good measure. These different aspects I like to channel into jewellery and objects that appeal to those from different walks of life.

My work focuses on the qualities of materials and how they act as a communicative device. ‘Materials’ here is a loose term for anything which can become something else. Whether it’s to evoke a memory, an object, a time or a place, each piece has its own story to tell; its own inner world.

I’ve recently finished the jewellery MA course (GSM&J) at the Royal College of Art in London, graduating this year. Now I’m based in my own studio continuing the journey I started there.

Charlotte Valkeniers has spent time studying jewellery design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and then worked towards her BA Honours at Buckinghamshire New University. We discovered her whilst she was exhibiting at this year’s New Designers show in Islington.

She mimics the beauty of biology with her opalescent blown glass jewel eggs. She translates the delicate qualities of glass and translucency of silicone to represent the structures of new life. In contrast her tiny silver sperm necklaces wiggle cheekily on dainty silver chains.

Ruby Browning is an innovative new brand in the world of statement jewellery, launching with this first full collection entitled “Natural Symmetry”.

Inspired by organic forms and bird motifs, the collection includes collars, bracelets, headbands and coat brooches. Uniquely crafted entirely from leather, Ruby combines opulent patent frames with the finest gloving leather; luxurious to touch, each piece is as enjoyable to wear as it is to look at. Ruby’s experience as a buyer in the fashion industry is evident in her enviable eye for colour. All of the pieces come in a sumptuous range of jewel hues. They are soon to be the stylists favourite so get it while it’s hot!

We found Lydia’s work at ‘Treasure’ which was part of London Jewellery Week. For me her designs were some of the best on display. Subtle beauty. We have had a great response to the brooches so far, they have brought intrigued customers in to the gallery.

Working directly from her own photographic explorations and intuitive visual compositions, Lydia has explored the concept of contrasting elements. Working with materials including, silver and enamel Lydia has focused on experiments with surface pattern. She has produced a collection of wearable and non-wearable pieces, challenging in their composition that stimulate an emotional interaction with the viewer and wearer. Echoing references to time and nature whilst combining a modern clean aesthetic, this collection Chaos &Calm brings together contrasting elements illustrating a harmony between chaos and calm, new and old and silence and noise. Inspired by her research into chaos theory:

‘the underlining order in some of nature’s most random processes’

The techniques used in this collection are potentially chaotic but the results are inherently calm. Each piece is unique as a result of the carefully controlled but ultimately random outcome capturing chaos and calm and moments in between.

“I see these pieces as small scale installations presented in a gallery context with some pieces possessing the capacity to be worn.”

Earrings from this collection start at £65. But who could put a price on serenity?

Daniele Geargeoura’s is an award winning designer with two BA honors degrees under her belt  in graphic design and jewellery. Daniele creates bold, three dimensional forms which evolve from the deconstruction and asymetric juxtaposition of geometric shapes. Daniele also adopts a playful approach to her work through magnetic fastenings and kinetic movements.

Since leaving the Royal College of Art in 2002 Sarah has developed the collection mixing opaque and translucent, solid and speckled colours.  Her  innovative technique means that no two are ever quite the same. As art mimics nature they are often mistaken for agate slices.

The ‘Dust Collection’ comprises of a wide selection of earrings. Also featured are necklaces with magentic catches which lay flat against the skin, pendants, brooches, and ‘wrap’ bangles where colours merge from one to another. We are currently displaying the collection in our window where the light floods through the pieces like stained glass.

Rita Baek has created a new range of stunning serene jewellery using nylon mesh. The pieces are hand dyed in a range of sophisticated nude pinks, muted greens and indigo. The mesh is flexible and tactile.

Here at Gill Wing we love pearls, but are not really twin set and pearls kinda girls. So any new jewels that do pearls with a twist are appreciated. Necklaces feature faux pearls that can be twisted and knotted to adjust the length to suit your style. More pictures to follow.

Another wonderful thing about this range is it is easy on the eyes and easy on the wallet, with rings starting at just £20.

Deborah Meaden self made millionaire entrepeneur wearing jewellery from Gill Wing! Watch out for Deborah on this series of Dragons Den wearing an exquisitely carved Jet and Swarovski ring and Jet Swarovski and 18ct gold necklace by our very own Jaqueline Cullen.

Jacqueline is the only artist that we know of to use Jet in a contemporary way. She plays on the natural beauty of the material, emphasising the crevices and cracks with granules of gold and twinkling ebony crystals. Her skill is to contrast the rough with the smooth as other areas of the jet are sanded and polished to feel like silk.

