ORKNEY BRACELETS, GLENAVON
DEERNESS, ORKNEY, KW17 2QH.
TEL: 01856 741 274.
EMAIL : SALES@ORKNEYBRACELETS.CO.UK
“Living in Orkney as I do, I have access to a lot of information on the way the vikings lived. It wasn’t just the men who wore jewellery, the viking women also loved jewellery. In particular they wore brightly coloured beads of glass, bone and semi-precious stones such as amber, coral and different coloured quartz. Viking men were traders and they would have brought beads home to their women folk. The more valuable beads would have been prized possesions and were often passed on from mother to daugter.
Silver by weight was used as money and often silver bracelets were used as money - often cut into pieces and used - this was referred to as 'Hack jewellery'. It is this type of jewellery that is found in the Hoards that have been found. The designs were simple with a large proportion of the value in the metal not the added artistic value - it is in these designs that I got my inspiration.
Most of my silver jewellery starts out as Sterling Silver Wire of various thicknesses - I use traditional methods of plaiting, hammering and forming to produce my bracelets.
All my jewellery is handmade in my workshop in Orkney and hallmarked in accordance with the 1973 Hallmarking Act at the Edinburgh Assay Office