Creating since 1977, William Llewellyn Griffiths is a legend in Melbourne jewellery scene. Dedicated to creating unique pieces with soul, his pieces have a unique effervescence and otherworldly intensity to them.
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- 25 years ago and I walked down Gertrude street and thought I really like this place, maybe I'll have a shop here one day. My name is William Griffiths. I am the owner of Metal Couture and my shop is on Gertrude street, Fitzroy in Melbourne. I've been making jewelry now for 40 years. I started off in the jewelry trade making diamond clusters and very traditional rings, but I've gone off and made my own ranges in my own style. But I feel like it was very good practice because it's very precise. I put my own style into the shop, I feel like it's a reflection of me. It's a reflection of my jewelry, I've made it the perfect space to house what I do, even down to making the wrought iron hand rail and the cabinets. Always liked having the bricks and mortar, so I like to have my workshop in the shop and I can see people coming in and talk to them. I don't really like this online website sort of stuff. So I use three different techniques, I use the lost-wax casting technique, which is about 3000 years old. It's called lost wax because the wax is actually lost and it gets replaced by metal. I also use computer technology where you can digitize a shape like this and shrink it down to just fit on the sides of a ring. So I do find myself working with silver, mostly because it's nice pliable metal, you can heat it up and solder it. I like high-carat gold because it's rich in color. And I like the contrast of the oxidized silver. I feel like I am very purposeful about what I put together, if I make a corner, I'm gonna have to be a sharp corner, quite obsessed with making mechanisms. Tiny little locks inside rings that work. Quite often go overseas and source gemstones. I quite often will find a stone and just think, I know what I'm going to do with this and create a ring around the stone. I do like to coordinate the colors in particular. I like to use rose-cut stones. I think my travels, the stuff that I've seen, some of the places I've been, like Prague, and seeing the old cathedrals and the Gothic architecture. I love seeing things like a huge building and then just shrinking it down and making it sit on your finger. And I find it fascinating that with all this technology of 3D printing, that we still have to go back to the lost-wax casting technique. I will manipulate the wax and the wax is very pliable, it's got a bit of give to it. Sometimes I get quite elaborate with sometimes 20 pieces of wax to make a ring. I pretty much failed all my exams at school and I one day saw a job in the paper saying, make jewelry. And I got the job. I've never done an apprenticeship, but I feel like I've been taught by some very clever people. I've sort of always rebelled against fashion, and I think, you know, I've got my own particular style. These days everything is so minimal that I just feel like rebelling and making it ornate and extravagant and over the top. After a bit of working the metal, I set the stones and I have a finished product. I'm quite private, and I just like to sit up there in my shop and make, I don't really being disturbed. I don't ever really even like talking to people actually, because they take me away from what I want to do and that's working.