In the world of fine jewellery, words matter. So do meanings. As a designer-maker rooted in both heritage and innovation, I’m often asked: am I a jewellery artist or a jewellery artisan? And more importantly, what’s the difference?
As London Craft Week unfolds, it feels like the perfect moment to reflect on this question. This annual celebration of creativity and craftsmanship showcases the best of British and international makers across disciplines. It’s where age-old techniques meet modern ideas — just like in jewellery.
The phrase jewellery artist vs jewellery artisan might sound like semantics, but it reveals deeper truths about how jewellery is conceived, made, and experienced. In this article, I’ll explore what these roles mean, why they matter, and how they shape not just what I create, but how you connect with the pieces you choose to wear.
What Is a Jewellery Artisan? The Master of Technique
The word artisan comes from the Latin artitus, meaning “instructed in the arts.” In today’s world, a jewellery artisan is someone who has honed their craft through years of experience, often apprenticed, trained, or self-taught through dedication to their medium.
Key Characteristics of a Jewellery Artisan:
- Mastery of tools and techniques: sawing, soldering, forging, stone-setting, polishing
- Deep respect for materials: metal, gemstones, textures, patinas
- Focus on precision, durability, and function
- Repetition and rhythm: the artisan perfects through practice
Jewellery artisans are the hands behind the elegance. They bring the raw idea to life. Without them, even the most beautiful design would remain just that — an idea.
“For me, being a jewellery artisan is about control, balance, and rhythm. It’s the steady heartbeat of craftsmanship that gives each piece its integrity.”
As the founder of Essemgé, I take pride in doing the making myself. That connection to materials and tools isn’t just a method — it’s a philosophy. Each solder seam, each file mark, each polishing stage becomes part of the story of the finished piece.
Below is the birth of the Mademoiselle cocktail ring, part of the SEA BREEZE capsule collection. From the actual sea shell to the master carved in wax, then casted first in bronze and finally in silver before the finished piece featuring a double shell interlocking or mirroring each other like the reflection of the sky in the water or the ridges of wet sand at low tide. Enjoy the journey:
What Is a Jewellery Artist? The Visionary of Emotion and Aesthetics
The jewellery artist wears a different hat. Rooted in the world of fine art and design, the jewellery artist is a storyteller, a questioner, a meaning-maker. They ask not just how a piece is made, but why.
Key Characteristics of a Jewellery Artist:
- Focus on concept, symbolism, and aesthetics
- Driven by emotion, narrative, and ideas
- Draws inspiration from culture, architecture, nature, personal history
- Designs for impact, feeling, or conversation
Jewellery artists often work with the language of sculpture and painting. They sketch, model, and explore visual metaphors. It’s not uncommon for jewellery artists to come from non-traditional paths — transitioning from careers in design, fashion, or even the corporate world, as I did.
“The artist in me is the one who dreams with my hands. Who asks, ‘What if?’ Who builds meaning into every curve and contrast.”
Whether it’s a spiral representing resilience, or a freeform shape echoing the sea, artistic intent is the unseen force that gives depth to form.
The Industry Norm: Collaboration Through Specialisation
In fact, in most jewellery workshops — especially in high-end or large-scale production — the norm is a collaborative model. A single jewellery piece might pass through the hands of multiple specialists:
- A designer or artist who creates the concept
- A wax carver or CAD modeller who realises it digitally or sculpturally
- A caster who translates the model into metal
- A setter who meticulously places the gemstones
- A polisher who brings out the final shine
Each step demands a high level of expertise, and so artisans often specialise in one area of the making process. This division of labour allows for greater precision and efficiency — and is a mark of the industry’s technical sophistication.
The jewellery artist in this setup may never touch the bench or solder a joint. Their role is to direct the vision and manage the overall outcome.
My Approach: Bridging Vision and Craft
Where I differ — and what makes Essemgé unique — is that I do both.
I create with a deep understanding of the full making process. While I may occasionally outsource highly specific elements like casting or advanced stone-setting (as is industry-standard), I am deeply involved in — and often personally carry out — the majority of design and fabrication tasks. I prototype. I saw. I solder. I texture. I finish.
And crucially, I design with the making in mind. I know how metal behaves. I know what is structurally possible. I understand the language of materials. That holistic approach gives each piece a particular integrity, both conceptually and technically.
