And not just old nails, but computer keys, circuit breakers, aluminium, textiles, copper wire and other eclectic materials, which the thirteen members of The Bauble Collective couple with the usual silver, gold and pearls to make unique pieces of contemporary jewellery.
The Bauble Collective is one of the many tenants who will call the old Myer building home for the next few months under the rebranded Myre Project, which kicked off last month.
The group is flying the flag for contemporary jewellery, something Jodie Lyndan-James said does not get much commercial visibility.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW‘We don’t have contemporary jewellery shops here in Perth and art galleries, where we are able to display and sell our jewellery, have been closing. With that in mind we saw the Myre concept and thought we’d give it a go.’
Ms Lyndan-James said the group’s members all knew each other in some way and all studied art at Curtin University or the Central Institute of Technology and came together to promote contemporary jewellery.
‘Contemporary jewellery looks at something other than status and questions the perceived notion of jewellery, hence the unusual designs and materials,’ she said.
‘We use a lot of reusable materials, contrasting these against normal jewellery material like Stirling silver, gold and pearls.
‘It is fun and innovative to use weird materials and customers love the surprise.’
Fellow group member Betty Walsh said the contemporary jewellery community had put their support behind their Myre Project endeavour.
‘We’ve received great feedback and we don’t think this concept has been done in Perth before,’ she said.
‘We were surprised how well the first week in Myre went because we’re trying to get people to accept contemporary jewellery.
‘People have different ideas of jewellery but people have been generally well accepting of Myre.
‘This is a good learning experience for all of us.’
The Bauble Collective and The Myre Project are open Wednesday to Friday 10am to 6pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm.