Britt

My love for jewellery started when I was a child and a relative bought me a beading kit. I must have made hundreds of bracelets and even sold a few to my neighbours (clearly I was a business mogul from a young age selling £2 bracelets, Alan Sugar move over)! I delved in and out of jewellery making until I was 15 and finally discovered the holy grail of jewellery making: silversmithing.

Much to my father’s delight I purchased a blowtorch and other tools online and then began practicing at home, continuously saving up for new tools and books. After many attempts both failed and successful I decided to find an apprenticeship to develop my skills, I spent over a year searching and eventually found one, 358 miles from home in beautiful Cornwall. My dad took me down to Cornwall for a couple of days to have my interview and look around the local village I would be living in. Luckily I loved it and got the job.

I returned to Liverpool in February 2017 with a view to give other people the joy of making their own silver jewellery. I didn’t think so many people would be interested and assumed this would be something I would do once a month alongside my jewellery making however I could not have been more wrong. I love teaching as much as I love making my own jewellery, it is the most satisfying and rewarding job I could have ever hoped for.

Andrew

I met Britt pretty much as soon as she moved home from Cornwall and from there she introduced me to jewellery. I actually found it really interesting and had no idea how much work, both physically and mentally went into making jewellery the traditional way. As I took a keen interest, after that Britt started showing me more things to make and I quickly took it up and made things for relatives and for Britt.

At this time I was working as a website developer, but the 9 to 5 gig wasn’t really cutting it for me. I had never imagined myself working as a silversmith but when Britt asked for help with some weekend workshops I was keen to help out. One thing led to another and I found myself quitting my job in June 2018 and started working full-time at Noctua. It’s been an amazing (and quite frankly scary) experience changing my entire career but I wouldn’t change a thing, it has given me such a varied lifestyle to say the least.

Sally

I took early retirement from NHS management in 2018. One of my leaving gifts was a silversmithing course, which was the beginning of a new hobby. After taking a number of workshops with Noctua, I was at a one day class in 2022 when Britt asked if I could help out with a bit of admin work and two years later I’m still here!!

My main duties are answering emails and sorting out the calendar but I’m happy help out with whatever needs doing, including bits of furniture restoration and painting in the studio!

I love the variety of working with Brit and Andrew, and have the added benefit of their help with my own jewellery making.  It’s a dream job.

At home I have three cats (Poppy, Bella and Merlin) and a dog called Elliott (pictured with me), who visits the studio on occasions.