PumPoiki - The Label

I have labelled my jewellery ‘PumPoiki’. I chose the name for a number of reasons. Pronounced phanetically; it is derived from the Afrikaans word ‘pampoentjie’ the literal meaning ‘little pumpkin’, but the term is also used to describe the immensely fragile and intricate exoskeleton of a sea urchin.

I fell in love with the term as soon I heard it but being English and not very good at languages I couldn’t get my head around the true way to pronounce it let alone the awkward spelling! I played with a few literal translations of the word in English and am pleased with the final outcome.

The name is creative and unique with a funky edge, likewise my jewellery and the meaning makes it even more significant. I have had an obsession with sea urchin shells since I was a kid and they are a constant and undeniable source of inspiration with my jewellery.

Who? What? Why?

I completed the 3-year National Diploma course at the Cape Peninsular University of Technology (C.P.U.T) in Cape Town in November 2007. I am now doing the Btech course there part time over two years which will give me ample time to find my place in the jewellery industry and the confidence to go out into the big bad world!

Born and brought up in Kenya, I have a strong love for Africa and there is often an ethnic feel to my jewellery. I love designing and have an artistic nature. I have been blessed with the privilege of having travelled a fair bit and spent 5 years of secondary level education in a boarding school in Dublin. I feel this has influenced the union between western contempory and ethnic styles which I try to create in my designs.

I am and naturally always have been ‘a collector.’ I find found objects fascinating and am continuelessly inspired by them. I love the gifts mother nature has to offer and being a bush baby brought up in the bundu, I am lucky enough to spend ample time at home each year roaming around up-country or scanning the beach for her hidden treasures.

I often find that many of my projects begin their design process journey with a physical object rather than traditionally with lots of sketches. I have a visual mind and quite often struggle to translate idea from imagination to paper, I will know what I want but not always know how to draw it.

I am a contempory ethnic jeweller and designer. I have always enjoyed a mixed media approach to my creativity and generally prefer using a combination of materials rather than just sticking to one. I love tribal adornment and that jewellery still plays such an important role in their societies irrespective of the material cost. I am indebted to Angela Fisher and Carol Beckworth for their incredible work in researching and photographing Tribes all over Africa. Their books are not only magnificent works of art but are realistic and accurate recordings and visuals of so many fading cultures and traditions which are rapidly being enveloped into the western world.

Sea Urchins

My biggest and oldest collection I have is all the treasure I have picked up mostly from the Kenyan beaches. As kids we used to have beach art competions for which we would earn chappie money for prizes.

We would spend endless hours beachcombing and the joy of finding any member of the urchin family was fantastic – we don’t get nearly as many on the southern coast beaches as more often than not they get smashed up on the reef, its always a bonus to find one still perfectly intact. They are incredibly fragile and all too often I have experienced the disappointment on arriving home only to find shattered remains.

In my third year of studying jewellery design I finally discovered and came up with a process to preserve and reinforce the shells so that they can last forever and be used a cabochons in jewellery. (see PumPoiki Cabochons)


The Facts

· Sea urchins are small, spiny sea creatures of the class Echinoidea found in oceans all over the world. (the name urchin is an Old English name for the round spiny hedgehogs sea urchins resemble.)

· The spines give both the sea urchins and the Echinoderms, their names. The Greek word, ‘echinos,’ refers to both the spiny European hedgehog and to sea urhins.

· The globular shaped fragile shell we find on the beaches is also called the ‘test’.

· Regular sea urchins are strongly pentamerous; that is they have a five-star symmetry. When viewed from either the top or bottom, the spines will be seen to be arranged in five or ten rows spaced regularly and evenly around the body.

· On a sea urchin test each of the whiter bands is called an ‘ambulacrum.’ There are five such ‘ambulacra’; the five-fold symemetry reveals a kinship with starfish and sand dollars.

· On the oral surface of the urchin which is at the bottom of the shell is a centrally located mouth made up of five united calcium carbonate teeth which we can see in the test. This is named Aristotle’s lantern after his accurate description in “History of Animals”

Veneer and Jewellery

Mbuya Wood Veneer

I have always thought of veneer as being fairly useless as a medium to combine with metalwork, without reinforcing it with resin. This I have considered and have a few ideas I must still explore.

Although it could be fun to play with veneers, resin and precious metals, I think one of the most appealing aspects of combining wood with metal is the contrast in texture and finish. A reason the combination is more often than not a success so immersing the veneer in resin in order to stabilise and bring out the richness of the colours and grain wasn’t an option I was keen on as the glossy finish of the resin alters the woods natural appearance. I was oblivious to the fact that not all veneers are so frailly thin.

A friend then gave me some veneer off cuts. He studies industrial design so other than as samples the pieces were too small to be much use to him, but there was ample space for making jewellery. The sections consisted of several layers of paper-thin wood glued together 3.5mm thick. The Mbuya wood, a rich reddish colour and striking patterned grain with a plainly grained and cheaper wood alternately layered in between.

The Mbuya Collection

The Mbuya collection consists of an assortment of rings, pendants, earrings and key rings made using a combination of sterling silver, silver chain veneer and leather.