This dual skillset is relatively rare in the industry — but to me, it’s essential. It means that when you commission a bespoke piece from me, you’re not just receiving a design idea passed down a chain of makers. You’re getting a complete artistic and artisanal expression, rooted in both vision and hands-on skill.
Traditional Techniques: The Art of Gouaché
One example where this duality plays out beautifully is in my gouaché illustrations.
Gouaché is a traditional jewellery rendering technique, used especially for high jewellery and competition entries. It involves painting the design with opaque watercolours at actual size, using meticulous layering and minute brush strokes to show detail, light, and texture.
It’s not just about aesthetics — these illustrations were historically used as blueprints for the workshop team. They had to be accurate and legible to stone setters and goldsmiths. As such, gouaché sits right at the intersection of art and craft. I use it when I enter prestigious competitions like the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Awards, and it continues to inform my design process.
Jewellery Artist vs Jewellery Artisan: Must You Choose?
Here’s the truth: the best jewellery doesn’t come from choosing between artist or artisan. It comes from being both.
In my practice at Essemgé, I blend the clarity of artistic vision with the groundedness of technical skill. I design with purpose and execute with precision. It’s this synthesis that creates work that is not only beautiful, but wearable, durable, and emotionally resonant.
Take my award-winning entries to the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Awards, for example. Each began with a gouaché painting — a traditional, meticulous form of hand-rendering jewellery in opaque watercolour. Gouaché is as much about artistic storytelling as it is about technical fluency. It’s proof of concept and poetry at once.
“The gouaché is where the jewellery artist dreams in colour, but the artisan in me checks the metal weights, the angles, the wearability.”
Why This Matters to You as a Collector or Wearer
You might wonder: how does this debate of jewellery artist vs jewellery artisan affect me, the customer?
It matters because it reveals the depth behind what you choose to wear. In a world of mass-produced accessories, handmade jewellery by someone who is both artist and artisan offers:
- Quality: A piece designed and made by the same person is held to a higher standard
- Meaning: Artistic intent adds layers of symbolism
- Uniqueness: Artisan techniques ensure no two pieces are ever truly identical
- Connection: You know the hands, and the heart, behind your jewellery
When you wear a handcrafted piece from Essemgé, you’re not just wearing jewellery. You’re honouring a story, a craft, and a tradition.
Craft, Commission, and Co-Creation: The Essemgé Legacy Gift Card
One beautiful way in which the jewellery artist and artisan meet is in the process of commissioning. I offer the Essemgé Legacy Gift Card for exactly this reason. It invites you (or a loved one) to collaborate on a bespoke piece that reflects personal meaning, style, and story.
It’s more than a gift. It’s a gesture of legacy.
As an artist, I help you distil your ideas into a visual language. As an artisan, I bring it to life with precision and care.
“The most meaningful commissions I’ve done began as a memory, a symbol, a feeling. That’s artistry. But they became heirlooms because of craft. That’s artisanship.”
Preserving Skills, Passing on Values: Future Jewellery-Making Classes
As I look to the future, I feel more and more called to pass on the skills and values that define this way of working.
That’s why I’m exploring the idea of offering jewellery-making classes. Not simply as a fun activity, but as a meaningful way to:
- Keep traditional techniques alive
- Share the values of patience, precision, and perseverance
- Create community through making
“Craft is not just about what we make, but what we preserve. In every hammer blow, there’s history. In every shared technique, a future.”
If that speaks to you, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Would you be interested in learning more about the tools, materials, and methods behind the pieces you admire? Get in touch or leave a comment to let me know.
Conclusion: Celebrating Craft in All Its Forms
This London Craft Week, take a moment to consider what lies beneath the surface of the jewellery you wear. Ask: was this made with care? With intention? With both vision and skill?
In the conversation of jewellery artist vs jewellery artisan, I stand proudly as both. Because at Essemgé, jewellery isn’t just decoration. It’s expression. It’s transformation. It’s heritage made wearable.
Whether you’re commissioning a bespoke piece, exploring my limited collections, or simply appreciating the art of craft from afar, know this: every piece carries a story. And every story is shaped by both the artist and the artisan.
Explore More:
- Discover the Essemgé Legacy Gift Card
- View past Goldsmiths Award entries
- Sign up to be the first to know about jewellery-making classes
Let’s honour the art and the craft.
