Lined wall to wall with a dazzling rainbow of gold, silver and pearl, the jewellery of sister stores; Heart in Hands and Foxford is an ode to the great beauty and longevity of our native Claddagh and Celtic designs.
Their sparkling displays of rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings can’t help to catch the eye as you pass by, subconsciously drawing you closer to see all of the brilliant jewels and precious metals that makes each piece of jewellery so incredible.
The more you look the more you see, as when you take the time you’ll notice all the intricate detailing in each piece that reflects this jeweller’s dedication to quality and attention to detail. Recently, we got chatting with the person responsible for creating all of these handmade designs; Lorcan Field.
Through the jewellery in both Foxford and Heart in Hands, Lorcan is giving the classic Claddagh and Celtic symbols a new lease of life by reimagining them into new designs, with beautiful results.
When Lorcan’s parents first moved to Galway, they lived and worked in Spiddal. From the Ceardlann Craft Village they work with a small team hand making Claddagh rings and other iconic Galway designs, many of which are familiar to us nowadays. A passion for their craft fuelled their work and they began supplying jewellery stores across the globe, especially receiving a lot of love from the States and Europe. In the mid ‘90s, their family relocated for a short period to Foxford in County Mayo, which is where the name of their first shop originated.
Never expecting to work in the family business, Lorcan followed his interest in IT to a career working with 3D modelling in advertisement but it would appear fate had other plans. As technology advanced, creating 3D printing models for jewellery became a viable option and so Lorcan decided to return and help reduce the labour by implementing 3D printing and casting into their jewellery making process. The benefits of which were monumental, it drastically cut down on the workload without diminishing the quality of their hand designs. “Vacuum casting is when you make a wax model, make a plaster cast of the wax model and then you just melt the wax off. It’s a really old process of making jewellery that goes back several thousand years but it can now be done very quickly and refined because it’s all digital.”
Lorcan currently creates all their Claddagh and Celtic designs. Over the last 15 years he has amassed approximately 700 designs that have been saved for future collections. With roughly ten collections released per year, there are always loads of gorgeous new pieces coming out of both Heart in Hands and Foxford. The myths and legends of Irish folklore play a role in inspiring Lorcan’s designs, hinting towards a future collection that will be aimed towards men called Nuada (silver hands), he tells us of the stories within Irish mythology about Nuada, the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann.
Over the upcoming summer months, shoppers can anticipate new Claddagh jewellery as Lorcan reworks the familiar crowned heart in hands icon into clean, eye-catching pieces with colours that you may not usually see in Claddagh designs. The authenticity and detailing they achieve in their designs is something that they value highly, as Lorcan explains; “I’m not just farming out the designs, I care about the models being good, not just getting things out there quickly.”
To shop the latest collections, visit Foxford in Corbett Court Shopping Centre near Eyre Square and Heart in Hands on High Street. For more information please see their website at www.foxfordjewellery.com.
