Rachel Lambert Jewellery, Tataraimaka

Rachel Lambert Jewellery is an independent jewellery business on the Taranaki coast, creating handmade pieces in one-off designs and small editions, from small silver studs and textured rings to carved pendants and substantial chain necklaces. The business combines an online shop with in-person sales at The Factory Workshop in Tataraimaka, alongside bespoke commissions, repairs and teaching.

Rachel was born and raised in Ōkato, Taranaki, and credits her artist father with encouraging her interest in making things from an early age. She studied jewellery techniques at Manukau Institute of Technology in Auckland, completing her studies in 2001, then exhibited and sold through New Zealand galleries, with her work featured in North and South, Home and Garden, Jewellers Trade and Urbis. She later spent six years in the United Kingdom, working as a bench jeweller and tutor for an independent jewellery store.

Her work spans traditional silver and goldsmithing, gem setting, repairs and carving, with designs influenced by organic forms and Māori and Pacific motifs. Materials include sterling silver, gold, copper, pounamu, antler, bone, wood and mother of pearl, paired with gemstones such as tourmaline, peridot, opal, aquamarine and carnelian. Rachel cuts and shapes many of the stones herself, including freeform cabochons and rose cuts, and works mostly in small editions, letting natural variation in colour, shape and texture give each piece its own character, so two from the same group can still look distinct.

Taranaki and the natural world run through the collection's names and forms, from Taranaki Ranges rings and Taranaki Maunga medallions to Stony Riverbed pieces and designs referencing Paritutu, Sugar Loaf Island and the chimney. Kina textures, koru patterns, seedpods and shell-like forms sit alongside more geometric shapes, in combinations such as antler with silver or copper links, pounamu framed in gold and silver, or dyed antler and bone squiggle earrings.

Commissions are a core part of the business, ranging from recreating treasured jewellery and remodelling inherited pieces to engagement and wedding rings, signet rings, gemstone jewellery, bangles and pendants, plus more unusual objects such as a Mount Taranaki engagement ring, matching silver and pink-gold wedding rings, diamond-set pieces and an oak and silver acorn pendant. The portfolio includes work completed both independently and during earlier employment.

The Factory Workshop also runs jewellery-making experiences in a fully equipped rural workshop, teaching practical skills such as sawing, filing, soldering, sanding, texturing and polishing. A ring-making class involves working silver wire into a finished ring to keep or give as a gift, alongside earring classes and beginner courses that run from complete beginners through to advanced makers; specific dates are best checked directly.

Customers can browse online or visit the workshop at 1729 South Road, Tataraimaka, Friday to Sunday from 11am to 4pm, or by appointment. Shipping is within New Zealand only, at a flat rate of $10, with care instructions and ring-sizing guidance also provided for buyers.

• New Zealand
• New Plymouth
• Taranaki