Hi there, my jewelry-fanatics! Ever wondered how a jewelry designer can fall head over heels for Celtic jewelry—and end up creating a whole new tradition of her own? While we’re at it, can ancient art actually hijack your career plans and make you swap science for sparkle? Spoiler alert: yes, it can. 😄 ✨💍
Picture provided by Rhiannon Sara Evans
Now, I may not have any Welsh ancestry (unless tea cravings count), but Wales has a special place in my heart. 😊
My father fell in love with the country during our very first family holiday. Me, my parents, and my two sisters packed into one car, with questionable map-reading skills and an appetite for castles. 😅 🗺️🏰
I was around eleven when we visited the famous village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. 😮 🚗📍
Did I pronounce it correctly on the first try? Absolutely not. Still, I was determined, and after a fair amount of tongue-twisting and giggling, I learned it. 😆 👅🎯
Now, after all these years, I can still rattle it off like a local tour guide with a caffeine buzz. 😎 ☕📣
When I came across the story of Rhiannon—a brilliant jewelry designer whose life changed course after a single encounter with Ancient Celtic art—I couldn’t help but smile. 😊 🎨🍀
She didn’t just admire Celtic jewelry; she dove headfirst into the tradition and made it her mission to carry it forward. 🤩 💫🛠️
From opening a small shop in Tregaron in 1971 to becoming a celebrated name in Welsh Gold, Rhiannon’s journey is nothing short of magical. 🥰 🏅✨
In this blog post, I had the pleasure of interviewing her. Get ready for a sparkling tale of creativity, culture, and Celtic pride—with just the right amount of gold dust. 😍 📝🌟
What is your name, function and the company you work for?
How old are you?
77
What kind of work do you do, or what are you studying to be?
Jewelry designer and maker (for over 50 years!)
What made you decide to become a Jewelry Designer? Tell me about your journey.
Although my academic education was in biological sciences (I have a PhD), I had always been interested in art and crafts, and I turned to that side of things in order to be able to live and work in rural Wales.
It all started with a Craft Design Centre, established way back in 1971, commissioning and selling the very best of craft products made in Wales. We did this with an emphasis on Welsh history, language and culture.
Then, in the early 1970’s I happened to visit an exhibition of Ancient Celtic Art at the Hayward Gallery in London. That was a turning point in my life! The artifacts on display were making a strong impression on the many international visitors there, most of whom found them rather mysterious and perhaps a bit scary, but to me they seemed familiar and representative of the legends and folklore I had grown up with.
Here was a whole tradition of “ethnic” art which was our own - once ancient British but now Welsh, because most of Britain had lost its original language and in doing so had not maintained its connection with the ancient myths and legends which were a part of my natural heritage and inheritance when I was growing up.
I wanted to continue making new designs in this tradition, so I set about teaching myself to work in metal and make items of jewelry in the Celtic style. I had no interest in copying ancient designs, but wanted to make new things with similar purpose and meaning. One of our early advertising slogans was that our work was ‘part of the living Celtic tradition’.
Is fashion important to you? Why?
No, I don’t follow popular trends. It is part of who we are that our Celtic heritage and culture is incredibly deep and long lived. We still make some of my very first designs and they are still popular fifty years since they were first launched.
I laugh when I see the volume jewelry and fashion brands describe their fleeting designs as ‘timeless’ - they have no idea what this really means!
It is also the case that some ancient designs still feel incredibly contemporary – our Snowdon Cat design was inspired by a pot handle discovered on the slopes of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and it has an incredibly modern look and feel to it. It has also consistently been a bestseller even though the design concept is two thousand years old.
For me, and for many of my customers, our jewelry has a deeper value beyond fashion. I would be more than happy if everyone just chose one Rhiannon piece that was right for them and simply wore it every day for decades (I know of many people who do this).
It is for this reason that we introduced our policy of replacing worn out pieces for half the current retail price – after forty years of constant wear, even our very well made and handmade items can wear out.
We also do this for those who have accidentally damaged their cherished and loved piece of Rhiannon jewelry (and we have seen all kinds of things over the years, including items that have been accidentally driven over, crushed in various ways, or exposed to chemicals that have eaten into the metal and caused items to essentially fall apart).
Picture provided by Rhiannon Sara Evans
What are your successes, and how did you achieve them?
The Craft Design Centre was a success from the beginning. It was very different from anything that had been seen before (this was the 1970’s). Wales was then full of highly skilled craft makers, “hippies” and “drop-outs” moving into the country for a better life! As a result the quality of products we offered was outstanding and prices were significantly lower than in London.
