About

Sam Ingram @ The Smallest Studio

For me, it’s all about the process. I design as I make and I use manual tools and old-school processes to melt, cut, mill, hammer, solder, shape, file, and sand each piece. I leave some of the marks of making on each piece so that it has a bit of its ancient history visibly and intentionally built in.

I love how metals can be used and reused, recycled and reclaimed, almost infinitely. To work with gold is a particular privilege to me - it has a wonderful feel to it in all its states, and the fact that it basically originates from supermassive stars seems magical. I always use solid gold - never plated or filled - as the metal is what inspires and defines each piece, and its integrity is vital.

I’m fascinated by how metals age and transform over time, and how objects acquire marks that reference their lives and experiences. So my pieces are meant for wearing every day, for gathering marks of their use, for organically sculpting to their wearers, for years and years, and I make them with this in mind.

Simplicity is the touchstone of my design philosophy. And the way a piece feels to wear - calm, tactile, comfortable - is as important to me as the way it looks.

The ethics and sustainability of the tools and materials I use are also key. I always use recycled gold (working towards zero metal waste), I use only vegan tools and materials, and my packaging currently consists of round mulberry paper boxes and hemp fabric.

I first signed up to a smithing class at the Turpentine Gallery in Brixton back in 2017. Our first task was to cut into a piece of brass using a jeweller’s saw and that was it, I was hooked. Seven years on, and having completed many more classes and a two year residency in a studio shared with other jewellers, I’m super happy to be a designer / maker full time, with my own studio, in a converted pavilion in West London.

Here’s my shop, and if you’d like to customise a piece or commission something bespoke, contact me.

I’m a member of the Guild of Jewellery Designers and all my pieces are hallmarked at the London Assay Office.