Central Saint Martins online graduate showcase 2020

An online showcase of CAD proposals with information detailing the inspiration behind my graduate collection, Hidden Value.

My collection, Hidden Value, is an exploration of value and what is determined as valuable and what is not.

 Through my collection, I want to show how value influences the perception of jewellery, in particular fine jewellery which is heavily valued for its use of precious materials. Using this as a starting point, I settled on the idea of using actual currency, to show that the financial value of the materials used within fine jewellery is so heavily emphasised. Coins became the obvious option having been used in art and jewellery for millennia, with even the Royal Mint creating jewellery from out of mint coins, yet they are disregarded and unwanted by so many. I decided to take these coins and give them a higher value, raising them into something that is far more desirable.

 I have used 2 Pence bronze coins, an often overlooked and unwanted coin. The bronze coins were minted from 1971-1992, until the Royal Mint saw that the coins, with their determined value of 2 Pence, had been significantly undervalued and were actually worth more than 2 pence in bronze metal weight, and so replaced them with the copper plated steel coins we see today. Through my pieces, I wanted to give value back to the undervalued 2 Pence coin through the use of silver solder, rose gold plating and silver findings, whilst making the coin the main feature of my pieces. The irony of my pieces being that the main financial value, is hidden in the joins and connections.