MAKERS STORIES: ALEXANDRA JEWELLERY LONDON
Ancient Coins, Talismans and the Ancient Craft that Binds them Together.
Alex Diamond welcomed us into her London Studio for an afternoon of exploring her ancient craft and art. We left with our eyes opened up to several new perspectives on the meaning and value that these ancient coins and artefacts are able to possess in the talented hands of a maker.
Alex, under the name of Alexandra Jewellery, creates modern heirloom jewellery pieces that are deeply set into the ancient traditions that have inspired them. Utilising the ancient technique of lost wax casting that has been around for over 6000 years, Alex moulds solid gold to set ancient coins into bespoke settings that retain their human touch. Embedding as much of her own mark as a maker into her pieces as their ancient history that she aims to lengthen by giving these coins new meaning as treasured and cherished artefacts that she hopes will be passed down the generations. Just as the ancients before us would have with their talismans and artefacts.
Inside Alex’s studio, surrounded by a plethora of books on ancient coins, symbolism and mythology, we take a watchful perch as she demonstrates some of the various processes that she utilises to craft her bespoke pieces on her jewellery bench. Witnessing these ancient coins being given new life as artefacts it’s time to delve deep into Alex’s processes and understand the inspiration behind her art and why it is so deeply intertwined with the lifestyles of our ancients and the coins that they created.
I love how jewellery gives us a different layer of insight, a peek into their desires, fears and the things that held meaning to them.
Roman Found: Thank you for allowing us to come your beautiful studio and see the craft in action!
Alex Diamond: Of course! It’s been a pleasure.
RF: Can you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your process?
AD: I started making jewellery in my bedroom in Brooklyn in 2016. I began by carving rings and tiny sculptures from wax, learning to cast them in gold and stud them with tiny diamonds. I set my first ancient coin in gold a couple of years later and quickly fell in love with working with ancient treasures and making bespoke pieces! Today I work out of a loft studio in my home in London and I have much the same process of carving, casting and setting by hand.
RF: You've recently relocated to London from New York. How have you found the transition here and what drew you to the UK?
AD: I lived in NYC for twelve years before moving to London last year. I fell in love and married an Englishman and happily moved to the UK. I’ve always loved London for its history, gardens and so many things - I’ve found the city to be very welcoming and I’m slowly finding my community here!
RF: Would you say jewellery (particularly ancient jewellery) is one of the most important artefacts to learning about our social past and history?
AD: I think jewellery is an incredible window into the psyche of ancient peoples, helping us to understand what they were thinking and feeling. In ancient times it was almost universally believed that jewellery was imbued with special powers and resonance. By understanding those intentions, we can learn about the emotional and spiritual meaning that jewellery held in the past. We often learn about our history from the artefacts past peoples required to survive. I love how jewellery gives us a different layer of insight, a peek into their desires, fears and the things that held meaning to them.
RF: So what got you so deeply invested into Ancient History and Coinage that it has such a great inspiration to your work?
AD: As a child, I threw myself into fantasy worlds reading books and I developed a bit of an obsession with stories, art and mythology. While I’ve always appreciated more contemporary forms, ancient art has been my true love and inspired me to study art history at university. I began my career in the art market in NYC and did the rounds at museums, auction houses, galleries and even worked as an art appraiser!
However, a part of me always knew I wanted to be working with my hands, creating pieces with meaning. I also started delving more into the esoteric aspects of art history, including studying the symbolism of tarot, talismans and how ancient peoples practiced magic. I couldn’t ignore my interests any longer and in 2016 I quit my job and started my jewellery business. A couple of years later I came across my first Ancient Greek coin, a tiny Medusa sticking her tongue out at me with perfectly coiled snake hair. I was absolutely blown away with the incredible detail and how alive she seemed! I couldn’t believe I was holding a tiny piece of ancient artwork in my hands and I couldn’t wait to turn it into a piece of jewellery to be treasured forever.
RF: Can you tell us a little bit about the lost wax process and why it is your process of choice?
AD: Lost-wax casting has been around for over 6,000 years but the Ancient Greeks really evolved the process by utilizing it to make life-size statues in bronze. To start, you create a sculpture out of wax and form a mold around the wax sculpture. This wax is then melted out and molten metal is poured into the space left behind. Finally you crack open the mold and are left with the piece you originally carved in wax but in solid metal!
