Made in Scotland: Helen Chalmers Jewellery

While at Scotland’s Trade Fairs in Glasgow this January, Lucy went off for a wander amongst the beautiful products and her eye was caught by jewellery made from recycled Whisky bottles! She’d discovered Helen Chalmers Glass Jewellery. After a good long window shop, she got chatting to the lovely Helen and left with a long shopping list and a Made in Scotland blog – result! Read on to find out more about Helen and the incredibly intricate process she uses to create her beautiful glass jewellery.

Can you tell us how your business got started?

I started off by studying Jewellery and Metal Design at Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee, by the time it came round to my Degree Show I had developed an obsession with glass, the way it melts and manipulates and the colours it yields. Back then it was also affordable enough to really experiment with, whereas silver wasn’t quite so accessible on a student budget!

Where do you look for inspiration when you are designing new products? 

I have always been inspired by travel and geography. I love to find places on maps and learn more about them, more often than not I’ll fall down a rabbit hole and find out all about the colour, textiles and patterns of a culture and it will inspire a line. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Japan a couple of times which has definitely inspired a lot of my work, particularly my panel stud lines. Currently I’m looking closer to home and using recycled whisky bottles for a truly Scottish line.

 

Can you tell us a bit more about how you make your products?

All of the products contain lampworked glass in one form or another, either as a bead to make a pendant or as the main body of the stud earrings. Lampwork is a technique which originated in ancient Egypt, glass used to be melted over oil lamps, hence the name. Nowadays it’s done using an oxygen/propane blowtorch so it’s a bit quicker! I melt the glass into the desired shape and then add various metals, enamels or more glass as decoration and then anneal (cooling of glass slowly) it in a digitally controlled kiln overnight to ensure it is free from thermal stresses and won’t break if dropped.

What are your most popular products and which are your own favourites?

My favourites are the more intricately designed pieces, especially my monthly limited run, every month I do an exclusive 25 pairs of a new design which always prove to be popular and it keeps my brain busy coming up with something too. The most popular designs at the moment are the recycled whisky bottle glass range, it captures the imagination of my customers with the mix of recycled glass and the story behind it.

If you had to pick one place in Scotland to recommend that people visit, where would it be?

Our home studio is in Pitlochry, so I’m definitely biased, but it’s such a gorgeous place to live and come to visit! The seasons are so defined here and there are wonderful walks and a tight knit community, lots of visitors come every year to get a wee taste of Highland Perthshire and I don’t blame them.

Thanks so much to Helen for talking with us and do make sure that you follow Helen Chalmers Original Glass Jewellery on her Website, Facebook or Instagram!