Sandra Kerns Jewellery is an independent jewellery design and manufacturing studio.  My aim is to provide unique items of personally designed, hand-made jewellery using beautiful stones, gold and silver.

I have always loved jewellery and working with my hands to create things. I started out by making beaded jewellery and then in 2011 I was lucky enough to move to Cape Town, South Africa for nearly 3 years and had the opportunity of learning silversmith techniques in the workshop of The Gold of Africa Museum. While there, I was able to refine my existing techniques and make pieces from the smelting stage right through to the finished piece. I have also trained at The London Jewellery School and have attended courses at Van Cleef & Arpels in Paris

The use of different materials, methods and my training in different locations around the World have influenced my designs immensely and I’m always on the lookout for ideas from architecture, other cultures and nature.

I love to teach and find it exciting to meet people from all walks of life and be able to show them something completely different.

Hallmarks

All of my jewellery is hallmarked for its silver or gold content, my maker’s mark (SK) and that of the London Assay office.

Look out for this hallmark on any jewellery you buy from me.

 

Methods

To achieve the many different designs and styles that I produce, I use several different base processes. An explanation of some of these are below:

Wax carving and lost wax casting

This is an ancient (5000-year-old) process which involves making a wax form (can be hand-carved or hot wax poured over a texture or item), placing this in a vessel and then filling with a fine sand-like material called ‘investment.’  The vessel is then vacuum treated and heated in a kiln until the wax melts away. Molten silver is then poured into the gap the wax has left in the sand, forming a perfect silver impression of the original wax model.  All hand carved wax cast pieces are made using basic tools and are freeform, so each is unique and not replicated.

Precious metal clay

This is a clay-based medium which has a high percentage of pure silver. The clay can be moulded into any shape and can also be thinned down and painted onto things in many layers like flowers (see Nature Collection). Once the clay is completely dry it is then fired in a kiln until all of the clay medium is burned away and 99% silver remains. Although slightly less durable, it does allow for a high degree of detail. Silver flowers, leaves & seed pods on this website have been made using pure silver clay slip. When the item is fired successfully a mould is made of the pure silver item and they are then cast in sterling silver for strength and number.

Hand-cutting

Some of the jewellery in my collection has very detailed cutwork. Where stated, this is done using a fretsaw and a lot of elbow grease along with fine filing and sanding.

Pressing

Some pieces in my collection have a pattern imprinted into the silver. This is done by taking a textured item and pressing it through a rolling mill directly onto the fully annealed silver. If the silver is properly prepared even a feather, a paper pattern or a leaf can be imprinted onto it.

Water casting

Metal is taken to melting point and then tipped from the crucible, into a bucket of cold water.  The way you tip the metal creates many different, unique shapes in the metal.