Damsel Moonstone Vase

Silver, silver gilt and enamel with 22 carat gold cloisonné, and moonstones set in 22 carat gold. Height 150mm (5.9 inches)…

I donated to SNAG's annual appeal last year, and my choice of perk was a brooch by the fabulously talented and hilariously funny…

This was the week that the School of Jewellery hosted the recycling-performance work, "JUNK: Rubbish To Gold" with teams of the most experimental and interesting jewellers coming in - from as far afield as Ohio and Germany - to…

Dear friends and colleagues

We are hosting JUNK: rubbish to gold at the School of Jewellery right…

So we kick off this week with an correction and an apology. In my last blog, I credited the elegant champagne-flute holders which were used at the Fei Liu reception as having been "designed and made" by Paul…

Another busy week, starting early on with the first stirrings of the performance-making-piece "JUNK: Rubbish To Gold" by Jivan Astfalck in which…

AND back at the bench! Hooray!

I've begun to catch up with commissions and making stock work. Immediately, I'm working on a piece incorporating a small 9ct Edwardian brooch and some of the metal found on Dungeness…

Founded by Japanese dentist Taro Hanabusa, Fangophilia creates one-of-a-kind teeth, ear and other accessories custom molded to the wearer’s body.

Taro developed his business…

This course will introduce students to three techniques of surface embellishment that are made possible by the working properties of silver itself: reticulation, granulation…

Another busy week, this time hosting at Glasgow Kelvin College our first "Jewellery Technology Day" comprising demonstrations and visits from a variety of people connected with digital…

As the end-of-term approaches and it becomes time to pack up the workshops for the summer break, I've been making up the stock to keep things going over the summer, which this time has involved using up odds and ends from other projects. A while…

The main event this week has been completing my watch and chain for the ACJ exhibition "Sleight of Hand". The last element to be completed was the fitting of a glass to the 1838 silver watch-case which was…

Jan Donaldson

At last I can reveal the "secret project" I have been working on for the last month for "The Contemporary Jewellery Exchange 2015" in which various contemporary jewellers around the world create pieces which they send to each other. I didn't want to…

I've been on holiday! Last thing on my bench were the silver "rabbit in a hat" charms, one of which I managed to set and polish:

This one has 24 x 1.8mm garnets round it and I'm making others with…

My silver kylix, Content/s, is currently on its way to the other side of the world for the Taiwan International Metal Craft Competition at the Gold Museum in New Taipei City. It is heading there for the final screening and awards process. Sometimes I really wish I got to travel with my…

This last couple of months has been absolutely unbearable for someone who enjoys sharing the progress of works online. First came the Caledonian Sleeper cufflink commission, then came my work with "The…

Gets longer and longer.



I need to get into the habit of posting more frequently.



The last couple of weeks have been very busy, mainly working on the cufflinks for the Caledonian Sleeper which I am not allowed to show you until after the press-launch on 23rd March. It is a real production job and not the sort of thing I really enjoy, even though I am going to be so incredibly proud to know that my work is part of something so big and impressive.

I remember hearing an article on Radio 4's "All in the Mind" programme about how the definitions of mental illness were changing due to the re-writing of a single book which is generally used to define all mental illnesses. A psychiatrist who disagreed with the new definitions pointed out,



"most people in the west do not consider themselves to be fundamentally happy... because the majority of the population do not consider themselves to be happy, we could say that anyone…

A temporary, transatlantic, creative partnership between Poppy Porter and myself sprang up for the purpose of generating a piece of wearable art for the Crafthaus Co-Operation:Garnish project.  The project is a traveling, juried exhibition that called for makers with very different working sensibilities to…