Jet is a prehistoric black fossilised wood. The trend for wearing jet jewellery was started by queen Victoria when she went into mourning for her consort, prince Albert. It became incredibly popular during Victorian times and it was mined from the rock. Jet has now become very rare, rough samples can still be found washed up by the tide or encased in the cliff face in the coastal area surrounding Whitby in North Yorkshire.

‘I have developed innovative processes and formats that celebrate rather than disguise the inherent qualities of Whitby jet allowing the natural beauty of the material to speak for itself removed from connotations of death, grief and morbidity. Responding to the rarity of the material, I hand-build collars and pendants by pegging and joining small sections of jet lined with 24ct leaving delicate threads of gold running through the finished objects tracing the breaks and joins. I am inspired by dramatic acts of nature, a placid sky ripped open by a violent storm, a volcano erupting, a cliff edge left jagged from erosion. Hiatuses inform my aesthetics and the interruption or breaking up of a bold, fluid form is central to my work where fractures, fissures and crevices are highlighted by an encrustation of textured fine gold, tiny crystals or glittering black diamonds.’

‘With the lightweight quality of Whitby jet allowing pieces to remain infinitely wearable, my contemporary collections continue to blur the boundaries between jewellery, art and sculpture and I remain committed to introducing this ancient and sensual material to a contemporary audience.’

If you would like to see more of Jacquelines work come and visit us soon!

We will be tuning in to Dragons Den on Mondays at 9pm BBC Two to watch Deborah.

Watch it!

The evening was a great success as we welcomed our loyal customers to join us for a secret garden party. We were lucky enough to have several of the designers from Menagerie on hand to answer curious questions.

All of our customers really enjoyed the show. One customer was even kind enough to bring us a thank you card the following day to tell us how much she liked it.

Although London Jewellery Weeek is over our show runs until the 30th so hurry down if you have not seen us yet!

Also you can read a review of the show by up and coming fashionista Katie Wright on behalf of Style My Wardrobe!

http://stylemywardrobe.com/2010/06/a-menagerie-of-jewellery/

Thanks for coming Katie!

Menagerie- A diverse showcase of intriguing jewels. Woven silver and feathered fronds, insect cameos, fluid silver, runaway gems and jewellery anarchy.

Frances Wadsworth Jones transports us into her playful world where tiny ants become mischievous jewel thieves.

A love of the paradoxical and a fascination with the miniature are the driving forces behind Frances creations. Through painstaking attention to the smallest details, I fashion pieces that surprise and delight the inquisitive eye, minute worlds that you can wear on your finger or your jacket. Her ‘Thieves’ series featuring a veritable ant circus will be on display for the first time in Gill Wing Jewellery.

Milena Kovanovic creates sleek undulating forms that contrast the ambiguous with the familiar. The Serbian born designer graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2006. Her highly acclaimed pieces have received numerous commissions and press, following the launch of her own label.



We have chosen her newest collection Cirrhus for its tendril like qualities. Her unique and plasmic forms coil around the wrist like a living entity. Her stunning collections epitomise style, originality and opulence.

Marta Mattsson’s collection transforms strange materials like calfskin and squashed bugs into grotesquely beautiful objects preserved for posteriority.

As Marta said “Somebody once told me, ”You make jewellery for children, not for adults”. And when I was a student in Tokyo the Japanese students in my class came up with a new word to describe my work. The word was KimoKawaii and it’s a combination of two words kawaii (cute) and kimoi (disgusting).

I make jewellery for adults but with a touch of inspiration from my childhood. When I was a child I played with stuffed animals, slugs and other living animals. I have always been drawn to both biology and art and in my work I am trying to combine my interests. Nature is a great source of inspiration but so is Pokemon…”

We have the privilege of showing pieces from her collection following her success this year in completing her masters at the Royal College of Art. Including delicate lace bows carved from calf skin and goat skin. (pictured above)

Sarah Keay crochets silver wire, filament and acetate into colourful sub aquatic creations with feathered fronds. Her creative practice is heavily influenced by botanical elements. They are recreated and fragmented by units constructed from filament, precious beads, swarovski crystals, found objects, suspended by enamel.  The repetitive techniques used in the production of the pieces are mirrored in natural structures: tree branches, lacewing eggs, sea anemones.The pieces are designed to allure and capture the wearer using movement and colour, whilst exploring the boundaries between jewellery, textiles and sculpture.
Utilisation of unconventional mixed media, alongside ancient techniques such as bobbin knitting, allows her jewellery to continually develop and diversify, whilst also questioning the traditional roles of jewellery and its perceptions. We will be showing a series of her beautiful bangles.

