Crafting Milestones Part 2: From workshop to campaign
One of the reasons this project was so much more to me than making was jewellery was that i wasn't just creating the jewellery as a silversmith but as someone who genuinely understood the stories behind the charms and the campaign - Which to me, helped make the campaign more authentic.
Early on in the making process, a film crew joined me in the workshop to document the project; From wax carving and casting, through to soldering polishing and final assembly. The footage would later become part of a documentary style film accompanying the wider campaign, alongside posters at the event and a beautifully produced coffee table book to illustrate the charms and their meaning.
The visual language of the workshop; fire, molten silver, casting and transformation, reflected the themes at the center of the campaign. It also reinforced the message that advances in treatment are enabling rare disease patients to achieve incredible things, with Alexion's own milestones helping make those journeys possible. At the heart of it all are people striving to make things better for others.
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 Melting Silver, ready to cast |
By the time I'd finished the bracelet and charms, I'd become quite attached to it and packing it away to be displayed in an exhibition felt unexpectedly emotional.
I'd of course spent weeks making it, watching the project evolve into a realised piece, but so many of the charms represented my own journey too; It was quite hard to let it go!
Alexion asked if I’d like to contribute my own story and charm to the bracelet. At first I chose a dandelion; they’re resilient, grow anywhere and you can’t keep those fuckers down, can you? A bit like me. (It’s also the charm I showed in Part One.)
But that could have been anyones story, I wanted something that represented my personal experience more honestly, so I chose a cheeseburger.
A bit abstract at first glance, but the cheeseburger became an anchor during my time in hospital as a young adult. My family and I never knew what each day would bring; everything felt chaotic, uncertain and fast-moving. But every day, my mom and dad would bring me a cheeseburger.
It became a small ritual, something we could rely on amidst everything else. A little bit of predictable comfort.
 Eating cheeseburgers in hospital with Mom...
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 and Dad!
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I still love a cheeseburger 🍔. Here it is photographed for the exhibition!
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 to fully assembled, polished cheesburger |
And finally, after months of development, filming, refining and collaboration, the finished bracelet came together as one complete piece. Here it is, all charms revealed:
The final bracelet, all charms profressionally phorographed: Angel of the North, Calendar, Hiking boot, Kidney, Bloody drop, Yorkshire rose, London location pin, Cheeseburger, Microphone, Babies dummy, Rhubarb leaf, Lightbulb, DNA Strand, Binoculars, A spare bail
You'll see there is so much more to the charms that just cast silver, there are tiny, personal hidden touches, like the 2011 on the calendar charm - marking an incredibly special date; When Eculizumab was approved for use in aHUS. A tiny (1.5mm!!) Ruby set in Laylas hiking boot, with an "L" stamped underneath (her birthstone and initial)
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 Laylas initial on the boot
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None of this could have existed without the incredible creative direction behind the wider campaign. The entire project was titled “Milestones” and culminated in a celebratory exhibition.
The charms were individually displayed in cabinets for guests to explore freely, accompanied by posters illustrating the stories behind each piece and a beautifully produced coffee table book expanding further on the meaning behind the bracelet.
 Campaign poster, sign posting the exhibition
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 The full collection and campaign
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The charms in full:
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Looking back a year later, I don't quite know how i'll top it. That's it, time to retire! I feel accomplished and incredibly proud to have contributed my small part to such a celebration of resilience, progress, storytelling and the very human side and impact to scientific advancement.