About
Where it all began.....
Katherine made her first piece of jewellery age 12 when her best friend, Sara, got her ears pierced. By unwinding a pipe cleaner, and using the wire with some beads from a sewing box, she created her first pair of earrings!
a love affair with beads began. Collecting them from far and wide. She loved the miniature works of art that had come from foreign lands and transported her from sleepy North Devon to exciting places. The collection grew and soon there were too many to keep. So Katherine started making jewellery to sell at school before progressing on to do a degree in Jewellery Design.
Having accumulated over 14 years experience of designing for brands and suppliers Katherine became disillusioned with mass production processes overseas. She felt detached from the pieces that she had so lovingly designed, but then arrive in large volumes, sometimes broken and poorly made.
Katherine returned to her first love of using her hands to create things, dusted off her beloved jewellery tools and set about creating Katherine Barber Jewellery.
Lovingly designed and handcrafted from my North Devon workshop I have developed a range of everyday statement jewellery. Quality, craftmanship and striking design are the core of my business ethos. Taking inspiration from the world around me, the Enso collection was inspired by a window in Oslo! The collections have a distinctive style, with each having empowering properties rooted in the design to transfer to the wearer. Designed to be worn as multiples with extender chains, stackable rings, multi stud sizes. The pieces complement each other allowing the wearer to curate their own distinctive look by layering and stacking items together. Slow fashion plays a major part in the creation of the jewellery so the pieces are made in small quantities or made to order. I am constantly striving for my production processes to be as kind to the planet as possible; working with Eco silver and non toxic chemicals, any scraps being transformed into wearable pieces and my workshop is powered by entirely renewable energy sources. My packaging is made from recycled materials and is recyclable and I use no plastic in my postal packaging. Crafted using precious metals the jewellery has been made with longevity in mind, to be worn and loved for years to come. I feel its important to know who made what you wear, especially when its so close to your skin.
