Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery

Sarah Herriot

Sarah is a London based jewellery designer maker, working out of Clerkenwell. Born in Scotland, raised in New Zealand, she has lived in London for the past 20 years. Sarah came to jewellery design as a second career after working for 20 years as a software designer. She is a self taught designer maker, doing short courses along the way to pick up required knowledge. This has given her a unique perspective in her approach to her work. She has avoided fashion jewellery, preferring to produce work that has enduring qualities of form and design. She has been working fulltime as a designer maker for 4 years, with a great amount of success.

Her jewellery attracts praise for its simplicity of form and natural elegance, enduring qualities of form and design. Her deceptively simple and well thought through designs have resulted in an impressive client base (50% of her work is for private clients). Her work has been admired by the Georg Jensen company as well as people such as Jasper Morrison, Andie McDowell and Jane Campion among many others.

Inspired by the inherent qualities of precious metals combined with natural ergonomic forms, her jewellery is simple, elegant, and has a weight and substance that makes it unique. Her continued preoccupation and engagement with the tension element in her bangles, involves the wearer in the process.

Engineering and problem solving play their part in her designs and her solutions are as much of each piece as the design itself. The click as the tension bangle clasp is closed provides an ultimately satisfactory sound; this is an example of the rigour and elegance found in all her work.

Her recent work employing Rhino 3D has won Sarah the 2008 Design (3D) Fine Jewellery IJL Special Award at the Craftsmanship & Design Awards from the Goldsmiths Craft and Design Council.

Sarah works in a variety of metals, using bronze, silver, gold and platinum, as well as various plates and finishes. Her designs are now being requested for magazines such as China and Russian Vogue amongst others. Her use of Rhino 3D is unique and unlike commercial use of the package, attracting high praise from many within the industry as well as being used for promotional material for forth coming events this year.

She has been chosen as one of 12 jewellery designers to participate in Future In The Making 2007. This is a two year London Development Agency (LDA) funded programme which has been conceived to help established designers move into new markets and grow their businesses effectively. This project will allow Sarah to move into new areas of design and allow her access to industry experts, manufacturers and retailers. Future In The Making is an initiative under the Jewellery Sector Investment Plan (JSIP), a regional project aimed at revitalising the London jewellery and allied industry and to improve its competitiveness. £3 million has been secured from the LDA to support a comprehensive program stimulating demand and growing capacity.

Biographical Details