20 Year Exhibition
2026 is the year that Victoria Sewart Gallery celebrates the milestone of 20 years of trading with an expansive exhibition of Contemporary British Jewellery from June 6th - July 4th.
The exhibition will open on Saturday June 6th at midday.
All the jewellery designers taking part have in some way over the years been represented by the gallery. The brief was very personal and so it was up to the designer what they wished to send, a piece that was made 20 years ago, a piece that reminds them of Plymouth, has links to the gallery, or a piece made specially for the show.
The artists that have taken part, represent a broad cross section of the jewellery industry, from fine precious jewellery to materials led designer jewellery, to art-based concept work. You can expect to see a diverse selection of pieces in a myriad of materials in a variety of scales.
Victoria Sewart
Title: Brooch and Rings
I trained as a jeweller and designer at The School of Jewellery, Birmingham in 1995, following on to complete my master’s degree in 2005. These sculptural fine art pieces exhibited here today evolved during the masters.
The main inspirations for this work were the aesthetics of form, structure and material composition. I was driven to find a material to work with that would have a more organic and textured quality from the solid and dense metals that I had previously worked with. This collection investigates the properties of stainless-steel mesh, a material that is rarely used in contemporary studio jewellery.
In 2006 I opened Victoria Sewart Contemporary Jewellery Gallery and School, an ambition to bring the very best of contemporary and art jewellery to a wider audience in the southwest where I grew up.
My own passions of design, innovation and technical expertise are passed on in my many workshops from beginners to master classes held in our workshop above the gallery.
When I decided to celebrate our 20-year anniversary by putting on this exhibition of work by the many jewellers that we have had the pleasure to showcase over these last two decades, I did not expect the heartwarming response from the designer makers.
Materials: Silver, fine gold, stainless steel mesh
Amanda Cox
Title: Lily Neckpiece
I’ve had the pleasure of exhibiting my work in Victora’s beautiful gallery since it first opened 20 years ago.
This signature necklace is deeply evocative of Plymouth for me – the barbican, where it was conceived, home to my studio and gallery from the mid 1980’s into the early 1990’s
Materials: Sterling silver, freshwater pearl
Amanda Denison
Title: Vestiges Brooch
This brooch was made last year, combining elements created before and after the pandemic. It’s lines link past and present, marking what has changed – what we’ve lost and what remains – reflecting what once was and what is now.
My work was first shown at Victoria Sewart Contemporary Jewellery gallery in 2017. Victoria took a chance on me early in my career, giving me my first show and creating a stunning display of my work. I remember a wonderful private view, fuelled by her cocktails, on a balmy summer evening on the Barbican.
Victoria and her team have created a fabulous welcoming space dedicated to showcasing some of the very best in contemporary jewellery and championing new makers.
Materials: Enamel on steel, etched silver rivet and ring
Anne Morgan
Title: Shoreline Neckpiece
Anne’s practice has long been rooted in the tactile qualities of the shoreline- in the belief that jewellery can hold memory, landscape and lived experience. This piece extends that concept, blurring the boundary between adornment and sculptural object. It invited the wearer to carry a fragment of coastline with them, to feel the weight and texture of materials shaped by forces larger than ourselves.
A dialogue between sea and land, this piece brings together found shoreline fragments and echoes the locations that both Anne and Victoria Sewart Gallery share. It shows the beauty of the imperfect and the poetry of materials shaped by time.
Materials: Rope, found shoreline objects, oxidised sterling silver
Cathy Newell Price
Title: Personal Necklace
The gallery is a gem in Plymouth and an important outlet for my work, providing regular sales and special commissions. This piece is a personal map of Plymouth, with the gallery set as a diamond, the Tinside Lido as aquamarine and the station as green peridot. The waterline and the moor shape the landscape while the chain – inspired by railway track – traces the Tamar valley, my route home, with Plymouth as a wider connection to the wider country.
Materials: Oxidised silver, aquamarine, peridot, lab grown diamond
Charlotte Eatock
Title: Celebration Necklace
Created to celebrate the gallery’s 20th anniversary, this delicate statement necklace is made from recycled silver and ocean plastic gathered from the Devon and Cornish coast. Twenty colourful dots represent twenty years of the gallery and the inspiring community it has created over the past two decades.
