The process of barrelling our jewellery

With the launch of our new collection - Coastlines. Volume One - we wanted to give you a closer look at the process behind the making of our clean and honest cufflinks and cuff bracelets. Combining the power of nature with the precision of industry, the collection takes inspiration from British coastlines, and the waves that shape it, to create a graphic collection of refined pieces. Here’s how:

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Born from observing the impact of coastal erosion, beginning with the beaches of Suffolk, we studied the process of Attrition and how it causes loose pieces of rock to collide with each other, grinding and chipping while progressively becoming smaller, smoother and rounder.

Experimenting with bio mimicry, we have replicated the Attrition process through an industrial process called barrelling. Barrelling is a surface operation which sees raw materials tumbled in a rotating barrel, creating friction as they collide with each other, as well as selected media and compounds. In industry barrelling is used for rounding corners, deburring, grinding, descaling, deflashing, burnishing, polishing and radiusing parts.

We begin by barrelling the pieces with British Suffolk coastal beach pebbles and saline solution, before bio mimicking this effect with the appropriate industrial medium, known as a ceramic angle cut tristar. The result is a clean and honest, matte mottled surface finish.

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The barrel styles of the cufflinks are inspired by the barrelling process itself, whereas the profiles of the cuff bracelets are soft or softly scalloped to mirror the sea beds as they slowly wear away under the force of Attrition.

Follow us on Instagram here to learn more about the different stages of the barrelling process and feel free to get in touch with any questions about the collection. We hope you enjoy the pieces as much as we have.  

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Shop Coastlines. Volume One. now