Little Sara in Pesaro (Italy), had watched her mother’s love for jewellery, when they visited ateliers of local jewellers to make designs for her mother. But the Fine Arts had interested Sara more, so later she enrolled for lessons in marble-sculpting in Sienna, and oil painting portraiture in Florence.

You would think that the next step would be a creative career in either fields, but older Sara had plans for a more academic path. So she moved to Glasgow (Scotland) to do her doctorate in Environmental Engineering, and went on to work in Geology.

The subject area still interested her, however the environment at work and the lack of creativity, caught up to Sara in a frustrating burnout. On one of those days, Sara visited the Glasgow Museums at Kelvin Hall, and saw a man painting on a wall, a quote from Camille Pissarro-

"Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing".

And that was it.

Sara had been toying with the idea of learning Jewellery- making. This quote put things in perspective- Sara realized that she simply had to use the word ‘humble’ in her future brand's name and identity.

“Because the entire concept rose from a space of humbleness and gratitude- for being still capable of seeing all forms of beauty, particularly where it is not obvious.” 

Sara began shadowing a local jewellery maker in Glasgow, trying to learn as much as she could from watching across their shoulder. That’s how she learned basic jewellery- bench work skills. Additionally, Sara learned the craft of Sand casting and with practise- how to use it to craft eco- silver into well-crafted pieces of jewellery. It was important to Sara for her process to be sustainable and the raw materials, to be responsibly sourced. With as much tools as needed, a modest amount of materials and advice from a friend to move to the Jewellery capital of Belgium, Sara set on her new adventure in Antwerp- Humble Forge Jewellery.

Handmade in Antwerp, with love from Italy.

“In the future, when hopefully I will have to increase production, I would prefer to pay an assistant to work with me (and invest in some more tools) rather than move production somewhere else. For me, being able to reply (fast) with a precise name and surname to the question "who made this piece?" is too important. 

My goal is to have a slow-fashion business, if it becomes bigger (giving work to more people) I'm happy, If I'll be the only one living out of it, my dream will be fulfilled already.”

That is in a way the goal of my project too, I thought- to shine light on beauty where it may not appear obvious. 

I continued to shoot Sara as she went on to complete making a pair of eco- silver earrings, with almost no waste.

That’s a wrap on my story with Sara Mancigotti. But if you want to learn mroe about

Find the Morven earrings, and more nature inspired jewellery in eco-silver. on

Meanwhile, if you’re in the market for a special plant or better, an even more special bouquet of fresh Belgian flowers, visit Blomster (now moved) at Lange Koepoortstraat 22, Antwerp.

#yourewelcome