Being a flat sheet the veneer was easy to work with. I first sawed out the basic shapes, sanded them first with 220 and 360 grades and then subsequently through the different platinum papers. With the layers of wood being so thin it was important not to remove too much wood and the platinum paper was less abrasive but very affective. I enhanced the colour with a final layer of linseed oil.


The shape of the earrings and pendants has a typical ethnic feel to it and is the shape the Masai warriors often use for the large, loud and proud leather beaded necklaces they wear.

The pattern the rivets make in all the designs, follow a five star symmetry layout, a key characteristic of all sea urchin shells. The wood being flat was able to withstand considerable force with the riveting hammer, which made the process quick and easy.


I bent up bezels to fit the shapes using 0.7mm by 3.5mm, 925 strip and soldered them on 0.7mm base plates to make the settings. As the detail of rivets was visible from both sides I was able to saw out most of the back plate, which not only contributed to the visual quality of the pieces but also conserved metal and reduced the weight for the earrings.


Before setting the pieces I cleaned up all the rivets using rubber wheels and bevelled the edges of the wood and the silver bezels ready for setting.


I used a pitch bowl to set the pieces using thick masking tape to protect the pitch from touching setting or seeping into the wood from behind. A very handy tip I often use as it saves the time and effort of removing the pitch from the piece after setting. I’m not a fan for turpentine and there was no way I could burn it off in this case.

With the masai shapes I was then faced with a problem as a gap had formed at the top of the bottom section where I had moved the metal up to secure the main body. Even though the bottom section was securely set the problem was visual and I solved it by burring it even and inlaying round silver wire.


I used rubber wheels again to clean up the bezels and chose a highly polished finish in contrast to the wood. This was highly affective especially on emphasising the rivets, which really sparkle with light and movement.


The chain is 3mm ½ round Rolo which I cut to length and secured to the settings with jump rings. The highly polished discs secured to the ends are a common feature in all Masai jewellery the only difference being in the metals.

For the rings I bent up ½ round wire shanks and inserted plate rings at the top of each which I part soldered to the back of the bezels (see orthographic). This type of shank is practical, easy to wear and very comfortable. It has the capacity for many variations, which attribute highly to the design quality of a piece.

My favourite pieces from the collection are the disc ring; I love the hole in the middle, which you can see your finger through. The Masai tasselled earrings are however definitely the winners for me. I like wearing bold earrings and the freedom of movement creates an amazing play of light effect on the rivets. Both the pieces make quite loud statements without being heavy or uncomfortable.

I feel I have been successful in forming a balance between glamour and rustic and was very pleased with the final outcomes.

AngloGold Awards 2007

The theme for the 2007 AngloGold awards in South Africa was kinetic architecture. I really enjoyed designing around this theme and even though my designs didn’t go further than the preliminary judging I felt a huge sense of achievement afterwards.

I used African Nomadic Architecture as my source of inspiration concentrating mainly on the materials they use and the roofs of their huts. Wooden scaffolding and thatch easily being translated into gold in my mind.



I began by playing with garden wire and made a couple of models trying to imitate the thatch covered armature roof tops like those of the east African nomads. I have an eye for small details so it was inevitable my designs would end up being fairly complicated.


I did three designs overall, the neckpiece being my favourite and I piece I know I will one day make. My two other designs were rings, both a bit far-fetched and wacky! The woman’s self-defence ring was entered in the Beyond jewellery category!












The mechanism inspired by a ballpoint pen, which you twist at the top for the nib to come out. A simple twist of the ring attached to the lowest thatch layer would reveal the sharp point through a hole centred at the top of the roof. A punch with this would cause immense damage, but in reality I feel the concept was fairly ridiculous and definitely not very practical! A step out of the box and I enjoyed figuring out the pen mechanism and trying to incorporate it into a piece of jewellery.

I also really enjoyed using watercolour as the medium for rendering. Drawing is something I have always found difficult and envy those lucky people who are naturally talented. I tend to be very heavy handed with my pencil and often have to draw something over and over using tracing paper before I get the perspective right.




I find rendering much easier and have always had a love for colour and texture. The watercolour technique is something we only started in 3rd year, it seemed so daunting at first as paint felt so final and unforgiving of mistakes. I was really happy with my final rendering for the competition and could feel the step forward I was taking with my drawing. I found I could include much finer details with paintbrushes, an aspect which will compliment my style of designing.

"An online student jewellery council"

Its taking me forever to get the ball rolling with starting to blog. Im not sure whats holding me back, most likely the procrastinator inside me and possibly a fear of what others may think. Chris has forced me to sit down and start writing, the first step is always the hardest and I have been staring at a blank screen for the last 10 minutes! Below I have included a paragragh stateing what I aim to achieve in the next 18months and would appreciate any comments and feedback anyone might have.....

In today’s world, the Internet plays a substantial role in the lifestyle of students worldwide. I would like to form an on-line communication network between the jewellery students both on a national and an international level. Initially this would be done by using a "blogging" system, which enables students to communicate, and form acquaintances with people in other learning institutions around the world. I will achieve this using the contacts I have in the U.K. and Holland. It would be hugely educational for students to interact and learn from one another’s experiences and form contacts on an international level. This would be of great benefit in establishing themselves once they have graduated. By creating a “student jewellery council” online, we could include a website gallery where students can advertise and sell jewellery on-line without the mark up of shops and galleries affecting sales.