NDS Jewellery produces highly individual statement jewellery for the discerning wearer who has something to say. All my pieces are lovingly and mindfully handmade, using traditional skills, in my workshop in County Cork, Ireland. I use recycled precious metals, ethically sourced gemstones, and I strive to keep my craft as sustainable as possible. My fine artisanal creations are always one-offs and tell a story about beauty of mind, timeless wearability, and distinctive personal style. An investment in yourself, a commitment to be the hero(ine) of your own life story, if you will. In short, my jewellery aims to be for the determined, different, and daring!
If you care to know more about the jewellery artist herself, here goes…
NDS Jewellery began in 2014 when I started experimenting with silversmithing, a childhood ambition that had been put on the back burner while life had other plans with me. Being a magpie, collector and lover of all things shiny, I have been involved with jewellery, gemstones as well as art and design for most of my life though. After some metalworking courses and masterclasses to acquire the basics, I continued self-teaching, building my skills through more experimentation and practice. This learning curve is continually ongoing, I hasten to add!
Initially, I made pieces for friends and family, did a few craft markets locally, then started my own website, and before I knew it, this turned into my main occupation when I officially established NDS Jewellery, in 2019. A dedicated jack of all trades approach to life, you may call it. Although essentially I am simply an autodidact who is convinced within herself that the world needs beauty, meaning, and creativity as an anchor of hope.
Leaving a budding career in academia, I have forever craved working with my hands and my head, and this trade allows for both while appealing to my artistic sensibilities. When I’m not in my workshop, I am to be found in my study. I never stopped being a writer which, for me, ties up all the loose ends of my maker’s life nicely. Otherwise, I cook, bake and craft my way around house and garden, forage, walk, sea swim, or read all while looking after my family and other assorted wildlife. My creative pursuits come about while I’m drinking giant cups of herbal tea, am listening to music or endlessly daydreaming about new ideas, projects to accomplish, and skills to acquire… It’s a constant flow of one thing or other and I like to explore where each new day takes me.
Over the years, working with metal and fire has taught and empowered me in unexpected ways, I may be a one-person venture but I wear many hats. That’s what I love most about what I do, that it’s never “just” one thing but so much more than what meets the eye, at first glance. I have long come to believe that jewellery is not bound to be a mere fashion accessory. It’s personality defining, it’s wearable art as well as a piece of (personal) history! In fact, it’s an exciting art form in itself. My hope is that I can contribute to educating people about original and quality artisanal creations using traditional skills, as opposed to fast and cheap mass production, hyped by relentless, brainless marketing content. Ideally, I wish to establish a personal connection with those who can appreciate the hard work involved and who can value my creations.
I try to translate what inspires or interests me at any given time into jewellery. I enjoy blending colour, literary or musical inspiration, and many other ideas to create jewellery that expresses something: when you see it, I want you to feel something! There is a narrative to it right away. Every creation maps out a moment in time, you may even learn something… It is, to an extent, like a representation of its maker. The time I spend creating is inherent in the finished piece hence it is always personal because my jewellery is entirely and slowly, mindfully handmade.
My designs are often a product of accumulating ideas over time and once many different ideas sit and live long enough next to each other in my endless notebooks and folders, a kind of dialogue evolves… Again, that is where the storytelling element comes into play: different things with different backgrounds come together in unexpected ways and start a new narrative – together, as a piece of jewellery. For me, the real treasures are always the things that have a story so, naturally, I am grounding my thoughts in storytelling.
And that is why I am here today, to tell you the many different stories that go beyond “just” jewellery, to show you the other arts and crafts they sometimes translate into, and to share whatever else is on my busy mind, as I go along. There is no knowing what else I will come up with over time…
Nicole Duranton Sigl. 