My own journey with the gallery began as a student of Victoria’s. After exhibiting my work at the Bovey Tracey Craft Festival, I was invited to take part in ‘A Riot of Colour’ exhibition and have been involved with the gallery ever since. It has been a joy and a privilege to be part of the gallery’s story, and this necklace is a celebration of that.
Materials: Sterling silver, ocean plastics
Cindy Ashbridge
Title: Maritime Treasures
The piece I have made is called maritime Treasures. One of my signature style cluster necklaces but significantly using blue and sea themes, fitting the gallery’s location on the Barbican.
I have been stocking Victoria’s gallery on and off since I first exhibited at Bovey Tracey Craft Fair, which was probably nearly 20 years ago. So pretty much shortly after she opened.
Materials: Turquoise, tourmaline, 9ct gold, oxidised silver, 18ct gold vermeil
Cristina Zani
Title: Square Tubes Necklace
Although my work is primarily inspired by the urban landscape. I felt that the turquoise tones of this necklace also evoke the shifting colours of the sea and coastal light, creating a subtle dialogue with Plymouth’s maritime setting. The necklace was made around the same time I began collaborating with the gallery, which makes its inclusion in the anniversary exhibition feel especially meaningful to me.
Materials: Oxidised silver, gold plated silver, wood, acrylic paint
Daphne Krinos
Title: Round Geometry Set Brooch
I decided to send a brooch because brooches are for me very important. This is how most of my designs start.
I always design with the idea men and women being able to wear them, and they tie in well with my rings, that Victoria had in one of her previous exhibitions.
The round Geometry Set Brooch is inspired by an old box holding geometric shapes for school children, that I saw in a museum in Spain some years ago.
Materials: Silver, 18ct gold, labradite cabochon
Dauvit Alexander
Title: 20000 Leagues Under The Seas
I had only just moved from Glasgow to Birmingham to begin my work at the School of Jewellery when my new colleague, Zoe Robertson, invited me to be part of an exhibition of staff work at Victoria Sewart Contemporary Jewellery Gallery in Plymouth. I was delighted to be included and had just completed “20000 Leagues Under the Seas”, a piece which seemed particularly appropriate to the naval history of the town. This was its first outing, and I’m delighted to say that it was very well received. I’m honoured to have been invited back for this 20th anniversary celebratory exhibition and have been able to bring back the original collar for the show.
The squid body was cast from a wax carved by Carol Docherty, the porcelain ‘faux’ corals are by Lisa Stephens.
Materials: Bronze infused 3D printed steel, sterling silver,18ct gold, handmade porcelain, found and reclaimed objects, including a nitrous oxide cylinder and a rusted washer, opal, pink opal, diamond, chrysoprase, chalcedony, tourmaline, zircon, sapphire, apatite, peridot
Deborah Cadby
Title: Lapis Lazuli Ring
This ring evokes for me the feeling of visiting Victoria Sewart Gallery in the heart of the Barbican, overlooking Plymouth Harbour. The deep blue of the lapis lazuli reflects the vastness of the ocean, while its flecks of light remind me of the horizon at dusk, with twinkling spots of light from boats peppering the horizon, reflected in the dark night sky.
Materials: 22ct gold, lapis lazuli
Diana Porter
Title: Sailing Boat, Submarine Ring
Having exhibited her collection in Victoria’s gallery for 20 years, Diana would often stop in Plymouth to visit the gallery while travelling to her cottage. Rarely travelling without her sketchbook, Diana would capture moments and impressions of the coastline as she passed through the city.
The etched design on each ring is taken directly from one of her original sketches created in Plymouth an abstract interpretation of the sea, featuring sailing boats and submarines drifting across the horizon.
With a rich maritime heritage spanning from the 14th century to the present day, the design pays tribute both to Diana’s affection for the city’s coastal views and to its enduring connection to the sea.
The ring is handcrafted in our Bristol workshop.
Materials: Recycled sterling silver, 18ct gold plating
Diana Greenwood
Title: Hydrangea Brooch
Inspired by Hydrangea Annabelle, one of my favourite plants in my garden, this brooch is a labour of love. Each tiny flower is hand cut in sterling silver, finished with an 18ct gold centre, and thoughtfully arranged on a circular disc. I have always loved the abundance and softness of this hydrangea – the way its blooms gather so generously, and I wanted to capture a small part of that beauty and joy in something that can be worn and treasured.
