Artisanal Gem: Wolf & Badger Artisanal Jeweller Of The Year 2021

Since its inception, Wolf & Badger has worked with the best artisanal jewellery brands out there. Here we showcase some of the brands keeping artistry alive.

Wild Fawn creates minimal jewellery to be worn forever, not just one season. Founded in 2015, the brand celebrate quality over quantity with enduring minimal designs that are entirely handmade in their South East London studio. With just three makers currently in the Wild Fawn studio, each piece is carefully crafted from Sterling Silver or 9ct Gold, minimising waste and ensuring production stays as local as possible. 

Ellis + Noronha is a UK based jewellery brand, created and run by Charlie Ellis and Abigail Noronha after graduating from the Royal School of Needlework. The pair wanted to create unique jewellery that celebrates and showcases the beautiful techniques and possibilities of hand embroidery within a modern design capacity. From the initial idea to dispatch, each piece is designed, stitched and constructed by Charlie and Abigail at home, creating one-off pieces to be treasured forever. The process from start to finish can take between two and four hours per pair of earrings. 

FiorSó creates art-deco inspired earrings and necklaces showcasing raw brass, resin enamel, Swarovski Pearls and gold-plated details. Launched by Sara Ross in 2021, FiorSó pieces are designed and made by Sara in her studio in County Kerry, Ireland in small production runs or made to order, using the highest quality raw materials and creating as little waste as possible. 

Born in Instanbul, Seyahan was founded in 2012 by by couple Matthias Weimer and Laura Parker while they were living in the city and is inspired by the Old World origins that surrounded them. All of the brand's pieces are handcrafted within Turkey, in collaboration with local artisans, and feature millennia old crafts like handwoven silver, wrapped silver around silk and hand-knitted or braided filigree and inlay work. Laura and Matthias work directly with their artisans to create jewellery that continues to showcase the beauty of silver and gold craftsmanship in Turkey. 

Elena Jewelry Concepts features a small scale production of jewelry exclusively designed and made by hand in Greece by Elena Vezyroglou. Elena developed a love for handmade items, specifically jewellery, whilst accompanying her mother, an art gallerist, to art shows and fairs. While Elena initially embarked on a career in management, the designer soon rediscovered and succumbed to her love for jewellery crafting, leading her to complete a degree in silversmithing and jewelry design at Mokume, one of Greece’s most prestigious silversmithing schools. With carefully handpicked materials from start to finish the brand takes pride in the quality and sustainability of its work.

J.Y. GAO is helping to revive the dying art of Sichuan embroidery, a 2000 year-old art form that dates back to the Chinese Han dynasty. Hand sewn by China's top Sichuan embroidery artists, J.Y. GAO's earrings showcase extraordinary craftsmanship through double-sided sewing - a skill that can take years of practice to perfect. Rather than utilising the traditional wooden frame associated with this craft, the embroidered designs are then innovatively secured, by metal smiths, in a metal frame, allowing each piece of jewellery to turn 360 degrees.  

Mamba aim to preserve the ancestral filigree technique which transforms silver into threads, embroidering them to form the final pieces of their jewellery collection. Each piece of Mamba jewellery is crafted in Yucatan, Mexico and designed by artisan Erika Diaz, who learned from the very master craftsmen that continue this craft today. The brand also strives to continue the legacy and skill of the filigree craft and created a workshop in Yucatan to pass their skills to others, resulting in jobs and opportunities to earn fair wages. 

Strange Fruit combines contemporary style with classical craftsmanship to create bespoke, luxury jewellery. Graham Mitchell uses his background in illustration to stunning effect in his designs. Precious stones and fine metals complement Mitchell’s edgy subject matter to give blades, bears and panthers a molten, irresistible finish.