Have you ever been to a museum and admired a famous artefact just to find out later it was a replica? Ever wondered how such detailed copies are made or who makes them? Have you ever wanted to have your own version of a piece of historical jewellery?
Sitting down with Nicky Wade from Gemmeus, a professional jewellery maker specialising in what she calls “the treasure chests of our ancestors” spanning from the Roman to Art Deco, we talk all things jewellery designing for the history-lover, heritage sights, and craft fairs. On 26 October 2025 Nicky presented an exciting new project at Alfredfest 2025, an Anglo-Saxon festival celebrating the town of Wantage and its relation to Alfred the Great, King of the Saxons (871-886). After spending 150 hours recreating the Alfred Jewel, Nicky was excited to share her creative process. She describes herself as a “rarity” in modern jewellery-making, tackling all aspects of the creative story, rather than specialising in a specific process and working as part of a team to combine skillsets.
The Alfred Jewel, currently on display in the Ashmolean, is an Anglo-Saxon glory. It takes the shape of a teardrop, adorned with gold intricate patterns, featuring a figural image in blue and green cloisonne enamel encased by crystal. A masterpiece of technical achievement, this jewel is a priceless historical artefact, whose original purpose is still up for contention.
I was eager to know how Nicky felt about the original creator of the objects she remakes—did she feel connections to them, were there things she discovered about the object’s provenance through recreating it? Nicky told me whilst she isn’t usually one for that sort of thing, there is an undeniable desire to do the original creator justice; she feels a responsibility to make a representation that they would like. She also explained that, for instance in the Alfred Jewel piece, she wonders whether they would have made it in the same way, guessing that the only difference in her tool kit is the addition of electricity.
Beyond the Alfred Jewel project, Nicky has a hugely successful business and has created replicas such as The Poundbury brooch, rings for the BBC showWolf Hall, and collaborated with the National Trust and English Heritage organisations. She has worked alongside Colchester Museum for a special exhibition on jewellery (Adorn—open 27 July 2019 until 16 February 2020) as well as making more economically viable pieces inspired by larger projects, demonstrating the wide reach of her work. We spoke about the hardships in working with such institutions, especially places like Hampton Court Palace who display Nicky’s version of the Anne of Cleves hat brooch but do not credit her in the label or wall text. Nicky emphasised how her work relies upon word of mouth, explaining how many of her opportunities arose from random chance meetings or distant connections, but also people willing to wait long periods of time and pay large amounts of money for unique pieces. In relation to the Alfred Jewel, Nicky described to me the 15-month process just to find the rock quartz for the centre of the composition, describing the very patient customer funding the process.
After talking to Nicky, I have a new appreciation for replicas. Whilst before, like many others, I had the tendency to consider them simply copies, inferior to an original, I now see them as a fusion between our modern world and a past which we can only imagine. As Nicky explained how she breaks each item down into its component parts and then builds them back up again, I found myself understanding a new way of studying art and human history through embodying the original makers and becoming a part of their artistic world.
Visit Gemmeus here: Handmade silver gold Jewellery UK
Photo by Nicky Wade for The Student