Materials: Sterling silver, 18ct gold, stainless steel pin
Disa Allsopp
Title: Oval Garnet Silver Ring
I have known Victoria for many years and continue to supply my work to the gallery, featuring numerous times in her exhibitions, in particular, her Ringing the Changes Exhibitions.
In view of this I have sent one of my hand-made rings inspired by red flowers.
Materials: Sterling silver, garnet
Donna Burns
Title: Fragment Necklace
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Victoria Sewart Contemporary Jewellery Gallery, I have chosen to exhibit the very first piece created for my original Fragment Collection: a one-off sterling silver statement necklace of flowing organic forms suspended from a simple silver collar.
This necklace holds deep personal meaning for me and feels especially fitting for this exhibition, as it reflects so much of what the gallery has meant in my life and career. It was created in Plymouth as part of my final collection at Arts University Plymouth, and that collection was first shown with Victoria Sewart – the beginning of an important and lasting connection.
The gallery has supported me not only as a maker and a gallery assistant, but also as a teacher, as it was where I first began my teaching journey. For that encouragement, support and friendship, I will always be deeply grateful.
Materials: Sterling silver
Emily Kidson
Title: Brooch
It was a pleasure to make this brooch for the 20th anniversary exhibition. I have a current obsession with oblongs so chose that shape as the strating point. The surface is scattered with hand painted recessed circles. A cluster of blue laminate circles are a nod to the coastal city and sit within an inlaid silver dot frame.
Materials: Formica, wood, oxidised silver, silver, paint, steel pin
Grace Girvan
Title: Silver Pebble Brooch
I have exhibited with Victoria a few times over the years. For the 20th anniversary exhibition, I decided to send this brooch which is a celebration of the beautiful coastline of the UK. I come from Orkney which is at the opposite end of the country from Plymouth! The brooch is made up of a collection of items I found on various beaches in Orkney but could equally be found on a beautiful beach on the south coast.
Materials: Silver, found pebbles, pottery
Hannah Bedford
Title: Adorn Halo Ring
To mark 20 years of Victoria Sewart Gallery I have chosen my Adorn Halo Ring. This precious piece features a dome of hand-forged 18ct gold, circled with intricate granulation, scattered with diamonds.
Victoria was one of the very first galleries to exhibit my jewellery back in 2006, when I was working as an artist in residence. I was just a new maker starting out, working in silver with touches of gold – developing my granulation aesthetic. I’m so grateful Victoria trusted her creative instincts and since then our journeys have run parallel in many ways.
This Adorn Halo Ring is a design evolution of the first piece I ever made in solid 18ct yellow gold. This was a huge milestone for me as a fine jeweller. I feel this ring represents just how Victoria and I have progressed alongside one another in our journeys.
Congratulations Victoria and here’s to the next 20 years!
Materials: 18ct gold, diamonds
Hannah Louise Lamb
Title: Plymouth Coastline Brooch
I’ve been proud to work with the gallery for several years, and they have long been an important outlet for my jewellery. For their 20th anniversary exhibition, I’ve made a unique brooch inspired by the local coastline, incorporating Smeaton’s Tower and a flowing seaweed shape. It’s been lovely to work on so many coastline pieces over the year, and in particular a coastline that I know so well, with snippets of Cornwall and Devon featuring in our joint commissions.
Materials: Sterling silver
Hannah Ratnett - Polished Grey
Title: The Juniper Tide
My piece for the 20th Anniversary Exhibition is inspired by a visit to Plymouth on a family holiday in 2023. I have very fond memories of that time, running down the pebbles into the sea for our little beach hut before breakfast and bed every day with my children and watching the sunrise and set over the sea.
We took a trip to Plymouth to the national Aquarium, when I also had the chance to visit the gallery and see my work on display, which is always such a thrill! It’s a very special team of talented jewellers who work at Victoria Sewart Gallery and I’ve been very lucky to meet some of them at craft fairs over the years. I’m so delighted to take part in this 20th Anniversary Exhibition in such fine company!
About the piece:
I have always loved Cornwall, much of my work is inspired by the sea – the organic shapes of pebbles and the sculptures of Barbara Hepworth. I was charmed by the cobbled streets of Plymouth, the metal sea creatures set into the pavements leading to the aquarium and the rich history of fisheries and gin distilling. My necklace features two swimming fish and a lobster pot in rolling waves. I combined sterling silver with copper (as traditionally used for gin stills) and fine silk reminiscent of twisted maritime ropes.
