Jean Scott-Moncrieff
Goldsmith
Lewes, United Kingdom
Recommended by L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts
The maker's mark in gold
- Jean creates her jewellery using 18-carat gold that she alloys herself
- Her gemstones are selected for their unique, individual characteristics
- In 2023, she was inducted into a 400-year-old London guild
Jean Scott-Moncrieff trained as a graphic designer before dedicating herself to a practice in jewellery making. She built her expertise through self-directed study and masterclasses with established makers. Since 2002, Jean has worked from her Sussex studio creating 18-carat gold pieces. Each piece she makes is finished by hand using fine emery papers to achieve a distinctive, lustrous matt surface with burnished edges. "I select my gemstones individually, favouring inclusions and natural flaws that make each stone singular," she says. Jean is a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers, which marked its 400th anniversary in 2023 with an exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery, London.
INTERVIEW
I alloy my own 18-carat 'green' gold: three quarters pure gold combined with one quarter pure silver. The result is a pale, silvery gold quite unlike the yellow present in most jewellery.
I enjoy forging and planishing. I hammer the metal directly to shape it, then work the surface with a planishing hammer, leaving the tool marks visible. Each strike is a deliberate decision that stays in the final piece.
I love following a piece from first sketch through silver maquette to finished gold object. The maquette allows me to solve problems using affordable metals before I work with gold, avoiding costly mistakes.
I like working with 18-carat gold. Its malleability means I can forge and planish it without it cracking. The colour also deepens as I work it. It is something that happens in the metal itself, not applied afterwards.
Jean Scott-Moncrieff
Goldsmith
Lewes, United Kingdom
Recommended by L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts
ADDRESS
Address upon request, Lewes, United Kingdom
AVAILABILITY
By appointment only
LANGUAGES
English
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