Category Archives: things

Soap nuts as silver polish Comments Off

When I began to learn the art of silver-smithing from Mara Grimm a few years ago, she was possibly the only active teacher of traditional enamel techniques in Melbourne, if not in the state of Victoria, Australia. Mara is somewhat of a hippie (she had the Kombi-van and everything), and amongst the many things she [...]

Dark side of the moon 2

My fascination with moonstone probably originated from the fact it was listed as one of my birthstones. Notwithstanding that the modern set of birthstones is a ploy by the American National Association of Jewellers to market what stones they most wanted to sell, even the milkiest of moonstones have a semi-transparent depth that carry a [...]

L'oeil de Sainte-Lucie Comments Off

When I had the chance to stay for a few days in Corsica, I spent my first jetlagged afternoon in Calvi ducking in and out amongst the jewellery stores and the artisan shops on Rue Clemenceau, the sort quite obviously targeted at the wayward-but-common tourist. It’s always fascinating to know what is thought of “tourist-while” [...]