Alchemy and the Elements – My New Jewellery Collection
Since ancient times, alchemy has been used by and enthralled many civilisations but what is it, why was is used and why are we still
Sam Self
30/06/2024
I’ve had a few new followers and customers visit me recently so I thought I’d use this month’s blog post to tell you a little bit about my skull jewellery and me! I’m also timing it to coincide with the #kernowcraftchallenge Day 2 prompt which is “why I’m a maker”. This blog post should hopefully answer that for you.
My name is Sam and I live in Cheshire with my lovely husband and our little border terrier, Boba. I’ve always loved shiny things: my husband says I was a magpie in a previous life!
My jewellery is inspired by a personal desire to create pieces for people who want a delicate touch of the gothic with their everyday outfits.
Born from a struggle to find gothic jewellery in mainstream shops, Rock & Rose started in 2020 from a desire to make gorgeously gothic and alternative jewellery that others love as much as I do. Influenced by different cultures, ancient history, and a fascination with memorial jewellery, I want to help you embrace and express your individuality and passion for the weird and wonderful.
Why I’m a maker!
I have always struggled to find gorgeous gothic alternative skull jewellery in mainstream shops. I wanted something that would show the world my individuality and my passion. They are either too big/bulky or were just a bit too much for day-to-day wear. I would buy items from shops and customise them to suit my needs. In the end, I decided I should make my own rather than wasting all the bits and pieces of the bought jewellery. It’s certainly a more sustainable approach. So after doing lots of jewellery workshops with my favourite brands, a short college course and online research, I decided it was about time I gave jewellery making a go myself and sent my creations out into the world as Rock & Rose Jewellery.
I adore copper as a material and colour so I decided to have that as a signature part of my jewellery. It is such a versatile metal and I regularly extol its virtues on my Instagram account by sharing little-known facts. It has also led to my fascination with copper mines locally and I’ve written blog posts about my visits to Alderley Edge Copper Mines and Great Orme Bronze Age Mine. No doubt I’ll write about more visits in the future!
What’s with all the skulls?
I can’t actually remember when I first started my thing for skulls! I wasn’t born with a fascination for them. For many years I’ve been into rock music, and I’ve always worn clothes covered in skulls. When I did my MA in 2006, I happened to be wearing lots of skull covered clothing and jewellery and my friends just associated this imagery with me. It just stuck. I was their friend who loves skulls and now I see skulls as part of me.
I’m also captivated by different cultures and ancient history (that was my first degree) and I am particularly fascinated with the way different cultures, present and past, use skulls as a memorial items such as Day of the Dead sugar skulls and memento mori as a way of remembering them. I have lost 2 close family members in my life and sometimes have a view of death that some might find morbid or melancholic, but I see it as a lovely way of remembering them.
What is memento mori?
“memento mori” = an object kept as a reminder of the inevitability of death, such as a skull. The origin of the phrase is Latin meaning ‘remember (that you have to die)’.
Memento mori as a phrase and object emerged in late 16th/early 17th centuries as an instruction to value the eternal life of your spirit over the temporary life of your body. The skull motif was used on numerous graves in New England in the 17th and 18th centuries like the one above that I photographed while in holiday in Boston, MA.
The Victorians were also fascinated with death and often wore symbols of memento mori, such as the skull, within mourning jewellery. My skull cufflinks are actually moulded from an original Victorian skull bead! Check out my memento mori collections.
If you would like to have a little something gothic to wear on a daily basis that really adds an individual and unique touch to your outfit, then you’ve come to the right place! Why not have a look around my website and see if any pieces grab you? If you can’t find something you want or you would like something customised or a commission then just send me a message. I love to hear from my customers!
Other reads
Gold, glorious gold!
In this blog post I talk about glorious gold in all its forms including using gold and rose gold, the benefits of the metal and what does carat even mean?
Sam Self
09/02/2024
Do you know what hallmarking actually means?
You probably don’t think much about those tiny marks discretely etched onto your jewellery, do you? Neither did I until I started making jewellery. I
Sam Self
02/08/2023
My journey into the land of the Dim Grey King
I have been thinking recently about how I ended up 20m down in a copper mine on a Saturday morning….again! If someone had said to
Sam Self
01/02/2023
