Friend of a Friend: Amanda Li Hope
The content of this article reflects the views of the writer, and not necessarily those of Ethical Metalsmiths. This article was written for The Source
Source author Saskia Shutt interviewed London-based goldsmith Amanda Li Hope, who was one of the first 20 Fairtrade Gold licensees and is a founding member of Fair Luxury UK. We hope you enjoy learning more about Amanda and her ethos!
Amanda Li Hope in her studio. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Chan, Chantastic Video.
SS: Where are you located right now?
ALH: I live and work in London, England, but I am originally from Boston, Massachusetts.
SS: How did you first get involved in the jewelry world, or in the professional orbit in which you work now?
ALH: I started out as an architect but found my days filled with too much project management and not enough design. In 2005, I started taking introduction to metalsmithing courses on the weekends at CityLit, a continuing adult education college in London. I also enrolled in the Graduate Diamonds distance education at Gemological Institute of America (GIA) London. It wasn’t long before I was hooked!
SS: Do you have some go-to vendors or suppliers whom you find trustworthy?
ALH: For sourcing small-scale, artisanally mined metals, like certified Fairtrade Gold or Fairmined Gold, I use Fairever Gold and Betts Metals.
I also send Betts all my refining of bench sweeps and client’s metal, as they are the only company in the UK to refine certified Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold. So, I know I can trust them to keep my and my client’s gold separate. For gemstones, I always start with Stuart Pool of Nineteen48, and Kathy Chappell of Fair Trade Gemstones; I’ve known them since I first started out as a jeweler. Their ethics are strong and align with my own, and we also volunteer together at Fair Luxury.
SS: Are there any good jewelry books you are reading now?
ALH: Classical Loop-in-Loop Chains and Their Derivatives, by Jean Reist Stark and Josephine Reist Smith. The graphics and text look like black and white photocopies from the 1990s, but I love the clear instructions and diagrams.
Fairtrade gold rings by Amanda Li Hope. Photo courtesy of Amanda Li Hope.
SS: What are your design aesthetic inspirations?
ALH: Aesthetic inspiration - anything and all Art Deco! Also, currently obsessed with the design and craft of classic, ancient Etruscan, Greek and Roman jewelry, especially chain design.
SS: Do you have mantras that keep you motivated, balanced or just plain sane?
ALH: “Start with the end in mind.”
As a one-person business, it’s easy to get distracted by all the things we ‘have to do’ (as designer, maker, brand/website manager, social media manager, accountant, etc.) When working I try to remember the original goal I set before getting distracted by any unnecessary fluff.
A good jeweler knows when to stop which has to do with time at the bench. My good friend and esteemed colleague Isabelle Capitain said this often when we shared a workshop, and it has stuck with me ever since. It is easy to get so micro-focused on the details - especially with 10x visors - that you lose sight of the macro picture.
If you are spending more than 3 days at the bench, then you are doing something wrong.
Business consultant and jeweler, Sally Leonard said this at a talk given to an audience of designer-makers when I first started out. It paved the way on how to manage my time as a one-person business. As much as I’d like to, I cannot spend days on end at the bench if I want to have a sustainable business.
SS: What is your favorite way to gain perspective?
ALH: When needing perspective, or feeling overwhelmed, I like to meet up with friends (which I suppose is another mantra: “A problem shared is a problem halved”.) Problems or not, leaving the bench and having a coffee, meal, or call always helps me feel refreshed.
Melting gold. Photo courtesy of Simon Norris.
SS: Do you have any triumphs, big or small, you would like to share, along with a takeaway?
ALH: Being one of the world’s first 20 jewelers to sign up to be a Fairtrade and Fairmined gold licensee in 2011. I had only been training as a part-time jeweler for two years at the time and somehow, I managed to be part of this pioneering group. It also introduced me to so many like-minded people, a handful of which came together and eventually formed Fair Luxury here in the UK.
It wasn’t just my peers who were like-minded but also my future clients. Customers were finding me because they were looking for handmade jewelry created from responsibly sourced gold and gemstones, and it was upon this premise that my business was built. Becoming a Fairtrade and Fairmined licensee truly changed the course of my life.
Fairtrade Gold impact. Photo courtesy of the Fairtrade website.
SS: If you could change one thing about the jewelry industry, what would it be?
ALH: I would change how the gold mining industry works so that it creates positive social and environmental impact from artisanal mining (ASM) up through large scale mining (LSM). Fairtrade and Fairmined schemes, as well as the CRAFT code, are making a difference, but the percentage of people benefiting from them is still only the tip of the iceberg; to see change on a global scale would be phenomenal.
SS: How can we make the world a more harmonious and just place?
ALH: Educate, educate, educate. Continue to educate ourselves about the issues we care about and in turn keep spreading the good word about responsible jewelry practice to our peers, clients, suppliers, friends, family – whoever will listen. As per the adage: Knowledge is power.
SS: If you could shadow any jeweler or maker, alive or departed, while he/she/they worked in the studio, who would it be?
ALH: Giovanni Corvaja. His alloying and wirework skills are otherworldly. Developing the alloys and manufacturing his own tools to draw down wire to the fineness of a human hair is phenomenal, as well as the jaw-dropping creations he makes. Fortunately, he continues to practice in Padua, Italy and offers master classes in his workshop, so I have been saving my pennies for a trip there one day.
Interested in becoming a Fairtrade Gold licensee? Click HERE for more information!
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