Fabric meets jewellery at the Goldsmiths Centre

When we think about jewellery, we often think of precious metals and gemstones, but rope, threads, weaving? If it looks good, the jewellery doesn’t need to be made from jewels, and a new exhibition shows off some of these crafted works of art.

The exhibition is in The Goldsmiths’ Centre, a training college for future craftspeople just around the corner from Farringdon station. Since it opened a decade ago, over 150 people have gone on to careers in the industry through its Foundation Programme and the Goldsmiths’ Company Apprenticeship Scheme.

As a display, it explores the relationship between contemporary jewellery and textiles through the work of over thirty jewellers over the past forty years.

Sometimes, the jewels incorporate fabrics into their designs, and sometimes, they look as if they’re woven, but in this case, they are made from metals rather than fabrics.

Some of them almost defy understanding how they were made—especially the cloudlike cluster of bubbles made from woven nylon, which looks so delicate that the glass barrier is all that stops you from wanting to pop the soap bubbles.

Most of the display is more conventional, consisting of finely spun metallic threads twisted into shapes that are not only beautiful to look at but also satisfy a desire for something cleverly crafted.