Education

2019-Present V&A/RCA History of Design, PhD Student

AHRC-funded project, London Arts & Humanities Partnership

Victoria & Albert Museum and The Royal College of Art, London

Title: Tools, Skill & Identity: The Work of Birmingham’s Manufacturing Jewellers, 1940-1960

Supervisors: Jonathan Boyd (Jewellery & Metal, RCA); Dr. Spike Sweeting (History of Design, V&A); Dr. Sarah Teasley (formerly History of Design, RCA)

2016-2018 V&A/RCA MA History of Design

Victoria & Albert Museum and The Royal College of Art, London

Dissertation, with Distinction: Back to the Bench? Understanding the British Manufacturing Jewellers’ Transfer to Rearmament and Munitions Production in the Second World War

Supervisors: Dr. Sarah Teasley, RCA; Clare Phillips, V&A

2014-2015 Foundation & Diploma in Gemmology

The Gemmological Association of Great Britain (Gem-A)

Diploma, with Merit

2011-2014 BA (Hons) Archaeology and Anthropology

The University of Oxford, Hertford College

Dissertation: The Mystery of the Blue Stone: Lapis lazuli

Work

2023-Present Fair Officer, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London - organising and running Goldsmiths’ Fair, the UK’s largest selling exhibition of contemporary jewellery and silver, plus ancillary events throughout the year

2017-Present Independent Jewellery Specialist and Gemmologist - research, writing and archival projects for companies within the gems and jewellery industry

Jun-Jul 2024 Environmental Archaeology Assistant, Pompeii I.14 Project, Tulane University, Pompeii Archaeological Park - assistant to Professor Mark Robinson, University of Oxford

Jun-Jul 2023 Environmental Archaeology Assistant, Pompeii I.14 Project, Tulane University, Pompeii Archaeological Park - assistant to Professor Mark Robinson, University of Oxford

Feb-Jun 2023, Early-Career Researcher, Carbon Measurement Tools in the Creative Industries (CMTCI), Royal College of Art, London - A UKRI AHRC-funded rapid evidence assessment for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, covering the current use of carbon footprint calculation tools (CFCTs) across the creative industries. Principal Investigator: Dr Peter Oakley

Mar 2022 - May 2023 Junior Cataloguer/Administrative Assistant, Jewellery Department, Fellows Auctioneers, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

Jan-Mar 2023 General Teaching Assistant, ‘Thinking Through Materials’, Imperial College undergraduate module, co-led by V&A Research Institute and Imperial’s Materials Department, Victoria & Albert Museum/Imperial College London

Aug 2022 Visiting Tutor, Jewellery history, Summer School, Woolf Institute, The University of Cambridge

Jun-Sep 2022 StudentShaper, ‘Thinking Through Materials’, V&A/Imperial College London - formulating and testing seminar and workshop ideas for a new module

Apr 2022 Researcher, Women’s Work in the Jewellery Quarter, Jewellery Quarter Townscape Heritage, Birmingham

Jan-Apr 2022 and Jan-Apr 2021 Visiting Lecturer, ‘Research in Context’, V&A/RCA MA History of Design, Royal College of Art, London

2021 Researcher, Picture Researcher and Editorial Assistant for Sapphire: A Celebration of Colour by Joanna Hardy, London: Violette Editions with Thames & Hudson, 2021

2021 Editorial Assistant for Emerald: Twenty-One Centuries of Jewelled Opulence and Power (2021 reprint) by Joanna Hardy, Jonathan Self, Franca Sozzani and Hettie Judah, London: Violette Editions with Thames & Hudson, 2021 [2013]

Sep-Dec 2021 and Sep-Dec 2020 Visiting Lecturer, ‘Theories, Skills & Methods’, V&A/RCA MA History of Design, Royal College of Art, London

2018-2019 Gallery Assistant, Contemporary Applied Arts, Paddington Street, London

2017 Editorial Assistant for Ruby: The King of Gems by Joanna Hardy, London: Violette Editions with Thames & Hudson, 2017

2015-2016 Jewellery Sales Consultant, Webley London, Hatton Garden, London

2014-2016 Sale Room Assistant, Sworders Auctioneers, Stansted Mountfitchet

2012 Summer Intern, Antiquities Department, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Projects & Events

2023 Article: ‘Mumtāz Maḥal’ for Fellows

2023 Article: ‘Frédéric Charles Victor de Vernon’ for Fellows

2023 Article: ‘The Mourning Ring of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort’ for Fellows

2023 Article: ‘A Chip of Cleopatra’s Needle’ for Fellows

2022 Article: ‘Bernard Instone’ for Fellows

2022 Article: ‘Dagmar Cross’ for Fellows

2022 Article: ‘Fumsup Charms’ for Fellows

2022 Article: ‘Leisha Wheeler’ for Fellows

2022 Article: ‘Léa Stein: The Queen of Colour’ for Fellows

2022 Article: ‘Frank Gehry and Tiffany & Co.’ for Fellows

2022 Presentation: Black Market? The world of illegal jewellery sales in wartime and austerity Britain, The Goldsmiths’ Company History Group, London

2022 Article: ‘Arthur Tyrwhitt Drake’ for Fellows

2022 Article: ‘Recognising Boivin Jewellery’ for Fellows

2022 Article: ‘From Fellows with Love: the gem-set love letters of acrostic jewellery’ for Fellows

2021 Article: ‘The Colour Code | Part 1’ and ‘Part 2’ for Omnēque

2021 Admitted into the Freedom of the City of London

2021 Article: ‘The White Stuff’ for Omnēque

2021 Article: ‘Winning Ways with Gold’ for Omnēque

2020 Co-convenor and co-chair of RCA SoAH Research Platform: Feeling, Hearing, Reading, Thinking with Senses: Approaches for encounters in the studio, library, archive, museum and beyond, Royal College of Art, London

2020 Presentation: War Work in the Jewellery Quarter, 1939-1945, Jewellery Quarter Townscape Heritage lecture series, Birmingham

2020 Admitted into the Freedom of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths

2019 Panellist: Creating a Collection, Goldsmiths’ Fair, Goldsmiths’ Hall, London

2019 ‘Collector’ at Goldsmiths’ Fair, Goldsmiths’ Hall, London

2017 Convenor of the Early Modern Material Culture Seminar Series, Institute of Historical Research, London