I love this technique because it’s almost like molding solid gold with your hands. It allows you to work with the precious metal in a way that is impossible in its finished state. You can melt and shape wax, either into something squishy like clay, melted like liquid or finely detailed like stone and you see the results all of these subtle techniques in solid gold, down to your own fingerprints.
I love this technique because it’s almost like molding solid gold with your hands.
RF: You set your Ancient Coins into Gold. What is it about this metal in particular that you are drawn to, especially when thinking about Ancient Coins?
AD: Ancient coins have been around for millennia, created with a human touch, human intentions and outlasting many human lifespans. I want to respect their permanence by setting them in solid gold, a precious metal that has been valued since ancient times for its incorruptable, immutable and eternal nature.
RF: Which are the Ancient Coins that you most resonate with?
AD: There are so many I love, Hecate, Medusa, the snakes of Pergamon - but my favorite has always been the Pegasus and Aphrodite coins from the coastal city of Corinth, Greece. I’ve adored the mythical creature of Pegasus since I was a child, there’s just something so magical about a winged horse! I admire both the whimsy and incredible power of the goddess Aphrodite - so much force behind what I consider our most connecting and (sometimes fickle) emotion - love.
RF: Minerals and Elements are also important to you. Can you tell us a little bit about how integral they are to your creative process?
AD: It is important to me to stay connected to the raw materials of the crafting process, both metal and stones. I love the idea of alchemy, creating something new by combining completely different elements. Metal and stone are both created over long periods of time; once they are unearthed I want to preserve their raw and natural quality while adding just enough human touch and intention.
RF: You often mention how Jewellery was used as talismans historically. Is this something that is important to the ideas in your work?
AD: Yes! People have worn jewellery steeped with meaning and functioning as talismans for so many thousands of years. From bones, shells and stones crafted into protective jewellery during prehistoric times to ancient burials filled with gold to adorn those who have passed in the afterlife.
In medieval times jewellery was engraved with cryptic or magical inscriptions and set with specific stones believed to ward off danger or provide special powers. There is a whole series of amulets I love from the 17th - 19th century with different designs and patterns of the word “ABRACADABRA” designed to protect the wearer. In the Renaissance they even began re-setting ancient carved stone intaglios into contemporary jewellery with the aim of harnessing the power and symbolic meaning of the ancient artefacts.
While we may view jewellery slightly differently today I would say that we often assign meaning to our jewellery, from the sentimental value of a ring given by a loved one to a bespoke necklace designed to signify some person, time or experience in your life! Those are the types of pieces I love to create, sorting through the vast scope of mythology to find the ancient symbols that resonate most with my clients and finding the perfect ancient coin for them.
People have worn jewellery steeped with meaning and functioning as talismans for so many thousands of years.
RF: You describe your pieces as ‘heirlooms’ . Is that how you see your pieces, as future relics to be treasured, much like the relics that inspired them?
AD: Absolutely, these coins were created over two thousand years ago and have passed through many ancient hands to reach mine and their future owners. I want to honor their history and see them as living on through time, worn as adornment by you today.
I spent a lot of time with my grandmother growing up and she was always wearing such unique and special jewellery pieces. She was involved in the design process for many of my favorite rings, necklaces and bracelets and I would ask her to tell me their stories and history over and over. This began a lifelong appreciation for the emotional resonance jewellery holds though the generations, in history and in family. My most cherished possessions today are the jewellery pieces I have from her.
RF: You source many of your coins from A.H. Baldwin & Sons, a coin house we know very well, what makes you choose them in particular?
AD: A.H Baldwin & Sons is my favorite place to source from because I can visit their collection here in London. I love holding the pieces and speaking to their numismatic experts in person. The first time I visited them was years ago and I was both overwhelmed and enchanted by the historical pieces they showcase.
RF: Do you have any questions for us?
AD: Can I go metal detecting with you guys??
RF: Absolutely! We will have to see what we can arrange! Thanks so much for an excellent afternoon and for answering our questions.
AD: Of course, it was so cool meeting you both!
You can find Alexandra Jewellery London here:
