Q&A: A sustainable approach to handcrafted jewellery

This week, we talk to Elizabeth Hermann, jewellery designer and founder of Argent Silversmith, one of the pioneers of sustainable jewellery in Australia. Together with her small female team, Elizabeth set out to create handcrafted jewellery, made solely out of recycled and ethical materials with Argent Silversmith, with every piece created according to the unique interaction between colour and texture, contour and shape. Out of their workshop in Victoria, Argent Silversmith has made its way across the country where it is enjoying a growing customer and follower base.

ISB: How did you get your start in making jewellery?

EH: I first learnt to make a ring from a silversmith friend and fell in love with the craft. I bought a handful of tools and some metal to start making and would set up a makeshift silversmithing space in the staff accommodation living room in Falls Creek, where I would experiment and learn different techniques in my free time. Using my friend, different books and, of course, Youtube as sources of knowledge, I managed to develop my skills and go from making a plain silver ring to creating gold engagement rings.

ISB: What motivated you to scale up and create a business out of it?

EH: As I created jewellery, friends, flatmates and locals started buying and I eventually started stocking in a couple of local shops and setting up a website. I designed and made jewellery around my full-time kindergarten teacher and manager role and eventually decided to make Argent Silversmith my full-time work. 

ISB: What has been the most challenging aspect of having a small team creating these pieces and how do you overcome it?

EH: The most challenging aspect of having a small team is ensuring a good balance between the number of orders coming in and the right amount of hours/days of work for my team. This translates into refining our marketing strategies and the amount of shops we stock as well as investing time and funds into training, allowing for mistakes and learning curves but generally being as prepared as we can be. There is also quite a rigorous training process and I generally try to upskill each maker within a six-to-12 month period to ensure they have an adequate amount of time to perfect each design.

ISB: How is nature an important element in the design of your jewellery pieces?

EH: Living at the foothill of the Australian Alps, nature has a huge presence in my everyday life and sparks inspiration, whether it be the texture of bark or the shimmer of the moon. The raw beauty of the world around is at the core of my style. I am also in awe at how mesmerising natural gemstones are, from pearls to opals, I find them best showcased in a simple yet striking setting, underlining how unique and complex they are.

ISB: How significant is it for you to make your jewellery products only from recycled and ethical materials?

EH: Using recycled metals and ethically sourced gemstones are at the core of my ethos and being a sustainable jewellery label will always be the driver for decisions I make for the business. I believe we have a long way to go as a society in becoming more sustainable and simple choices like sourcing raw materials based on their manufacturing process and origin can make such a huge difference in the long run. I often come to a crossroads where I feel pressurised to downgrade my materials in order to cut costs but I always come back to my values and question whether or not my decisions align with them.

ISB: What advice can you give to others who are looking to bring a potential business idea to life?

EH: Stick with your values, find your niche and tell your story. If you have a product or service you think will be beneficial to others and has something unique about it, you will be able to make a business out of it and do what you love every day. Finding my niche was a huge one for Argent, focusing on the sustainable aspect and using our values to drive and progress the business really made it more straightforward in a way. People love seeing the behind-the-scenes of what we do and how far we’ve come, too, it makes us more relatable and for those who are starting out, shows them that it is possible to create a small business and team and forge a dream job from nothing.