Lucy Jade Sylvester – Botanical & Coastal Jewellery cast from life
Lucy’s love of the British countryside started as a child, her pockets often filled with seed heads and feathers. Her love of the natural world and collecting from it has continued. Her woodland finds are now displayed in her studio, hanging from the walls and stored in old science jars.
Lucy believes you cannot compete with the beauty of nature, with its perfect lines and textures, instead she uses it as directly as possible. Taking moulds from her delicate finds, she casts into the cavity they leave, allowing her to create exact replicas of life in solid silver and gold that retain the finest details.
“These natural forms with beautiful textures would decay into the ground and be gone forever, with direct casting from them I’ve created something that will now be here forever, to be worn for a lifetime.”
Lucy’s engagement ring and wedding band collection are created from the simple lines of cow parsley stems, rye grass, lichen, leaves, twigs and seed heads. Fragile leaf veins and stems clearly visible as they wrap around to form rings. They’re all cast from British countryside plants, with a scattering of diamonds.
The Great British stag beetle, bees and hawk moths have all been given a new life in solid silver and gold by this nature loving jeweller, her Hawk moth ring was chosen by costume designer Michele Clapton to be worn by Sansa Stark in the hit medieval TV series Game of Thrones.
Lucy has exhibited her work around the world, been published in many books and magazines, and shows at London’s prestigious Chelsea Flower Show. Her jewellery is worn by many of our most loved actresses, nature programme presenters and by the nations favourite Dame.
“My work is evolving all the time, as the seasons change, the inspiration is new once more.”
The coastal collection is her most recent creation. It was developed after many family trips to the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Cornwall, and Wales. Her young sons Archie and Alfie enjoy helping to collect inspirational shapes and textures, beach combing is up on the favourite list.
“We can’t wait to grow this collection with visits to our beautiful coastlines in the future.”
