When jewellery tells a story

My jewellery box is like a book full of tales: a solitary walk in Kuwait city, a trip to Colombia, the jungle in Palenque, the busy weekend market in Puebla, the never-ending walks around the maze-like bazaar in Esfahan, a busy holiday in Rhodes Island...if my perfect souvenirs are things I can wear, something that never wears down like a jewel makes the ultimate memory. When I'm not travelling, I still search for jewellery that would have a story of its own, vintage markets are rich of accessories that let you imagine the story of their previous owner. But also I try to find online designers who make jewellery that tells a story and the good news is that thanks to websites such as Etsy, you can find plenty of independent sellers who are happy to share their story with you.

One jewellery shop that has been on my list of favourites for a long time now is Seaside Inspired Jewelry. The designer Virgilija Kirvelaiyte is Lithuanian and based in a place of the world that is very dear to me, the Isle of Wight. Having spent some time on the picturesque island, I know it hosts a great number of artists who take inspiration from the natural scenery it offers. When Virgilija started making her jewellery, about eight years ago, I was living on the island and I still have the white and blue necklace she had given me when she decided to show her creations to some friends of friends. Once her business kicked off, with great appreciation and support of friends and family, she opened a shop on Etsy, which she manages from her home based workshop in East Cowes.

She describes her jewels telling the stories of nature: 'just like a poppy field in summer creates that perfect harmony between reds and greens, and then later on gets all shades of ochres and greys and brownish green, my pieces reproduce these colours through my lamp work.' Lamp working is a type of glass work where a torch is used to melt the glass: once it's melted, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and simple movements of her hands. That is how she creates the perfect combination of shades, then she puts them into an annealing kiln to make them stronger, and when they are ready and clean, she combines them with semi-precious stones, silver and gold to create her designs. These could be statement necklaces that resemble flowers and colourful dotted marine creatures or sober beads of the colour of the sand and the seaside cockles in early summer. Each of them telling a different story that belongs to a seaside heart.

But I also discovered another artist, based in Israel, who gives her jewellery the ability to carry the history of the world in themselves. Shiran Tal, the designer of UrbanRaven, started her online business in 2013 and specialises in upcycling, a clever way to create designs by reusing material that otherwise would have gone to waste. Now studying as a goldsmith, Shiran uses all the possible material that she can transform into wearables, giving them all a very urban and modern style: 'At the beginning I experimented with things found at the flea market in Jaffa (the oldest part of Tel Aviv)' she explains, 'but then I soon realised that as a student I wouldn't be able to afford all the pieces I would need in order to make the right profit to pay off my student loans.

Then one day I saw a broken beer bottle and started thinking of how I could have used the shards of glass that naturally broke off. The result was a success with friends and family so I started looking around me for more discarded objects that would help me creating beautiful pieces.' Urban Raven's name and logo symbolizes a bird that goes around the city and searches for any sparkling object to take them into its jewellery box. Just like that, old postcards become romantic necklaces, old Israeli coins turn into earrings, computer chips are rings and old stamps from all over the world become decadent pendants. Each piece with their own history and a story to tell.