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Making jewellery from cutlery is not a recent trend.
Evidence has been found that servants in the 17th Century, would steal the odd fork from their master and fashion wedding
bands from the sawn off tines. Many were caught and "transported" to Australia for up to 7 years, as a punishment.
So some of my Australian customers may infact have descended from these so called criminals and the tradition has come full
circle. History shows us that for generations cutlery has been used to make crude jewellery and seems to have a 20 year
cycle. Many people remember the 1960's and 1980's as a boom time for this. Luckily by using
alot more imagination, my designs should go on and on and never date.
We are living in an age where our carbon
footprint is continually under review. Recycling materials to make decorative jewellery has been a passion
of mine for a long time. Collecting shells, stones and glass from the beach, buttons and old beads from
forgotten jewellery boxes or recycling old silver items, they can all be transformed with a bit of thought. Courses
in ceramics, glass fusing, bead making and silver smithing, together with my passion for colour, textures and design have
allowed my imagination to run riot. I love simple, clean lines and bold colours. How can
I create something beautiful out of a plain silver spoon, forgotten in the back of a drawer? Easy, apply your creative mind and silver smithing knowledge, and
just try. The result has been a range of solid silver, hallmarked jewellery, each piece as individual as
a finger print. When I create each piece, I wonder who stirred their afternoon tea with this spoon 100
years ago?, or who ate cake with this spoon in London in 1895. When I first look at an old piece of cutlery, I look at the position of the hallmark.
Where this lies is the key to the design. I hope you like my designs, and I am happy to discuss bespoke commissions, just contact me.
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If you have any odd pieces of solid silver cutlery that you want to sell, then please let me know.
I spend a huge amount of time looking for cutlery so any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Jeweller who turns
cutlery into jewellery Tunbridge wells
Saturday,
November 08, 2008, 11:00, Courier Newspaper
If you invite Michelle Carpenter for dinner, you may find she's more interested in
the cutlery than the food.
For in her expert hands, a silver spoon can become a stylish ring, a fork can take
on new life as a quirky pendant and even a pair of sugar tongs can be reinvented as an elegant bracelet. However, not just
any old knives and forks will do.
"I only use English hallmarked solid silver," said Michelle, who lives in Tunbridge
Wells. "That ensures that there will be no allergic reaction, which you sometimes get with nickel alloys, but also means the
hallmark itself can become part of the design."
Coming from a long line of Jewish craftsmen – her family arrived in the East
end of London 150 years ago – Michelle is as passionate about family history as she is about making jewellery.
"I often make pieces from objects handed down through families, and I always look
up the hallmark because it means I can tell them when and where it was made, and by whom.
"That detail means a lot, because even if a little pastry fork is not a family heirloom,
it's fascinating to know it would have been used at the tea table 200 years ago."
Michelle, who has two children, also retains as much of the original decoration as
possible, so that a pretty silver ring made from an 1804 coffee spoon still features its delicate flower design.
"I try hard not to waste anything, either. If I use just the handle for a ring, then
the bowl of a spoon can become a pendant and any off cuts are put together to make cufflinks. Really, it is the ultimate in
recycling."
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