I called it ‘The Juniper Tide’ because I truly believe that Plymouth Gin is every mermaid’s favourite tipple.
Materials: Sterling silver, copper, silk thread
Jane Adam
Title: Grey Leaf necklace
I made this necklace in 2006, the year that the Victoria Sewart Gallery opened.
It marks a time when my own work was changing. I was moving away from focusing on surface colours and marks, and looking more at form and structure, fold forming the metal so that both sides were visible at once. I also enjoyed the way that many similar linked forms each behaved differently when they were suspended around the neck. The nod to preciousness in my use of stones – here, tiny labradorite beads – was new for me too.
My choice of colours, grey and ochre, was also significant. They resemble silver and gold with their subtle contrast. Over the next few years, I was able to include more precious metals in my work.
Materials: Anodised, dyed and textured aluminium, stainless steel, labradites
Jane Moore
Title: Sunsets and Starry Skies Brooch
For Victoria’s 20th Anniversary I have this brooch that I created which reminds me of lovely sunsets and starry skies in Plymouth.
Materials: Oxidised sterling silver, enamel
Jessica Briggs
Title: Linked Chain
When invited to make a piece for this 20th Celebration, I decided upon a chain; I love making them and it seemed a fitting symbol for the links between maker and gallery, upon which my business has always depended.
This simple yet distinctive, graphic chain is effortless to wear, coming alive when worn.
Materials: Sterling silver
Jessica Hewitt
Maker: Jessica Hewitt
Title: Flora Brooch
Victoria was among my very first stockists when I launched my jewellery career after graduating in 2005. This brooch was crafted from pieces from my Flora Collection, which remains popular today. About twenty years ago, I created this piece to explore size, scale and challenge my abilities. Over the past two decades, it has been wonderful to watch the gallery flourish.
Materials: Sterling silver
Jivan Astfalk
Title: Tears Of Eve
Twenty years ago, Victoria was my student and that has quietly grown into a friendship I deeply value. I have watched her find her voice, take risks, and take the step into the world with the courage to open a gallery of her own. There is something profoundly moving in witnessing that journey. From our early conversations in the studio to her decisions for independence and vision, I feel both proud and grateful to have been part of it – Congratulations indeed!
My work exhibited to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Victoria Sewart Gallery, ‘Tears Of Eve’ feels very close to me. It moves through a life, from the vulnerability of beginnings to the quiet presence of death, holding everything in between that I recognise as lived experience. As a woman and a jeweller, I think through the body, through the senses, through what is carried and kept. The flowers are never just decorative for me; they hold memory, tenderness, loss – small acts of love. Working with fragile materials like paper alongside more enduring ones like pure gold, mirrors that tension I feel constantly, between what fades and what remains.
Materials: Fine gold, sterling silver, agate, vintage Chinese poreclain snuff bottle, paper, paint, silicon, vintage British porcelain, bovine bone.
Joanne Haywood
Title: Bulb Brooch (Plant Hunter Series)
I first exhibited with Victoria Sewart in 2009, in an exhibition titled ‘Sustainable Style’. For this special anniversary exhibition, I have selected a brooch made in 2013, part of a ‘Plant Hunter’ series titled ‘Bulb Brooch’, chosen for its connection to nearby Plymouth Sound, where Darwin set sial on the HMS Beagle, in December 1831. His observations of plants, fossils and animals led him on his journey to writing ‘On The Origin Of Species’
Bulb Brooch
An imagined talisman for the plant hunter. Born out of research into botanical illustrations and how colour and line have been used historically to record botanical forms, creating very particular images that evoke feelings of adventure and the possibility of peril to procure them. In counterpart to this, there is the underlying theme of taking materials away from their natural habitats and humans changing relationships to conversation and ecology.
Materials: Italian silks, merino felt, silver
Jo Mcallister
Title: Pearl Essence Pendant
Pearl essence is a collection of works seeded by the glorious paintings in the Tudor Galleries in London’s National Portrait Gallery and particularly inspired by the Armada portrait of Queen Elizabeth 1. The lustre of pearls in some of the paintings is skilfully depicted in a way that resembles a lunar halo or suggests a spectral echo of luminosity. These pieces reference pearls stitched onto sumptuous fabrics such as ivory white satin or inky black velvet.
