Co-creators of Thirty Pieces
Jordan Joseph and Josie Slee
Our friendship began upon working side by side in the hospitality industry when we were 16 and 17 years old. From the off our dynamic has been one that just clicks into place. We manage to share the same ideals and challenge one another in equal measures. We really just bring out the best in one another and this makes our partnership natural and easy.
We share a studio space in an out building behind Josie and her partner’s home in in Swansea, a 5 minute walk from where Jordan lives with her husband and daughter. All of our pieces are created in this space from the forging to the polishing. It really is our sanctuary. A creative hub where we have fits of laughter and moments of frustration. Packaging our pieces is a task we take great pleasure in, we wrap each piece by hand and often do so having a glass of wine in one of our houses. We find it therapeutic and it’s important to us to add the finishing touches with care away from the roughness of the studio.
The design and creation process is definitely shared equally but we have naturally established our own roles within other areas of the business. Upon designing our pieces, we sketch and discuss styles before making sample pieces which we then wear ourselves to make sure we have the right aesthetic, weight and fit. We both make the pieces by hand and definitely have certain favourites that we prefer to make over others but our craft truly is a labour of love and we hope this is reflected in every piece.
With a background in textile design, Jordan naturally took on the role of making our packaging and Josie being a lot more tech savvy, took on the role of managing our website. We both manage and maintain our social media presence and our content on both Instagram and our website is styled and photographed by ourselves. We take pride in using all of our own imagery.
We are fortunate to live in a part of the world where the landscape is rich with texture, shape and form. Our coast is plentiful and it’s these elements from which we draw our inspiration. We want our jewellery to possess the roughness of a cliff face and the fluidity of the sea. Finding the perfect balance is the tricky bit.
Our journey with silver began upon enrolment of a silversmithing course. We wanted to partake in something to learn a new skill and to make some time for one another in our hectic and busy lives. Silversmithing was something that appealed to us both as we have always been lovers of jewellery and liked the idea of working on small wearable projects side by side once again. We have experimented with copper and brass in the past but we love the versatility that silver brings. It looks equally stunning freshly polished and new, as well as aged and tarnished. It lends itself well to hand forging as well as making molten forms and the textures that can be added to its surfaces are countless. We love the way silver looks on all skin tones. Subtle and tonal on fair skin and striking and bold in darker complexions. All beautiful in our eyes.
Thirty Pieces is very much our side hustle at the moment. Jordan juggles working part time for an independent retailer in Cardiff whilst raising her two year old daughter and Josie works full time in Port Talbot in a creative role where she works closely with social workers and families in adoption. We spend most evenings in the studio and post out orders during our lunch breaks. It’s pretty relentless but we are loving every minute. It’s so satisfying to hear the orders ping in our emails and to receive such wonderful feedback from our customers. We are embracing the growth of our new brand and are so proud of what we’ve achieved in our first year so far.