Our Story
The Owner
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Ladlin Designs was founded by South African-Irish jewellery designer and silversmith, Mathieu Stewart.
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Based in Rural west cork, Mathieu manufactures skilfully handcrafted jewellery using a fusion of old Celtic and African designs to create timeless pieces, drawing inspiration from both South Africa and Ireland.
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Growing up, Mathieu had a very keen interest in gemstones, which was fuelled largely by the abundance of minerals and Gemstones in South Africa, as well as access to local gem and mineral workshops where he learned to cut gemstones
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From there, Mathieu later went onto study jewellery design in Ireland, followed by a two year apprenticeship learning traditional hand engraving under one of Ireland's oldest hand engravers.
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The origin of Ladlin Designs
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The idea behind Ladlin Designs stems from a love of culture and the fusion of culture to create new and intricate jewellery designs. Some of the most important things overlooked when it comes to culture are mythology and cultural patterns. Every culture has a unique history when it comes to the patterns they use but very few people understand their meanings and the same can be said about a cultures colourful mythological background.
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The name Ladlin was inspired by the concept of the fool in old European mythologies, who was later adapted to be the joker on a standard pack of playing card. In European mythology, the fool represented taking a leap of faith into the unknown and in the many myths about him, he is seen as a force that breaks the mould of reality by breaking down the boundaries between ideas and concepts. He is often depicted as a man standing on the edge of a cliff about to fall off but is not afraid of taking the leap into the unknown. The name Ladlin was formed from the words, lad and the Irish word Linn. Lad is a general term for a man and the irish word Linn mean a precipice. When combined, Ladlin means "The precipice of Man".
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At Ladlin Designs, we are passionate about the jewellery we make and have fun making each piece, as such we carry various collections made of the finest materials sourced from sustainable sources using 100% recycled precious metals and ethically sourced gemstones.
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Each piece is also packaged in renewable and biodegradable packaging.
There's nothing that makes us more proud than seeing our customers wear our signature creations. That is why Ladlin Designs aims to design jewellery for every occasion. Curious to see more? Browse our site!