Jane Vile

Clever?

Jane Vile

Jewellery Designer - Auckland

"In a fantastical workshop, yesterday’s treasures are crafted into classic modern jewellery"

Tucked away in a Ponsonby villa that’s seen better days, Jane Vile’s single-room studio is festooned with art – drawings, postcards, magazine clippings, trinkets and paintings by the jeweller herself. Lining one scrim-less rough–sawn kauri wall is a high set of shelves covered with raw materials and tools of the jewellers trade. A corner is crammed with a lavish plume of peacock feathers. Surreally, a scale-model of a full-rigged sailing ship glides high on the wall overlooking it all. Amidst this clamour of inspirational objects, Jane handcrafts wonderful metalwork jewellery; upcycling objects she’s found into new and highly covetable forms. “I love to take old things and turn them into something else. I collect lots of things, like shells from the beach, or old jewellery from flea markets, but usually don’t know what I’ll make them into until much later.” Many of Jane’s recent works create new value for old New Zealand coins, turning them into stylish and contemporary art objects. Crafted elegantly in sterling silver, rings with whole halfpennies dating from the 1940’s to the 1960’s are proving a popular gifts. Jane painstakingly handsaws iconic shapes of tikis, native birds or flowers from other old coins, to make brooches and pendants in silver and copper. One feature all her works have in common is the Maori word aroha (love) stamped boldly on the front or delicately etched by hand on the back. Either way, this really is jewellery you’ll fall in love with!
  Auckland


Collection

 > Artist's Full Collection 
  • Brooch - Aroha Tiki
  • Pendant - Tui/tiki Maraca with Chain
  • Necklace - Greenstone/Tiki/Huia Reversible
  • Ring - Half Penny Convex
  • Cufflinks - Tiki and silver
  • Brooch - Aroha and Koruru
  • Cufflinks - Silver Huia Flat.
  • Ring - Koruru
  • Cufflinks - Huia Silver Convex
  • Pendant - Penny maraca . Queen/Tui