When I started making jewelry I found myself in the right place at the right time. Worldwide interest in Celtic Art was increasing rapidly and I soon became one of a small group of Celtic artists who were known to each other and who exchanged ideas, mainly in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but also in America and Europe.
The Craft Centre developed into an internationally known Celtic Design Centre, attracting enthusiasts from all over the world, and I met a host of interesting people.
In 1986 I started working in Welsh Gold and became one of only three goldsmiths licenced to buy and use gold from the North Wales mines.
Production only lasted for about 5 years, but my combination of innovative design and this rare metal made Tregaron a destination location for a visitors. A grant from the Wales Tourist Board enabled us to develop a purpose built jewelry shop and workshop within the craft centre, and over the next few years the Welsh Gold Centre took over and overshadowed the crafts speciality.
This was before the internet, when customers had to physically visit; things have changed now and Tregaron is a quiet little town again, suffering badly in the wake of the pandemic and changing behaviors since the lock-down that came with it.
Whilst many of our sales are digital it is only when you can see our handmade work in person that it becomes obvious how much higher the standard and quality of what we produce is relative to the majority of other brands and high street jewelers.
It is a feature of our work that it never looks as good in a photograph as in real life. Whereas I often observe that most branded jewelry looks far better in promotional material than when you actually see it in the flesh!
What’s something you might want to do in the future?
Produce some new designs and perhaps do some writing. I don’t have that much future left personally, but I always like to realize new ideas. My son is keen to open a new Rhiannon store in the centre of Cardiff and is trying to raise new investment for this right now.
It will be wonderful if he succeeds as this will bring the work to our customers and a new audience. Successful new outlets will allow us to grow our workshops here in the heart of Wales and I will have the opportunity to pass on my skills to a whole new generation whilst keeping work and opportunity here in our small, rural community.
Is the name of the Brand important to you when you buy clothing or jewelry?
No, not at all. Quality is what counts - ‘buy cheap, buy twice’ has always been true. I would rather buy something which I know will last and which will serve me well for a long time. I am very much against throwaway fashion and the throwaway lifestyles many of us have developed – it is incredibly wasteful.
Describe your personal style of fashion?
Casual, colorful, comfortable. Some of the children and grandchildren may even say, eccentric!
How did you find your personal style? Do you have a signature look?
For most of my life I have made my own clothes, or recycled and adapted existing items. Perhaps on occasions I have had a “signature look” in other people’s eyes, but not at present in my old age!
Picture provided by Rhiannon Sara Evans
Do you have an influence on other people’s fashion style?
No, I don’t think so. Perhaps my grandchildren will be influenced by their memories of me and by my design work in the future.
What are in your eyes the best trends at the moment?
Natural fabrics (wool, cotton, bamboo and so on) Buying vintage and second hand. Recycling fabrics.
Some of these trends have gone full circle but we can hope, that as the world realises it is slowly exhausting its resources, living our lives sustainably will become the cultural norm for all of us.
What are in your eyes the worst trends at the moment?
Synthetic short-life clothing. Use of non-recyclable plastics, glitter, sequins, branded tags – things that are essentially indestructible and which have a short lifespan of utility. What do we do with these things once they’re tired and jaded?
What kind of fashion advice would you give us?
Buy quality, buy to last. Avoid cheap throw-away dressing. Think hard about the residual value of what you buy (in every sense) - it is worth spending more today to know that your children and grandchildren may still have something not only as a valuable item in itself but as an heirloom vested with much deeper and more important family meaning.
Who is your style icon and why?
My grand-daughter Arianwen – she has a wild and wonderful approach to style!
Is there something else you would like to share with us?
Precious metal jewelry often has sentimental value, and my work is often described as classic, iconic, or even talismanic. They are made to last and many have by now been passed on to a second and third generation.
Some of my earlier pieces have been almost worn out and brought back for repair or replacement, while others have been lost only for the same design to be bought again by owners. This has made me strengthen some designs in order to ensure they last a lifetime.
My work is relatively expensive, we can’t compete on price with lightweight, fashion jewelry. Today, at a time when precious metals are steadily increasing in price, I understand the imperative for large volume jeweler to cheapen production and be as frugal as they can with materials.
But for us this has never been an option, if you build it to last it must have substance and we believe that Rhiannon is for life, not just for Christmas!
Picture provided by Rhiannon Sara Evans
Alright, dear readers, if you’ve ever felt like your life needed a bit more sparkle (and not just on your fingers), let Rhiannon’s story be your Celtic compass. Trust your instincts, follow that creative itch, and don’t be afraid to swap science for stardust—or spreadsheets for silver! Sometimes the boldest moves lead to the most beautiful legacies. 😉✨🔨
