Meet Your Maker: Sarah Rothe's titanium resilience

Etched titanium is her signature material, having first worked with it following a residency in China in 2008. The process to create a range that might include brooches, rings and pendants is slow and methodical and over the last 10 years Rothe has built a following around the launch of new pieces.

“I create the design on the computer and send them off to be etched in the US,” Rothe says. “I envisage big pieces, really intricate but bold, seeing them as statement pieces that could be worn on the catwalk. The etching comes back in sheets and I weld and cold join to bring the pieces together.”

As a contemporary jeweller, Rothe embodies a true entrepreneurial spirit and is continually on the move. When she is not producing her jewellery, she is either managing her retail outlet Sarah Rothe Jewellery in Regent Arcade, showcasing her work at markets and events like WOMADelaide, or working at the JamFactory in her new role as creative director of the Jewellery and Metal Studio. Starting this role in February 2018, Rothe is charged with securing new commissions and collaborations and mentoring the first and second year JamFactory Associates in the studio.

Since graduating from Adelaide College of the Arts in 2006, career highlights include a brooch gifted to Hilary Clinton from the Premier’s Department and her work Anisoptera Collar purchased in 2014 by Truus and Joost Daalder, which is now in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Rothe is currently working on a new contemporary collection of etched titanium jewellery inspired by the Daintree Rainforest’s blue tiger butterflies.

“My mum found several that had died and I am working with the whole butterfly shape as well as repeated elements, making new big creatures out of butterfly wings.”

This new butterfly collection will bring together her love of colour and form, moulded from the same energy and inspiration that makes Rothe as dynamic and resilient as the titanium she brings to life.

Sarah Rothe is a part of the Well Made community and is featured on the platform.

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Header image: Sarah Rothe