Six Months into the Business Catalyst (Large) Grant with Hannah Bedford

At the Goldsmiths’ Centre, we celebrate the achievements of exceptional craftspeople like Hannah, recognising that supporting established makers is as vital to the industry as nurturing newcomers. That’s why, on the eve of International Women’s Day in 2024, Hannah was awarded a Goldsmiths’ Centre Business Catalyst (Large) Grant. This grant, which is a beacon of support for entrepreneurial jewellers, silversmiths, and artisans across the UK, offers up to £7,000 (including VAT) to foster innovation and growth within the craft community. Funded through the philanthropy of the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity, these grants empower makers like Hannah to expand their horizons, invest in their skills, and navigate new pathways in their artistic journeys.

Hannah’s grant will facilitate the further development of her signature technique of ‘granulation setting’. This ancient craft, which demands meticulous patience and attention to detail, has become a defining characteristic of her designs. Under the expert guidance of Marcel Salloum, Hannah and her colleague Judith Peterhoff will deepen their mastery of this technique, infusing new life into her unique creations.

As she embarks on this transformative journey, we caught up with Hannah six months into her training to explore how this grant is shaping her craft and career, illuminating the path forward as she continues to create and inspire in the world of contemporary jewellery.

It’s my 20th year in business. During this time, the brand has evolved from a sole trader operation to a limited company with a small team. I specialise in granulation, and every piece is handmade in our studio. Craftsmanship is truly at the heart of what we do.

Running a small business often requires juggling a number of different priorities, challenges and tasks. Over time I’ve appointed team members to support aspects of my work, so I can maintain focus on designing and making, and in particular creating the more complex pieces.  Maintaining a small team that I trust and can collaborate with effectively is ideal for me. I have an all-female team, including my accountant and bookkeeper, which was something that evolved very naturally. Josie works remotely and helps manage the marketing side of things - she has been with me for nearly ten years. Judith, my Studio Jeweller, has been with me for seven years and more recently I appointed Lizzie and Chloe to work part time in the studio.

Over the years I’ve been increasingly creating more lavish pieces and bespoke commissions featuring very valuable stones. I’ve developed a very specific signature ‘granulation’ style setting in which jewels are set seamlessly within my granulation designs. While we now carry out the majority of our setting in-house - this particular style involves highly complex and specialised setting skills. I worked closely with Marcel Salloum, a master setter, who was able to achieve and perfect my desired signature aesthetic. 

Unfortunately when Marcel’s business model changed, we were forced to seek out other collaborators. This situation wasn’t ideal and it became apparent that I needed to bring this intrinsic element of my signature design in-house - however It was hard to find the time to explore how to achieve this. When I saw the grant advertised, it felt like the ideal opportunity to pursue this goal. I set out to explore the technical training and equipment we needed and started to identify the myriad of long-term benefits this development would bring to my business.

Removing an ‘outsourced’ stage from our workflow and keeping everything in-house, just felt right. It would make the process smoother and more time effective. It would give us complete control over the quality and aesthetic of the pieces we make. Additionally, having the technique and equipment in our studio would help fuel my creative process. While working on a setting myself, I would be able to see all the scope for nuance, "Oh, I could do it this way or that way." This could open new doors of possibility and routes for creative pathways. Furthermore, as the process involves working under the microscope, there was scope to elevate the quality of what we produce.

As a maker, it's good to keep challenging yourself technically. The biggest challenge is always time. Running a business you're pulled in so many directions and face many different demands. You have to be very strict with yourself to step away and carve out time to develop a new technique or create new work. Having this grant, and clear objectives for the training, has really given me justification to carve out the time I needed for specialist training. It is also really motivating to have a focus and end goal.

I found writing the application really helpful. I could go through it and clearly see the aims, and reevaluate where we were. Even if I hadn't received the grant, the entire process was really beneficial for me. When they are written down in this way, your goals become clearer and the steps forward are really clarified.  It helped me to recognise that time spent furthering your skills can be much more valuable than you might think. Often, when you're learning, you're not generating direct income - however, the long term benefits can more than make up for it.

An important part of my application was not just about training for myself, but also for Judith, my Studio Jeweller. Judith has worked with me for a long time and I really value her role in my team. The training is a recognition of her existing level of craftsmanship and skills. With Judith being upskilled, she can also go on to train other members of the team. This broader aspect was really important to me. A ripple-effect where more team members are upskilled and these beautiful and lesser known craft techniques are passed on and kept alive. 

Granulation is a technique that has been around for thousands of years, dating back to Etruscan times. You can visit the British Museum to see the most exquisite pieces made with it. What makes the technique special to me is its purity. It requires very little equipment; you need precious metal and heat - two fundamental elements. From this you form minute orbs of gold. Each individual granule is made and applied by hand to form the desired design. I truly love it. There’s a lot of repetition involved- when you're granulating, it’s almost like meditating - you're in the zone and very focused.

Granulation Setting is what I call my signature setting style. I developed an aesthetic that seamlessly blends a jewel setting into a granulation framework. The desired effect is to create a completely organic flow of granulation and jewels. I make the complex framework myself using granulation - which all needs to be perfectly in place ready for the setting stage. It takes an attuned and sensitive craftsperson to be able to incorporate the jewels into the detailed granulation frameworks I create and it is necessary to work under a microscope to achieve the best results. 

When I was studying, I explored various ideas around natural repetition that informed my aesthetic. It was actually at Bishopsland Educational Trust where I started developing granulation further. When I began, I didn’t think granulation would be the defining aspect of my work; it just grew to encompass all of it. I love working with mixed metals, which really demonstrates the handmade nature of my pieces with the addition of silver and gold. The organic natural flow of granulation is central to the look and feel of my work, which is why the integration of the setting is so fundamental.

As part of the grant, we have been working directly with Marcel, our collaborating setter. To date we have  spent four days at his studio, and being in this environment has been incredible. His expertise and willingness to share his knowledge have made this a fantastic learning experience for us - not only in learning this specific setting technique but also building a broader understanding of his craft.

Achieving the natural flow, which is so key to my style, will require practice but we are in good hands and - as someone who works with granulation - detailed, meticulous, patient work is something I am well attuned to!

The equipment purchased through the grant includes a microscope. Working under the microscope allows us to examine each stone closely, ensuring that everything undergoes thorough scrutiny. It has elevated everything we're seeing to a different level. Sometimes it can be intense working in this way, and it takes getting used to, but I believe it has already added another layer to our understanding and craftsmanship.

The next stage in this journey for us involves focused time - practising the techniques Marcel has taught us, in order to hone and master our new skills. We’re grateful to have additional support days with Marcel to keep us on track with our progress. He can also help us to understand the parameters of what is possible - as we also explore this technique creatively. We’re also looking forward to Marcel coming to the studio to review how we have set up our equipment and the workspace for setting. Our primary aim is to be able to complete everything in-house - so having this set up perfected is a key part of the process.

Judith is currently on maternity leave, however she is keen to use her keeping-in-touch days to continue practising.  Furthermore, we are now looking at how to integrate our new team member Chloe into the training process - ensuring she can develop her own skill set to encompass these setting techniques. The ripple-effect in motion.