Richard Farbey

Designer Richard Farbey's project is a response to the growing influence of computer-aided design within contemporary jewellery manufacture. It is also a self-analysis of his place within the industry. Questioning the fact he has graduated as a contemporary designer and maker rather than a specialist craftsman, with his jewellery collection he attempts to unpack the role of designer and craftsman and the level at which their individual skills are revered. During research for the collection, interviews were conducted with several different craftsmen around Hatton Garden - renowned as London’s jewellery area and centre of the diamond trade in the UK - to collect insight into their practice and to find out their attitudes towards computer-aided design. Their statements were the foundation for the design process, and ultimately led to identifying one craftsman as the muse of the project. He was replicated in 3D and then crafted in metal to appear in the collection as a symbol of the relation between human made and machine made.