Jeweller and Designer, Nora Watson creates stunning hand-made jewellery from Portaferry, Co. Down. Inspiration for her pieces is largely drawn from the beauty of the Co. Down landscape where she lives – living at the tip of the Ards peninsula, with its rolling hills, swirling waters, rocky shoreline and wealth of trees, natural forms play a huge part in her designs.

Nora has drawn on the simple, highly-polished style of the sculptor Brancusi. Her designs are loosely contemporary Celtic – simple, rounded, flowing forms with a modern twist; her  timeless designs appeal to the young and the more mature discerning customer.

Nora uses precious metals – gold, rose gold, platinum and sterling silver. Metal comes in both sheet and wire form which has to be manipulated carefully. Many pieces are created from a single metal whilst others are formed from a fusion of two; a particular favourite of hers is the marriage of cool silver with the warmth of rose gold. Precious stones including diamonds, sapphires & rubies can be incorporated into bespoke pieces. Nora has fulfilled commissions for headpieces, engagement and wedding rings to name a few – creating jewellery to mark momentous occasions in clients’ lives is a source of tremendous pleasure and satisfaction for her.

Hand making a piece of jewellery is labor intensive but it is also a labor of love.The process begins with sketching a design either from her own imagination or in conjunction with a customer’s brief. This design is then transferred onto precious metal. Using specialist jeweller’s tools, the piece has to be shaped by a process of cutting, annealing, forming with pliers, sawing, filing and soldering. This raw piece is then prepared for polishing using various grades of emery paper and finished on a polishing machine until it has a highly polished finish, which is the hallmark of Nora’s jewellery.