Chariots on Fire: How did you discover jet and what attracted you to it?

Jacqueline: I started using jet in my final year studying jewellery design at Central Saint Martins. It was a eureka moment as it was a material I knew nothing about.  I fell in love with the material the more I worked with it. It was only through time that I learnt more about its history, that it totally suited the way I like to work and that no-one else was doing it so my work could be unique.

Pictured above: Jacqueline's one of a kind Whitby Jet Ring with Swarovski crystals.

Chariots on Fire: What is your biggest challenge in working with jet?

Jacqueline: Jet is organic and contains fault lines, inclusions and pressure cracks. The biggest challenge is understanding what can be made from each piece like a sculptor ‘reading’ what’s happening inside a block of marble. I can’t impose ideas upon the material, I have to work with it and allow accidents to be incorporated into the final designs (this often leads to a more interesting piece).

Pictured above: Jackie's Whitby Jet offcuts

Chariots on Fire: Do you use similar techniques / tools that were used by Whitby jet artisans during Victorian times?

Jacqueline: Tools and methods are similar but updated versions but in general I have had to teach myself everything as there are no ‘how to…’ books. I have also devised my own techniques including combining processes that I believe have never been used with Whitby jet e.g. granulation. The thing that hasn’t changed is that working Whitby jet is a very hands-on and filthy process.

Pictured above: Photograph of a Jet workshop dating back to the 1800s. Photograph
by Frank Meadow Sutcliffe

Pictured above: Photograph of  Jacqueline's studio

Chariots on Fire: How do you start your day?

Jacqueline: Strong coffee, toast and peanut butter with BBC radio 4 on and a cycle ride down the canal to my studio in central London – depending on where I’ve moored my boat this can take 20-45 minutes.

Chariots on Fire: What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?

Jacqueline: I would have liked to have been a silent movie actress! I started out in experimental physical theatre and love singing so I would like to be a performer and disco queen. I also always wanted to be Debbie Harry!

Chariots on Fire: 1 thing you can't live without?

Jacqueline: My super fluffy black and white cat Stanley and roast potatoes and my boat Blue Rose (sorry that’s 3 things).

Chariots on Fire: Diamonds or rubies?

Jacqueline: I’m not a huge fan of either but if pushed I’d say diamonds purely because Whitby jet looks fantastic set with black or champagne diamonds, I also like sugar cube raw diamonds.

Pictured above: Jacqueline's Whitby Jet Earrings with Swarovski crystals.

Chariots on Fire: Do you consider yourself a collector? If so, what do you collect and why?

Jacqueline: I collect hats with sequins and sparkles on them – I am well known for wearing a spangly hat for half of the year.

Chariots on Fire: Is there a piece of jewelry you wear everyday or that is very special to you? If so,
tell us about it.

Jacqueline: I wear a ring made at the beginning of my second year at Saint Martins, It is a large cast silver ring with a small smooth moonstone set in the front and a large piece of rough red garnet set in the back as if it is bursting out of the ring. The two stones are set on top of each other with a channel between the two so that the light shines through and turns each stone to the colour of the other. It is special to me as it is the first time I really started to recognize the themes and the aesthetics I now work with all the time.

Pictured above: Photograph of a Jacqueline's studio

Chariots on Fire: If you could have access to any materials in the world to create a piece or a new collection what would those be?

Jacqueline: Slip cast black porcelain

Pictured above: Jacqueline's one of a kind Whitby Jet Ring with Swarovski crystals.

Chariots on Fire: You live in London, what are some of your favorite "secret places"?

Jacqueline: I live on a narrow boat on the canals and rivers and move around every few weeks – there are some beautiful hidden and wild places in east and north London. The Wenlock Arms near Islington is a proper old ‘boozer’ cheap with unusual ales and lagers and a lethal fluorescent orange scrumpy (proper traditional cider), which can floor anyone within two pints.