Materials: Fine silver, pearl, oxidised silver, silk
John Moore
Title: Elytra Earrings
Victoria and I met through exhibiting at trade fairs, not long after I graduated back in the early noughties. I was working alongside my mother, Jane Moore, at her gallery in Leamington Spa and when Victoria opened her own gallery, I was amongst her first stockists.
Victoria has been an important part of my creative journey and so 20 years on I am now thrilled to be part of this exhibition. This pair of Elytra earrings are a new extra-large version from my first collection, which was inspired by beetle wings – known to entomologists as ‘elytra’.
Brightly coloured, anodised aluminium, Elytra are assembled with silver links and suspended from silver hoops. Elytra’s USP is that the earrings are reversible – you can wear them open or closed. To do this you simply separate the hoop from the drop then thread the hoop through the ring at the opposite end. They are bright, fun, they move beautifully, and they are really easy to wear.
Materials: Silver, anodised aluminium
Price: £950
Jo Pond
Title: Buttonhole Brooch
This piece formed part of my MA collection, a body of 13 works exploring the mental health condition of body dysmorphia. Developed during my studies at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design. The collection explored distorted selft-perception through both material and symbolic references. The work was created alongside my peer, Victoria, within a shared studio environment that encouraged critical dialogue and conceptual development.
Materials: Recycled leather, silver, 18ct gold, paper, vellum, boot button
Karen Bartlett
Title: Bracelet 2008
Victoria Sewart Contemporary Jewellery Gallery was the first ever gallery to ever stock my work, which is really special to me. I was living and working in Plymouth at the time whilst undertaking a master’s degree at Birmingham School of Jewellery (2006-2008). This piece was part of my final collection that Victoria showcased at the gallery. I consider Victoria a very dear friend and I am grateful for her support.
Materials: Gilding metal, silver solder, hematite, baby pink powder coated finish
Kathleen Ashcroft
Title: A Quiet Strength
Inspired by Plymouth Breakwater, which sits quietly in the Sound, this necklace is all about passage and place, about making and meaning. All these words sum up what the gallery is to me. Through Victoria and the gallery, I have found not only work colleagues but friends, who have and continue to encourage and support me through my own jewellery journey.
Materials: Sterling silver, enamel paint
Kiri Harris
Maker: Kiri Harris
Title: Roots and Wings
I have been a student of Victoria’s for many years, and the experience has meant far more to me than learning a craft. Starting jewellery making seven years ago, following a period of serious mental illness, Victoria, the gallery and the wonderful people I created alongside all helped me to build the roots I needed to recover and contributed to feathering my wings to become strong and independent again.
This piece was designed for the brief “Sense of Place”. At the time of making, my sense of place was being a single parent and a teacher, nurturing my own children and those I teach, to set roots before they spread their wings. Roots provide the safety, values and belonging that create a secure base. When a child feels grounded, they find the bravery to take risks and soar.
In both senses, this brooch embodies my ethos entirely.
Materials: Silver, plant roots, insect wings (from insect that dies naturally), acrylic, stainless steel
Latham and Neve
Title: Spangle Necklace
Latham & Neve have been supplying Victoria Sewart with jewellery since she first opened the doors of her gallery in 2006. The Spangle Collection has always been a favourite of ours, so what better place to celebrate with a showstopping Spangle Neckpiece from our archive.
Materials: Sterling silver, chord
Lindsey Mann
Title: Kaleidoscope Necklace
I’ve enjoyed revisiting the butterfly range that I was making twenty years ago to make this Kaleidoscope Necklace. Your support in my early years as a maker was invaluable and it was always a joy to send butterflies your way. A Kaleidoscope of butterflies is considered an auspicious omen of positive future happenings and good luck – the perfect symbol to celebrate the continuing success of the gallery!
Materials: Screen printed anodised aluminium, silver, pearls, magnetic clasp, coated steel wire
Lucy Spink
Title: Lichen Drop Earrings
The earrings were designed just for this show, celebrating 20 years of Victoria Sewart Gallery. Each earring has 20 forged recycled silver drops inspired by the tiny forms of pixie cup lichens which are abig theme through my jewellery collections. This year is also the 2oth year that I have been living in Cornwall so making these for the celebration feels very personal too. The subtle pink cream pearls were purchased from bead shop in New York City, the year my husband
proposed to me and the overall earring form reflects their shape.
