Old Masters
Craftsmen
Master Jeweller
Craig Peters
It is difficult to imagine a more isolated centre of jewel crafting excellence.
You arrive at Craig Peters’ studio by driving down a narrow laneway off one of the backstreets of the port city of Fremantle, 10,000 miles from the established salons and studios of Europe.
His lockup is utterly non-descript. It looks like any of the hundreds of other old corrugated iron warehouse facades to be found in any port town the world over.
Lifting the rattling warehouse door reveals his beloved and beautifully restored 1963 Fiat roadster. At one end is a timber kitchen, bathed in natural light from an adjacent window. Opposite, a bedroom. Nearby, an office.
Curiosities, old and valuable books, artwork, stunningly-detailed model sailing boats adorn the walls, hang from the high rafters. The entire space is a shabby-chic shrine for those who are mesmerized by fine things in eclectic surroundings.
And there, in a corner, is a solid steel door. There is no handle, but a keypad. It is perhaps the only nod to modern technology, necessary to protect the immensely valuable contents of the room behind the door.
Making bespoke, beautiful jewellery is as much about the artistic process as it is about the finished piece.
This is the crucible, the secret, hidden place from which emerges, ever so slowly, some of the most exquisite, bespoke and expensive pieces of precious stonework ever created. The diamonds and lesser stones come from the best-known dealers in the world. But it is here that they are turned into awe-inspiring art.
Crouched over his bench, Peters works with a monk-like intensity of concentration, aware at every step that the slightest mistake can mean ruin.
Each piece may take many months to complete. In more than 30 years, no two of his works have ever been the same.
He creates alone, on commission, and only after exhaustive consultations with his well-heeled clients around the world. Theirs is an intensely private world, protected, as are their commissions, behind the steel door, inside the battered iron walls of a deliberately undistinguished warehouse.
He has earned the title of Master Jeweller, each piece individually designed and crafted, and importantly, hand made. In a world where only 2% of jewellery is crafted by hand, this is indeed a rarity. For Craig Peters, designing and making bespoke, beautiful jewellery is as much about the artistic process as it is abou thte finished product. He has become Australia’s most awarded independent Jeweller.
In another workshop, outside the kitchen door, the visitor finds the raw timbers and the tools Peters uses to shape them into exquisite, finely-turned wooden display cases for each of his jeweled creations. Each case may take as long to craft as the precious pieces they house. The craftsmanship is breathtaking, for this Master Jeweller knows that theatre plays its part. He wants his clients to gasp with awe and delight
And they do.
As Old Masters, we are technically uninhibited & free of all external parameters. We simply design and craft the ultimate masterpieces, sparing absolutely no cost.