Sínann Fetherston speaks with jeweller Natasha Heaslip about her work with gemstones, why she loves to make wearable art, and what she believes jewellery fans should invest in.
Earlier this month, fine jeweller Natasha Heaslip paired up with four of her peers to represent Ireland at Romania Jewellery Week 2025.
Held in Bucharest, the exhibition was curated by an international jury, featuring cutting-edge work by jewellery designers from across the globe, championing studio-based design from independent makers.
"It's the only contemporary jewellery fair of its kind," she says of the annual event, which is now in its sixth year. "It's really art jewellery. I showed body adornment stuff and quite a contemporary sort of work."
Natasha applied for the exhibition independently, but when fellow independent jeweller Vanessa Murtagh reached out, she realised there were a number of Irish artists looking to showcase.
In the end, five independent female studio jewellers travelled to Bucharest to showcase their work on the international stage: Natasha Heaslip, Vanessa Murtagh, Nicole van der Wolf, Siobhan McArdle, and Louisa Scott.
The artists represented a stylistic cross-section of Ireland's growing contemporary jewellery scene, hailing from Dublin, Kildare, Galway and Belfast.
"It was lovely! We travelled together, we ate out together, I stayed with one of the girls," she explains. "It was really nice to have that camaraderie."
"All of our work really complemented each other," she adds. "All our styles were very different; there was no competitiveness. We all wanted everybody to do well."
With a background in sculpture, Heaslip has found joy in exhibiting her "wearable art" internationally, but hopes that more Irish people will begin to view jewellery in the same way they would a painting.
"I would love for people in Ireland to kind of start understanding the concept of buying jewellery as a piece of art as opposed to an accessory," she explains, noting that the skill level it takes to create fine jewellery can often be underestimated.
Fashion jewellery, she says, is "fine and lovely and has its place", but it is often mass-produced and likely made abroad, even if it was initially designed in Ireland.
For Heaslip, studying sculpture, life drawing, and goldsmithing led to an interest in creating something altogether different - artworks that could be hung on the body.
"I love making mad body adornment pieces," she says. "I studied a lot of life drawing, so I follow the feminine form; I really like to follow the lines of the body, but really simple lines."
Working from her studio in Galway, Heaslip has made a name for herself in making a collection of one-of-a-kind pieces through the mediums of platinum, gold, silver and precious gems, as well as unique and rare cut stones.
"I'm really passionate about gemstones," she beams. "A lot of people have diamonds, and they don't really know about coloured gems. You can get the most beautiful, high-end colour gems. We aren't really very educated in Ireland about that, I don't think."
"I love to find stones in unusual colours and then create a piece from that," she adds.
While Heaslip admits that diamonds remain a favourite among brides-to-be, she insists that Irish customers are beginning to shop around for something more unique, with one commission calling for yellow and blue sapphires atop three interchangeable bands.
"Pieces of jewellery are often seen as heirlooms that will be passed down to loved ones in time," she notes. "And often bought as a creative investment and an expression of their own individuality".
Of course, jewellery handed down through generations doesn't always remain fashionable, which is why the jeweller has found a market in those looking to upcycle their wares.
"It's lovely because people come in and they might have inherited something and it's been sitting there for years, so to think that you can totally revamp it and bring new life to it, that's really rewarding."