Materials: Sterling silver, pearls
Lynne MacLachlan
Title: Enamelled Quiver Ring
When I took part in the Ringing the Changes Exhibition a couple of years ago, Victoria sold one of my silver and cold enamel rings, so I have sent over another one in the same materials. This one featuring a rippling pattern, waves, as a nod to the maritime history of Plymouth.
Materials: Sterling silver, coral/lilac cold enamel
Lynne Speak
Title: Jacka Brooch
For the 20th anniversary celebration at Victoria Sewart Gallery, Lynne has created new work specifically for this exhibition.
Currently experimenting with different ways of combining materials into wearable art, one of these avenues of investigation is her new body of work ‘Bread jewels’. Next door to the gallery just happens to be the oldest bakery in the UK, ‘Jacka bakery & Delicatessen’. A 20th anniversary is signified, amongst other things, porcelain and emeralds, both are incorporated into this piece… What a serendipitous thing – it was obviously meant to be!
‘Jacka Brooch’ is the result of the fabulous Rachel Darbourne posting two loafs of gorgeous sourdough bread in a box to Cornwall from dais bakery. Lynne created a mould from the sourdough into which the porcelain was cast, fired and then worked upon in Lynne’s unconventional and eclectic way.
Materials: Memory of sourdough bread, porcelain, lab grown emerald, silicone tubing, graphite dust, epoxy copper, liver of sulphur, silver solder
Maddie Jarvis
Title: Cast necklace
This necklace revisits one of the first things I cast in late 2024, breaking it into dispersed elements that now frame the chain. Centred by cuttlefish castings produced during some of my time at Victoria Sewart Gallery, the contrast between these elements reflects the growth within my journey of becoming a jeweller, made possible due to the support and guidance of Victoria and all the wonderful gallery team.
Materials: Sterling silver
Marion Lebouteiller
Title: Softness Ring
This new Softness Ring is about elegance, balance and fluid movements. The textured silver and the white ethically sourced sapphire contrast with the warmth and richness of the 18ct yellow gold.
Materials: Sterling silver, 18ct gold, sapphire
Mary Warren
Title: Nature Pendant
As a former student of Victoria’s, I’m so proud to be part of this amazing exhibition. The support and encouragement Victoria and her team have given me over the years has been incredible, and very typical of the wider jewellery community.
I’ve chosen this unique dendritic agate for its seaweed like inclusions so representative of the local coastline. Formed over millions of years branching dendrites are mineral inclusions within the stone creating stunning tree or seaweed like illusions.
Materials: Silver, dendritic agate
Mim Best
Title: The Summer Sundance necklace
The Victoria Sewart Gallery was integral to my journey when I first launched my collection and Victoria herself has always been incredibly supportive and nurturing. Seeing some of my more ambitious pieces find their homes through the gallery gave me the confidence to grow as a designer and keep pushing my creative boundaries.
To mark the 20th anniversary, I wanted to create a special piece destined for a summer celebration. Inspired by the gallery’s coastal home, I’ve paired joyful vibrant colours with delicate movement and textured gold to echo the unique warmth of the coastal light.
Materials: Recycled 9ct yellow gold, carnelian, turquoise, electroplated hematite
Mirri Damer
Title: Lali Ring
Vitoria Sewart was one of my very first stockists when I started my own business 21 years ago, and it was wonderful how supportive Victoria was. She even asked me to make her wedding, engagement set – surely no greater compliment!! I was so happy to be asked to be part of the exhibition to help celebrate 20 years of the fantastic gallery.
Materials: 9ct rose gold, diamonds
Misun Won
Title: Parallelogram Ring with Cairngorm Quartz
I’m delighted to take part in the gallery’s 20th anniversary – a celebration of time, creativity and shared histories. Returning after Ringing the Changes (2019) feels like stepping into a continuing conversation.
This ring holds a Cairngorm quartz from the Cairngorms, a stone shaped by deep time and quiet forces. It marks 20 years of my own life in Scotland, a place that has become both home and inspiration. I have revisited this form over the years – creating similar rings, including one once shown and sold here without a stone – each iteration carrying its own quiet evolution.
