The Garnet Ones

1.5 x 1 x 0.8 cm

sterling silver, garnet

Gabriel's collection of earrings for the show this year are all created from sterling silver paired with natural gemstones; garnet, prasolite, peridot, sapphire, emerald and freshwater pearl. One pair are fabricated by hand from raw metal while the other two pairs were designed using CAD, 3D printed and cast. As Gabriel continues on his design journey, a theme and style are starting to present themselves; minimal, modern lines coupled with unusual stone settings are forming the core of his design style. The inspiration for this collection of earrings is not something physical, it is however a homage of sorts to the mordern day jewellers who have inspired him; Goldsmiths such as Leen Heyne, Austy Lee, Julia Maria Künnap, Bola Lyon and Nigel O'Reilly to name a few. Gabriel's design process has always begun with the a general idea for the overall concept of the completed piece and worked onwards from there, organising different elements together into a completed and coherent whole. However with this collection he has tried to allow the central stones in each piece to direct the design process, deciding if the metal will best compliment the gemstones through matching the features of the stones such as cut and shape or by having these two key elements within each design juxtaposed.

Gabriel was born and raised in London, England. During his younger years he worked in a number of different jobs from event/party planning, construction and CAD work for an architectural firm. In his early twenties he began teaching himself to make jewellery, starting with grillz and simple CAD designs. After COVID hit he moved to Canada to be closer to family and decided to continue his journey to becoming a bench jeweller and designer. He is using his time in school to develop his own style through both school projects as well as learning new techniques and working on personal projects. Gabriel has gravitated towards stone setting in a significant way and that has begun to show in his work, favouring clean simplified designs coupled with unusual gemstones are fast becoming staples of his style.