Every week I promise myself that I’ll write the next Monday write up sooner rather than later. But every Monday I sit at my desk and only start writing after a day of work, dinner and a cup of tea or two.
This is a hard piece to write just because the passion behind creating is so vast that it’s difficult for me to squash it all into one post. Having said that, maybe I should take a page out of https://www.alpinedispatches.com/ book (currently sharing a riveting hiking adventure playing out in the Namib desert) and share this venture over a few weeks.
Commissioned jewellery pieces don’t start at the bench. They start long before the bench comes into play. Long before I even feature a love story unfolds. The lovers possibly know me, might have heard of me through friends, family or other platforms and sometimes we meet for the first time not knowing a single thing about each other. Almost sounds like dating. I’m not going to lie, finding the right jeweller to tell your story is very much like finding a partner you resonate with. In this particular case I’ll be sharing how I got to work with friends of a friend who happened to have been in awe of my work long before I knew our paths would cross.
No commission is the same. From clients finding me, the first engagement, hearing how they found me, the unfolding of their ideas in a meeting, watching with delight as they animatedly describe elements about the person they love. Some times the loved one is a dog or a grandmother, honouring a friends passing or powerful reminders of life changing lessons – jewellery pieces get made for many reasons and they all have profound stories to tell.
This brings me to my number one rule, bespoke pieces really only get made once. Each individual I work with comes to me at a specific time in their life, the moments they want to capture is so unique to them. It just doesn’t make sense to have someone’s personal story hanging around a strangers neck or worn on someone else’s hands, journeying through no mans-land, in a story unfamiliar to its roots and its reasons.
It’s the stories behind the pieces and the years of refining my storytelling skills that make for jewellery that literally carry breath and life, so much so that to you it could feel it even carries a heartbeat.
See, I haven’t even gotten to the actual manufacturing process. Which should show you how much of the process has nothing to do with the bench. I don’t throw things in the air and hope they magically fall into place. I walk a road with my clients, sometimes over a few days, weeks and often months. At times the story can not be rushed and so it was with the commission I will be deconstructing over the next few weeks.
Until then go find me on https://www.instagram.com/stefnimuller/ to see the magic I do get up to and check in next week where I’ll share the start of how this commission came about.
Stefni
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