Jewellery designed in the heart of Torquay

TORQUAY jeweller, artist and mum Sarah Broadhead works from her backyard studio crafting handmade jewellery inspired by the coast.

Sarah’s business, This Design, is a boutique brand of handcrafted jewellery, made with sustainable materials and designed for effortless everyday wear.

Sarah began jewellery making while working as a chef and managing her own restaurant, and after taking a part-time course in silversmithing she found a new passion.

Picking up courses wherever she could and honing her skills, Sarah began to fall more in love with this newfound craft.

About 10 years ago she sold her restaurant with plans to spend more time with her children and focus on jewellery making.

Having studied graphic design and being interested in fine art, her love of the craft didn’t entirely come as a surprise to her.

“Food, jewellery, painting and sculpting kind of all overlap for me very fluidly,” Sarah said.

“There was never a distinctive ‘I’ll stop one thing before I start another’, I usually just start something while I’m doing 10 things. They just overlapped and one thing flew into the other.

“But painting and jewellery are my number one loves, so I think if I had my time again, I would have just done jewellery from the very beginning.”

Nowadays, her studio, which is attached to the back of her house, gives her a creative space for the noisy and hands-on work that goes along with jewellery making.

“You can’t do it on the end of the kitchen bench,” Sarah said.

“I would just be happy left in my studio creating and making hour after hour.

I love the whole process, from the very beginning, choosing the stones to choosing the metal, to forging the metal, to finishing the pieces and polishing the metal and then having the finished pieces.

“Something magical happens when organic, raw materials meet beautiful contemporary design.

“It’s the making for me; I love it.”

Sarah’s designs are made to be everyday wearable pieces. She most often works with pearls, aquamarine, turquoise, crystals, and semi-precious stones to craft pieces inspired by nature, the ocean and coastal living.

“I predominantly just love working with metal, gold, silver, semi-precious stones, but I also do painting and make other sculptures and things like that.”

This Design pieces are made using sustainably sourced natural materials including 100 per cent recycled sterling silver, gold, brass, wood, semi precious gemstones, crystals and pearl.

“I want people to be able to wear my stuff; I want it to be hardwearing and things you want to go out in every day. Things that you could go for a swim in.”

Living on the rugged Surf Coast, Sarah draws inspiration from nature and its changing canvas.

Her soon-to-be released range, Ocean & Earth, is inspired by her coastal hometown.
Each piece in the range is what Sarah describes as a “treasure trove of things,” an electives mix of materials reminiscent of the earth and sea.

“They’ve got not-cut crystals that have come as they are out of the Earth, little bits and pieces that are quite raw, pearls and bumpy pearls and different shaped pieces and different metals,” Sarah said.

“I couldn’t not be by the beach.

“I like to draw a bit of inspiration from nature and use stones and crystals and pearls and things that remind me and draw me back to nature and the earth.”

Alongside other local makers, Sarah runs an annual Christmas Market in Torquay, The Christmas Soirée, for local creative to sell their works.

“Down here there are a lot of creative people doing different things,” Sarah said.

“The people that I’ve met that are my creative references, and who I go to, and who I do the market with, are local people who I’ve met living down here. I think it is a very creative environment to be in and the more you can immerse yourself in it the better.”

Lockdowns permitting, This Design pieces will be available to purchase at this year’s Christmas Soirée.

Until then Sarah’s pieces can be bought through her online store at thisdesign.com.au