Nov 16, 2021

Jewellery in the making with The Line of Sun

Dripping with uniqueness, inspired by patterns and textures in nature and made with the ancient technique of lost wax casting. We take five with Alice, owner and maker of The Line of Sun jewellery brand. Ethically made in Melbourne, from 100% recycled metals.

How did you get into jewellery making?

I always wanted to be an artist, but I fell into working as a textile & graphic designer as it seemed like a ‘safer’ career choice at the time. I enjoyed the work for a few years, but soon enough working on a computer full time was really starting to drain my creative spirit.

I didn’t have any experience with jewellery making, I just knew that I wanted to work with my hands again to create something tangible. I started with a block of wax and some basic tools and slowly taught myself from reading books and watching tutorials. I very quickly fell in love with the process and became obsessed to learn everything I could.

Your pieces are so very unique and stunning, what is your inspiration for designs?

Thank you! It's really important to us that we stay true to our aesthetic and produce an offering that you won't find anywhere else. The inspiration comes from everywhere, but mainly the raw materials themselves. Most of the time I have no idea of how a piece will turn out, I let the gemstone and the wax guide me.

This way I have no preconceived ideas of how it ‘should’ look, and I think the most unique pieces are born this way.

How long has The Line of Sun been established?

The Line of Sun was born in 2012, though it was more of a side project until around 4-5 years ago. It was after I had my first son that I decided to really make it my focus. I wanted to have the flexibility to shape my life around my family and working for someone else was never going to give me that freedom.

I took the leap into working on the business full time, and whilst there has certainly been many challenges along the way, I haven’t looked back since.

We love that you have an ethical focus, what are the main areas that you focus on for this, and have you seen a lot of waste in the jewellery industry?

I worked for some really large Australian brands in my previous career as a textile designer and I was disgusted by their lack of environmental and ethical responsibility. It was all about getting the lowest price with very little regard as to where the garments would end up. Fast fashion absolutely horrified me.

The thing I love about making jewellery is that when you are working with quality materials like sterling silver and gold, the lifespan of the metals are infinite – they can be reused again and again. Whilst traditional mining does have a huge impact on the environment, we work with 100% recycled metals to minimise our carbon footprint. We work really hard to ensure all of our scraps of metal are melted down and used to make new pieces so there is as little waste as possible.

Do you have a lot of people requesting custom pieces?

Making one of a kind pieces is the majority of the work we do. We absolutely love working with clients one on one to create bespoke pieces that often represent a huge milestone in someone’s life – whether it’s an engagement, wedding, birthday or birth of a loved one. We are so honoured to play a small part in people’s lives and genuinely get excited about every piece we are able to create.