British Pathé: Twig Jewellery by Andrew Grima ( 1964 )

This week I went through a jewelry-making craze and this particular video from the British Pathé collection caught my eye because it discusses one of the jewelry-making processes of Andrew Grima. 

This Italian-born designer was known as the "Man with the Midas Touch". His creations, in those days, were fetching up to £10,000...and he did not reach his peak of popularity at that time! It was during the 1970s that celebrities and members of royalty began purchasing his unique nature-inspired pieces of fine jewelry and that is when he truly made his name as a designer. 

This 3:12 minute clip is fascinating because it gives us a glimpse of his jewelry-making process, which appears to have been assembled by a staff of craftsman and by Andrew Grima himself. I suppose that is the privilege of being a designer, one can hire others to squint through their spectacles at the tiny gemstones. Here, the process of how Grima creates his "twig" recreations in gold is revealed. What I found especially fascinating was the scene of Grima driving his Aston-Martin through the foggy English countryside to gather twigs in the forest. Most people can find twigs in their own backyard but I suppose he was looking for special gnarly twigs. The final result he achieves from his gold casting is beautiful, so it was obviously worth a trek in the woods. 

Today, Grima's children carry on his jewelry business in London. You can see some of the current Grima pieces as well as Andrew's work on their website: https://grimajewellery.com/

Ready to see twig jewelry being made? Simply click on the link below: 

Twig Jewellery