Anna Mcloughlin - Ethical Designer/Goldsmith

I’m a designer/goldsmith, and create one off “mini wearable sculptures” from your old precious metals and stones. I LOVE to bring new life to old pieces of jewellery hidden away in drawers, re-modelling them into new modern heirlooms, but most importantly, turning them into something that will worn and enjoyed.

How It All Started

“…I was born in Birmingham and graduated from the prestigious Birmingham School of Jewellery in 2000 but the magic really began to happen in 2010 when I moved out of the city! The wonderful and beautiful countryside that I can see from my window is constantly changing with the seasons and is now the main influence on my designs. 

However, my interest in all things arty started at a very early age, when even at primary school, I would often tell my teachers that I was going to be an artist when I grew up! I'm not sure they took me all that seriously at age 5 but I continued to follow this dream all the way through school, taking up residence in the art room and producing numerous drawings, paintings and three dimensional masterpieces! 

At age 16, my parents took me to a careers fair, probably hoping that I'd see sense and choose a proper job, but here I discovered that I could study for a degree in Jewellery and Silversmithing, and from this point on, I decided that this was going to be my chosen path.

On completion of my degree, I studied for a Post Graduate Certificate in Education and taught Art and Design & Technology full time for several years before finally making the decision to set up as a designer/maker in 2006.

My business has evolved naturally over many years, and following a couple of breaks when I had my children, and a hell of a lot of hard work, I now feel very proud to be able to find myself established as an ethical goldsmith.

My passion for looking after our planet is always my main influence in both my business and personal life and I now only work with “post-consumer” precious metals and stones, or in plain english - your old jewellery!

Everything I make is done so using traditional hand tools and techniques, with just a little bit of added 21st century technology.

Being sustainable/ethical is a whole lifestyle choice…so… I’m vegan, I don’t fly, I shop as locally as possible, I buy my clothes from charity and second hand shops, I walk or cycle wherever possible, we do have a car, but it’s electric and shared with my partner, I repair stuff when it breaks, and my “Eco Studio” where I work is off grid and powered by the sun, I could go on but you get the idea.

Finally, well done for reading to the end of this. I hope you enjoy browsing the website…”

Anna x