Richard Allen East Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Designer maker that uses both precious metals and base metals to make jewellery that tells stories. I use my childhood, my teenage years and life itself as inspiration. 80's Japanese art, fashion and music all had an influence on my ideas from the first minute I entered the world of jewellery way back in 1985.
My journey has taken me from colourful plastic jewellery in the 80's to gold and silver today. Creating jewellery that can tell a story is my passion and if it sparks a discussion then even better. The challenge of turning a childhood memory into a piece of wearable art is exciting in itself but I want to create pieces that encourage the wearer to go forth and retell the story.
My style is not very traditional and nor are the materials I use but they allow me to create textures and finishes that are pretty difficult by traditional methods. I still use gold and silver and I love Keum Boo. But I also work with base metals such as copper and bronze and I like to combine metals where I can.
You'll find me making jewellery mainly because that's what I do every day. And my jewellery has won me the Professional Jeweller People's Choice Award 2025 for Collection of the Year. Please find the time to check out my socials as you will see some of the designs that won me the award.
Finally, for those of you that are creative, I also run metal clay workshops at my studio in Hull.