It feels fitting to share this piece in marking both the gallery’s anniversary and my own.
Materials: Silver, Keumboo (24ct gold), cairngorm quartz
Monique Jeffrey-Jones
Title: Hawks Tor Stem Earrings
These earrings form part of my Moorland Collection, the first body of work I developed towards the end of my jewellery degree in 2017. The collection is inspired by the granite tors of Bodmin Moor – their imbalance, irregularity and the quiet beauty found in their toppling formations.
Victoria Sewart Gallery was the first to showcase my work after graduating, and these earrings hold particular significance for me because they were exhibited here as part of that initial collection. Having my pieces shown in such a respected contemporary setting was very exciting and helped start my early career as a jewellery designer.
Materials: Silver, 22ct gold vermeil, London blue topaz
Neil Mclaren
Title: Unakite Statement Ring
I was inspired to create this ring after visiting Cheesewring, where I was struck by the unusual tones of the heather on the moor. Later, I came across a unakite cabochon whose colours instantly reminded me of that landscape. I designed this piece to capture that memory, translating the natural contrast of warm orange and green into a wearable form.
Materials: Silver, unakite cabochon
Rachel Butlin
Title: Boats & Buoys Brooch
It’s been so special to work with Victoria and the team over many years since I started creating mixed media jewellery. Victoria has always been a huge support of my work, selecting new collections and pieces showcasing the use of different materials. I’ve always felt the gallery was a perfect location for these pieces and wanted to create a special piece to celebrate the relationship and the beautiful gallery location on the Barbican, Plymouth.
Inspired by boats, buoys and beautiful colours this brooch celebrates the rich and colourful place that Plymouth is.
Materials: Formica, wood, knitting needles, silver
Rachel Darbourne
Title: Lovingly Murdered: Unicorn Dreaming
Victoria Sewart was the first gallery to stock my polythene jewellery when I relaunched my creative practice in 2008. When I started to consider a master’s degree, it was a conversation with Vicky that had me considering the School of Jewellery in Birmingham. It was there I met Jivan Astfalck, who was my professor and is now a friend and collaborator, and many other friends and colleagues. When I needed a bench in 2013, I hired a space on the top floor of the gallery. I now work in the gallery a couple of days a week.
Lovingly Murdered: Unicorn Dreaming is the first piece that I considered finished whilst studying for the MA. It forms part of an ongoing series of work that explores the emotional connection to transitional objects and ideas around transgression, taboo and humour.
Materials: Blue unicorn, polyester filling, velour
Ruth Laird
Title: Long Rooftops Necklace
My ‘Long Rooftops necklace’ was inspired by an old black and white photograph of industrial rooftop shapes and is part of an architectural collection I exhibited with Victoria Sewart for the 10yr anniversary… so I thought fitting to send it for the 20-year anniversary show! It is one of the first pieces I made incorporating small elements of 18ct gold, alongside gild depleted / heat treated silver. I love the contrast of these finishes, with the luxury of gold against the texture on the silver surface. This piece is very reminiscent of my work at that time, whilst also linking to current work through the architectural shapes and forms that remain very much prevalent in my jewellery style 10 years on.
Materials: Silver, 18ct gold
Sarah Packington
Title: Shard Necklace
Victoria Sewart Gallery has sold my jewellery consistently since 2020. It is always a pleasure to meet up with Victoria and the team at Craft festival in Bovey Tracey, Devon in June every year. Victoria always wears lovely colourful dresses.
The Shard necklace I have sent for the 20th anniversary exhibition is handcrafted from tinted Perspex. Each asymmetric component is individually cut, showcasing vibrant, glowing-coloured centres contrasted against bold matte black edges. This distinctive technique mimics a modern stained glass window effect, creating wearable art that is remarkably lightweight, playful and completely unique. The blue and aqua colours reflect the colours of the sea at the coastal location of the gallery in Plymouth.
Happy Birthday to Victoria Sewart Gallery!
Materials: Silver, steel, perspex
Shimara Carlow
Title: Wrap Necklace
I have had the pleasure of working with Victoria and her amazing team for almost 10 years now, it’s hard to describe just how special it is to be supported and championed by a stockist. After this many years it felt appropriate to create a one-of-a-kind pendant inspired by one of my first ever ranges – My Wrap range.
