Ethical, meaningful, individual wedding jewellery … connecting you to nature, to history … to each other
An old sail loft in the ancient fishing town of Newlyn in Cornwall is perhaps not the first place you’d expect to find some of the most striking, experimental contemporary wedding jewellery in the UK. A laid back surfer perhaps not who you’d expect to be behind such sensitive, innovative and original designs. But there it is. Meet Justin Duance and his team of exciting young jewellers and expect the unexpected.
Having studied and initially set up his business in London, the Cornish tide drew Justin inexorably back to his roots and to the rich reserves of inspiration provided by this most dramatic part of the world. The landscape continues to inform both his designs and his materials, resulting in organic, gorgeously tactile, handmade pieces, specialising in bespoke wedding and engagement rings.
“We regularly have visits to the workshop from brides, grooms and best men who have travelled from around the world looking for something a little different. For this I will always feel grateful”
Justin Duance, Coast magazine
From tall ships to barn doors … the salvaged wood inlay range …
Uniquely, Justin combines recycled precious metals and gemstones with salvaged wood inlays, creating a paradoxically dynamic harmony inspired by the elemental Cornish coast.
Provenance, history, local sourcing and meaningfulness are all key to Justin’s pieces and his wood comes with its own rich narrative. “We have used oak for our wooden rings that began as the keel of a 1906 Cornish Lugger, fittingly called The Happy Return; our elm is sourced from Cornish gig boats; and plum wood is cut from a local orchard.” explains Justin. “Each piece of wood brings with it a life lived that adds great resonance and emotion to a design, particularly if supplied by the customer.”
Whether a wind felled tree from an ancient forest, from the beam from a childhood home or salvaged from a tall ship, wood brings warmth, the richness of a past and symbolism to each piece. From apple wood traditionally symbolising love and passion to oak signifying strength and endurance, a wood inlayed wedding ring brings a whole new dimension of profundity to this most personal of pieces.
As well as durability. “We often get asked how we fit the wood in the precious metal, well that’s a trade secret,” says Justin, “but rest assured the wood is perfectly durable and because it isn’t attached to the metal it can be worn in water or anywhere and it will stay put.”
Uniquely You …
With some 40 types of wood to choose from, ranging from Apple to African Blackwood, and every cut of wood offering up an unique grain and colour which further weathers individually with wear, these are entirely unique pieces. And clients are further encouraged to supply meaningful materials and ideas to truly personalise commissions, such as:
a couple who were to be married under an elm tree commissioned wedding rings inlaid with wood details from this same tree wedding rings inlaid with the oak taken from a barn door from the farm on which a groom grew up gold panned by a groom while studying in Scotland was subtly inlaid on the inside of his wedding rings a symbolic wedding commission, representing the unpredictability of life in the rocky silver versus the perfect line we try to carve for ourselves in the gold line a wedding and engagement ring stacked to complete a significant circle of mahogany eternity ring commissioned to neatly fit around an engagement ring, including the birthstones of the client’s daughters
Breaking the mould … with sand …
Justin’s newest range involves his uniquely perfected method of sandcasting, where molten metal is skillfully poured directly into a mould filled with sand, a technique more usually applied to casting car a couple who were to be married under an elm tree commissioned wedding rings inlaid with wood details from this same tree wedding rings inlaid with the oak taken from a barn door from the farm on which a groom grew up gold panned by a groom while studying in Scotland was subtly inlaid on the inside of his wedding rings a symbolic wedding commission, representing the unpredictability of life in the rocky silver versus the perfect line we try to carve for ourselves in the gold line a wedding and engagement ring stacked to complete a significant circle of mahogany eternity ring commissioned to neatly fit around an engagement ring, including the birthstones of the client’s daughters 3 parts. Occasionally customers will supply their own sand from significant sources. “The odd rough grain that remains in the ring after it has been cast adds a fantastic texture,” says Justin.
Belying its industrial origins, the technique results in a beautifully organic, elemental texturing. And, as each mould (right) is used only once, every ring is totally unique, with the option to buy the mould too as a further keepsake.
• sandcast asymmetric, silver engagement ring, filled with organic movement and inset with a stunning topaz
• molten palladium cast around an uncut sapphire, the organic shape of the stone uniquely dictating the setting
• a sandcast engagement ring made by recycling a men’s diamond ring inherited by the client from his Australian miner grandfather, who had mined the diamond himself
Orders can be placed online at: http://www.justind.co.uk or you can contact Justin on 01736 368395.
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