Timothy information Ltd presents a miniature demonstration. His playful contraptions invite interaction.

“In an unknown place, at an unknown time, on an unknown day, in an unknown year, a demonstration is taking part. The usual cast of characters are there, the battle worn, the naïve, the angry, those carrying agendas, the confused and the passengers. Each badge in ‘demonstration 2′ portrays someone involved on that day. Some are the demonstrators, some the police, some are the stewards and some are just people caught up in the proceedings. The badges reflect the feelings, thoughts, beliefs and observations of some of the players during that eventful day.”

Timothy Carson

Timothy Information Ltd will be showing a curious collection of brooches that are thought provoking and surprising. We were charmed by his tiny tapping hammer brooch.

Featuring our newest Designers;

Abigail Percy delicately pierced silhouette’s of botannicals bring understated elegance to the showcase. She handcarves flowers from faux ivory and combines them with smoky quartz and large sumptuous pearls. Abigail is a keen blogger and more can be found about her here.

Anke Hennig developed her own technique of weaving nylon filament whilst studying textiles in Germany. As her creations became more sculptural she decided to turn her hand to jewellery making with dramatic results. She weaves and twists the filament in to spring like neckpieces and spongy brooches.  Her colour palette is muted spring greens, dove grey and pillar box red.

Rita Baek looks to the sky for inspiration and cleverly transforms acrylic in to vaporous cloud necklaces. Clear plastic is sculpted in to optical shapes that waver between opaque and transparent. One of our favourite pieces revolutionises acetate in to a thing of beauty. Rita creates light reflecting contours of plastic, that hang ‘light as a feather’ from 18ct gold ear wires.

John Moore has bestowed us with his Elytra range inspired by beetle wings. His anodised aluminium forms emphasise the materials potential for colour.

Stephanie Johnson forges peaceful forms from sterling silver using silversmithing techniques. The metal is manipulated into pleats, curls and waves. Her studio is based in Cornwall and the patterns and forms found in the surrounding landscape are echoed within her style.

Tusheeta David takes us on a flight of fantasy with her veiled existence range of laser etched plastic jewellery. Huge acrylic butterfly rings alight on the finger, but look more closely and the delicate capillaries of the lungs are traced in to hand dyed plastic. Strange but beautiful.

Melanie Tomlinson is renowned for her vibrant illustrated moth, butterfly and bird brooches. Crafted from printed tin and stamped with the makers name.

Amy Wilkinson fashions pretty rosebuds from paper. Her blossoms are hand painted with indian inks in plum, ruby red and opulent black. They are crafted into earrings and delicate silver chain necklaces.

The manager and buyer of Gill Wing Jewellery, Sarah Collins was interviewed this month for an online fashion magazine;

ukadapta.com

‘UK Adapta was formed in September 2005 by two people wanting to express their love and amazement for this eccentric, constantly evolving city and surrounding land. It was only a matter of time before like-minded people gathered to produce a serious yet fun platform?to observe, analyze, and praise?this unique,?self-reinventing lifestyle. Currently, the gathering has grown to ten people covering aspects that make London the most exciting place in the world, in our humble opinion…’

Have a read of the article here.

We have a very special Valentines window created by Jessica De Lotz.

Her unique treasures are shown alongside some of the vintage finds that have inspired her collection ‘A Love Story in Paris’  Let her draw you in to a romantic tale of long distance love and a world of wild abandonment!

‘A Love Story. Paris, 1946.’

A love letter hits your door mat. The anticipation of the sender fills you with an overwhelming sense of excitement. It is Monday morning after all. Proudly embellishing the envelope is a golden seal. Suddenly, it oozes a sense of heritage, preciousness and superiority. A treasure to behold!

He speaks of his exciting life in Paris. His eyes are bedazzled by the showgirls twirling their tassels, the opulent casinos and delicious abandon of gambling.

The history of this jewellery lies in the hands of its wearer. From the moment you open that letter it becomes part of you, you’re life and being. And from thereon the journey of your life, will determine its destiny. An heirloom of the future?

Inspired by Victorian wax seals these personalised and individually stamped mementos will guarantee that the mark of your love will be sealed forever.

Beaucoup d’amour,

xJessica de Lotz.x

Other Gallery Romantic specials!!!

Divine gems by Disa Allsopp

Molten metal and twinkling stones by Sally Anne Lowe

Lovely lockets by Sophie Harley

Retro romance crafted in enamel by Jane Moore

Love lies bleeding by Tina Lilienthal