Maya is one of four recipients to recently have been awarded a Goldsmiths’ Centre Career Catalyst Grant. Now in its second year of supporting designers to innovate their practice, she’ll be using the grant to learn optical stone setting under the tutelage of Alexander Sidorov, a craftsman internationally recognised for his exquisite stone-setting abilities. Here she talks to writer Louise Miller about the award and how it will take her jewellery to the next microscopic level.

Congratulations Maya, this grant is such a wonderful opportunity. How did you hear about it and what made you apply?

Thank you, I’m so raring to go with it. I heard about it from a jeweller friend called Lucie Gledhill, who took part in the first year of the project. Applying now was for a number of reasons really, the timing seemed right with pandemic restrictions easing and travel being more possible. But mostly, I felt like I’d got to the point where setters were telling me the things I wanted to do weren’t doable. I was starting to feel like I needed to know more of the technical setting skills myself, so I could maybe find a new way of getting closer to what I want.

You’ll be learning optical stone setting. This sounds very technical- could you demystify it a little?

Optical setting is actually not very technical, well it is technical but it’s not complicated, it literally means setting with magnification. Most often that would mean setting with a microscope. Lots of jewellers use flip down goggles that magnify what they’re doing but for optical setting you would be sat in front of a microscope looking through that to enhance what you can see. That’s all optical setting means, so you are looking in much more detail and able to be far more accurate.  In a beautiful way, you’re entering this tiny, microscopically detailed world and sometimes, when you pull away from it and look at what you’ve been working on, it’s not even really visible! You can get too much into the detail but that’s also what I find really exciting.

What drew you to the technique and what are your hopes for it once you’ve mastered the skill?

I think it’s an inspiring micro world to enter into and a whole new level of detail that I can explore and refine. Even if there is a point at which the detail isn’t visible to the naked eye, refinement on that scale will produce a differing sense of tactility and finish. I’m hoping that will translate into my jewellery by creating a new wearer experience, even if you can’t exactly see what is different and that’s what makes it exciting for me.

Can you tell me about some of the equipment you’ll be using? The microscope looks very high-tech. You must have felt like it was Christmas when all those boxes arrived.

It did! There were three boxes that arrived from Antwerp and also a beautiful photographic book of all the amazing settings that you might be able to master. I have a new microscope with a light and stand. The stand is for making the microscope exactly the right height for my body. I also have a quick release pendant motor for cutting and burring and a Max graver, which is an air setting tool that connected to a compressor. I’ve set up a new bench as you tend to work at a lower level than traditional goldsmithing, so the microscope can be at eye level. I’ve now got two separate making areas, one for goldsmithing and one for optical work.