Some jewellery collections begin with a sketchbook, a carefully planned design and months of development.
Our Nugget Collection began very differently.
It came from one of the most difficult periods in the history of Lucy Kemp Jewellery — and from Lucy simply making the best of what she had left.
Today, our handmade silver nuggets appear across necklaces, bracelets and personalised charms, but the story behind them goes back many years.
And it all started with scraps of silver.
Lucy at the Old Foundry Chapel shop in 2015
The fire that changed everything
Before our current workshop and Hayle shop, Lucy Kemp Jewellery was based at The Old Foundry.
It was an important part of our story. The business had grown from Lucy making jewellery at home, to craft fairs and galleries, and eventually into a proper workshop where the business could continue to grow.
Then came a devastating fire.
Much of Lucy's stock, tools and equipment was destroyed.
Suddenly she found herself working from home again, but this time with another problem: very few materials to work with and very little income available to simply replace everything that had been lost.
So Lucy looked at what she did have.
Scraps.
Tiny pieces and offcuts of sterling silver left over from making jewellery.
Rather than waste them, she started melting them.
Turning scraps of silver into nuggets
When sterling silver is heated, something rather lovely happens.
The little pieces begin to soften and melt together, eventually forming a glowing ball of molten silver.
As it cools, the silver forms its own wonderfully imperfect shape.
No two nuggets are exactly the same.
Sterling silver being melted by hand in our Cornwall workshop to create one of our silver nuggets.
And there, from those scraps of silver and a determination to keep going, the beginnings of one of our signature designs appeared.
The Large Nugget Necklace and Large Nugget Bracelet were born.
→ Discover our Large Nugget Jewellery
A little imperfection is exactly the point
Part of what makes our Nugget Jewellery special is that we don't try to make every nugget identical.
Quite the opposite.
The shape and surface are created through the making process, giving each piece its own individual character.
That's one of the things we love about handmade jewellery.
Small variations aren't faults to be removed — they're part of the story of how a piece was made.
When you wear one of our handmade silver nuggets, yours won't be quite the same as somebody else's.
From the original Large Nugget to today's collection
What began out of necessity all those years ago has become part of the way we work today.
We still save sterling silver offcuts created during the jewellery-making process rather than simply seeing them as waste.
Those little scraps can be melted down and given a completely new life.
And the original idea has evolved.
Today you'll find handmade nuggets throughout the Lucy Kemp Jewellery collection, from larger statement pieces to tiny silver charms.
Our handmade Nugget Charms — each with the tiny variations that make handmade jewellery unique.
Some are left beautifully simple. Others can be hand-stamped with initials or symbols, turning a tiny piece of recycled silver into something incredibly personal.
A scrap of silver that might once have been discarded can instead become a birthday gift, a reminder of someone special or a piece of jewellery worn every day.
→ Explore our Nugget Jewellery
Handmade in Cornwall
More than two decades after Lucy first started making jewellery, every Lucy Kemp Jewellery collection is still designed here in Cornwall.
Our team now works from our workshop just on the edge of Hayle, with our shop at Penpol Terrace right on the beautiful harbour.
The business might look rather different from the days of working from home and The Old Foundry, but the principle behind the Nugget Collection still feels very us.
Use what we have.
Waste as little as possible.
Make things properly.
And create jewellery that means something to the person who eventually wears it.
Our Lovely Workshop
Jewellery with a story
We often say that jewellery can become part of someone's story.
The Nugget Collection is a particularly good example because it carries a little piece of ours too.
What began during a difficult chapter for the business became a design that customers loved — and an idea that continues in the jewellery we make today.
Perhaps that's why, after all these years, the nuggets still feel special.
Something beautiful really can come from the scraps.
→ Shop the Nugget Jewellery Collection
Discover more of our story
Lucy Kemp Jewellery has been designing and handcrafting jewellery in Cornwall since 2001. From evening silversmithing classes and craft fairs to our workshop and Hayle jewellery shop today, there's quite a story behind LKJ.