Maxine Symons - Jewellery
 

Maxine was born in Bissoe, Cornwall. After leaving school, she studied at the Royal College of Music in London, where she lived for many years. After a long career as a professional opera singer and director, she returned to Cornwall in 2001, and now lives near Crowan.

Maxine designs and makes jewellery using real cultured freshwater pearls, sterling silver, and gold. She has a particular interest in early Roman jewellery, where the functional develops seamlessly into the decorative.
Her interest in freshwater pearls has developed over the years as the pearls themselves have developed. The quality of pearls now produced is truly staggering.

The fabulous lustre, the wide range of natural colours, and the vast variety of shapes and sizes available, make freshwater pearls wonderfully inspiring.

When describing pearls there is often some confusion over the terms real, natural and cultured.

Natural pearls are created by the mollusc alone, with no intervention from man - they are extremely rare and very expensive. Nowadays the vast majority of the world's pearls are cultured - where something has been implanted into the mollusc stimulating it to produce nacre - and thus, a pearl. Whether seawater or freshwater, cultured pearls are the pearls most readily available today. Natural and Cultured pearls are both real in the sense that they grow inside a mollusc - imitation pearls do not. Most of the pearls used in Maxine's jewellery are real cultured freshwater pearls, and are usually cultured in the mussel Hyriopsis Cumingi. They are available in an infinite variety of colours, both dyed and natural, and many fascinating and inspiring shapes and sizes.

The word NATURAL has two different meanings in the pearl world. There are natural pearls as already described, and there are natural colour pearls, which are pearls that have not been dyed.   In real cultured freshwater pearls natural colours vary from white, through cream, gold, pink, apricot, lavender and a deep purple. There are no natural colour black pearls in freshwater pearls.   In seawater pearls there are natural black pearls called Black Tahitian pearls. These grow in the black-lipped Oyster Pinctada Margaritifera and vary in colour from silvery grey, through blue, green, aubergine and a deep black.   Maxine also uses these naturally black pearls in her Jewellery, as well as Blue Paua pearls from New Zealand, and Golden pearls from the Philippines.

Caring for your pearls

1. Keep your pearls in a soft pouch on their own, not with other jewellery, as they can easily be scratched by gemstones.

2. Put your make-up, hairspray and perfume on first, and put your pearls on just before you go out. Do not spray perfume onto your pearls. Beware of vinegar in salad dressings. Beware of chlorine in swimming-pools.

3. Do not keep pearls in a hot, dry place. Remember where they come from.

4. It is a good idea to wipe your pearls with a soft, damp cloth before putting them away, to remove the sweat and dirt that will accumulate over time.

5. Have your pearls re-strung once a year.

6. Pearls like to be worn.

Maxine Symons

Phone: 01209 831420
E-mail: maxine@crowancrafts.co.uk
www.maxinepearls.co.uk

Maxine's jewellery is available from her Web site, by contacting her direct, or from the following galleries:

• Castle Bude Heritage Centre Bude, EX23 8LG - 01288 357300

• Chase Art Gallery The Platt, Wadebridge, PL27 7AE

• Church House Designs Broad Street, Congresbury, Bristol. BS49 5DG - 01934 833660

• Gallerynine 9b Margarets Buildings, Bath BA1 2LP - 01225 319197

• Gemstone Jewellery Unit 2, Court Arcade, The Wharf, St Ives, TR26 1LG - 01736 796285

• Jury Box Shire Hall, Mount Folly Square, Bodmin. PL31 2DQ - 01208 76616

• Lighthouse Gallery 25 Causeway Head, Penzance, TR18 2SP -  01736 350555

• Lighthouse Gallery 18 River Street, Truro. TR1 2SQ - 01872 277001

• National Maritime Museum Discovery Quay, Falmouth, TR11 3QY - 01326 313388

• Seagrove Gallery The Square, Marazion TR17 0BH  -  01736 710732

• The Island Shop St Michael's Mount, Marazion, TR17 0EF

• The Round House & Capstan Gallery Sennen Cove, Penzance TR19 7DF - 01736 871859

• Trelissick Gallery (Cornwall Crafts Association), Feock, Truro, TR3 6QL - 01872 864514

• Trelowarren Gallery (Cornwall Crafts Association), Mawgan, Helston TR12 6AF - 01326 221567

• Trevarno Estate and Garden Crowntown, nr Helston, TR13 0RU - 01326 574274

• Watts Trading 12 Fore Street, Lostwithiel, PL22 0BW - 01208 872304