Materials: 18ct gold, silver, diamond
Stephanie Holt
Title: The One Collection
The ONE ring and interlinking O ring are an award-winning design. I created them in 2016 while I was studying at the School of Jewellery in Birmingham, and they won first prize in a design competition sponsored by Weston Beamor. (The brief was to design an engagement and wedding band)
The design was heavily inspired by the forms of brutalist architecture strong, unfussy and powerful which felt like a fitting foundation for a relationship. I also wanted the two rings to be completely individual and independent, yet able to come together as one. For me, that’s the real magic: two people who are great on their won, and even better together.
The stacking V ring came a little later to complete the trio, perfect for marking an anniversary or special occasion, or even celebrating a new addition to the family.
Materials: Sterling silver, silver gilt, white topaz, white sapphire
Susanna Hanyl
Title: Rivda Ring
I looked at the first delivery note I ever sent to you, counted down to the 20th piece on the list – Rivda Collection, so I decided it had to be a Rivda ring. It’s a 6mm band set with 2pt diamonds, representing two decades and a princess cut moissanite for extra sparkle
Materials: Silver, diamonds, moissanite
Suzanne Potter
Title: Branchlines Interstitial Bud
I have made a piece of Branchline neckwear for your exhibition, inspired by spring, representing life and living. The upcycled sticks are turned into organic beads, which support the interstitial growth twig, with bud section. From old wood, comes fresh growth and hope.
Materials: Upcycled stripped and waxed buddleia sticks, laminate, oxidised silver, cord
Teri Howes
Title: Tinseltown Earrings
I made these earrings while studying at Kensington and Chelsea College as an adult learner. They are one of the very first pieces I made using a specialist textile technique in fine wire. I didn’t know it then, but I had found my jeweller’s voice.
When I discovered that silver could be drawn down so fine and be so soft that you could weave, knit, crochet with it, something lit up inside my brain.
It wasn’t until a few years later that I realised my connection to my mums sewing room full of threads, trimmings, wool and fabric – her threads had become my strands of silver.
Materials: Hand French knit oxidised fine silver, gold plate
Tusheeta David
Title: Sculptural Ring
Tusheeta’s work combines modern digital technology with traditional jewellery making skills. Using discarded plastics, she creates unique and sustainable pieces of jewellery. Inspired by microscopic underwater creatures, this sculptural ring captures the beautiful colours of the ocean and includes delicate engraved details for nature.
Materials: Discarded plastic
Val Muddyman
Title: Barbican Neckpiece
Victoria Sewart and the gallery have been pivotal in my life as it was here that I started my jewellery making journey in 2007, attending workshops for a year with Victoria as my teacher. She also encouraged me a few years later to enrol for my jewellery degree at Plymouth Arts University.
I wanted my piece to reflect the gallery in some way and so I turned to the materials I’ve collected from local beaches. I have used the warm feeling pieces I collected at Wembury Point one day which I felt represented the cobbled streets around the Barbican. I used strong thread to sew the pieces together, lining the back to hide the threads with book binding fabric and setting 39 cubic zirconia stones to mark the gallery address.
Further research during construction has shown that the black material is most likely to be vulcanite, a material used as an alternative to jet in Victorian times and still used now for pipe stems.
Materials: Vulcanite, thread, cubic zirconia
Zsuzsi Morrison
Title:
Flag Brooch – Heal & Mend 2006
Flag Brooch – Unity 2006
Prayer Necklace – Unity, Peace, Love, Life, Hope 2006
In these pieces I’ve subverted and re-evaluated simple icons, reworking them in positive and optimistic gestures.
Flag Brooches – flags fly in the ambiguous air between liberty and oppression, identity and belonging, revolution, nationalism and religion. They flutter over our various and contradictory behaviour; we pray, celebrate, demonstrate, rebel, belong and fight beneath them.
Prayer Necklace – Our hearts beat in bodies that inhabit the paradoxical space between individuality, partnership and culture. We struggle to understand and be true to our own hearts and those of the ones we love. Whilst others struggle to win over the hearts of others in love, politics and religion.
Materials:
Flag Brooch, Heal & Mend – Fine silver, 22ct gold, kiln fired enamel.
Flag Brooch, Unity – Fine silver, 22ct gold, kiln fired enamel.
Prayer Necklace – Fine silver, 22ct gold, kiln fired enamel.