Tech-tile: Stephen Bottomley

The ‘hybrid’ combination of tradition with technological experimentation that is at the basis of the work produced by the contemporary jewellery designer Stephen Bottomley.
Throughout history, jewellery-making has been linked with fashion design and the creation of fabric. Whilst still aware of its function as bodily adornment, contemporary jewellery focuses more on the value of creation than of the actual materials used; it has developed a language in which theory and concept are just as - if not more - important than the intrinsic value of the metals used.

Bottomley’s designs are inspired by an accurate study of the motifs and prints used in Fortuny fabrics. Using such modern technologies as digital scanning, reverse engineering, rapid prototyping, photo-etching, laser cutting and laser engraving, the artist re-works these designs for his own jewellery. Then comes the slow and painstaking process of actual creation, with the end result marking a fine balance between the past and the present. The cold exactitude of digital technology blends into works of craftsmanship in which perfection and precision – the characteristics usually associated with computer design – are deliberately avoided.


“My work plays on the inherent differences of these two arenas- one the product of our time, the other the tradition of our discipline. Where these two worlds interweave is a new territory that stimulates ideas and imaginations.”