SARAH de LARRINAGA

Sarah is a jewellery designer/maker working exclusively in precious and semi-precious gemstones, freshwater pearls and sterling and fine silver.  She aims to work with the best quality materials, while keeping the price affordable.

"20+ years ago I was working in Higher Education when I went to Leiden in the Netherlands for work.  One free afternoon I tried some sightseeing, but it was December and the wind was whipping off the North Sea and driving the sleet horizontal so instead I ducked into a random shop and that was it – I was hooked.

It was a beading shop, and that freezing afternoon the assistant showed me the basics of jewellery making and sold me a starter kit. Back home, I bought more tools and even more beads (you can’t ever have too many!). I took classes in jewellery making, then silver smithing. I read everything I could about gemstones and jewellery making, and took more classes and courses.

It’s fair to say jewellery making became an obsession and provided welcome relief from the day-job – not the actual work, but the peripheral paperwork, politics, computerisation and tick-box attitudes.  A nagging voice insides started to suggest chucking it all in and running away to the seaside…and in the end I did!

At the beginning I made a lot of mistakes buying stones. But after 20 years I can now spot the dyed, low-grade or resin/reconstituted stones. Most of the stones I buy today come from Jaipur, the gemstone cutting capital of the world. I’ve built a relationship with a family firm of artisan gemstone cutters who specialise in AAA grade gemstone beads – that’s the top level. 

I like small and delicate jewellery, and that’s what I make – jewellery that can be worn every day but is also special enough for going out, and always made from the best materials I can find, while staying affordable. I have an inner extra confidence from wearing the real thing, and I like the idea that the pieces will last and can be passed on to the next generation."