Behind the Blade: The Story of the Ice Skate Charm

As a jeweller with over 25 years of experience, I’ve spent my life designing and handcrafting jewellery with great care and intention. For more than a decade, I’ve also found myself awake long before dawn, standing rink-side as my daughters trained for figure skating — first once or twice a week, then almost every morning as their passion grew.
Like skating itself, the journey into this world is a quiet evolution. You begin gently - an early lesson here, a club session there - until, before you realise it, your days revolve around ice times, competition calendars, and sharpening schedules.
Over the years, the rink became more than just a cold building. It was a second home, filled with early-morning camaraderie and a cast of familiar faces: parents, coaches, skaters, and ice technicians all bound by the rhythm of the blades and the shared understanding of hard work. Friendships naturally formed on the sidelines, where people swapped stories over flasks of coffee or cheered each other’s children on from behind the barrier.

It was during one of these quiet mornings that a chance encounter set something unexpected in motion. The president of a local figures club showed me a silver brooch—a small award traditionally given each year to the club’s best figures skater. It was the last one they had left, and the original jeweller was no longer producing them.
As I turned the brooch over in my hands, I was struck by the idea that this could be more than just a keepsake. I knew immediately I could create something truly special—something elegant, personal, and worthy of the skaters who wore it. I shared my thoughts, and soon after, I was commissioned to create a brand new set of brooches for the Royal Skating Club.

The result was a collection of 30 handcrafted sterling silver brooches. It took eight months to complete them—each one made slowly, by hand, in between my other jewellery work. When I brought a few finished pieces to the rink to share with friends, the response was immediate and enthusiastic. People loved them—and they wanted more. “Could this be made into a necklace?” they asked. “What about earrings?”

What began as a single silver brooch, handed to me rink-side on an ordinary morning, became the beginning of something far more meaningful. From that moment, the ice skate charm — and everything it represents — took shape. It’s more than just a piece of jewellery; it’s a symbol of dedication, memory, and love for the ice. And I’m honoured to keep making it, for the skaters and families whose stories are etched into every blade.

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