A little more detail…

The Curious Fox

A Little Bit Wild. A Little Bit Clever. Made from Old Silver.

There is something about a fox.

You rarely get a proper look at one.

A movement beside the hedge.

A flash of red crossing a field.

Two bright eyes watching from somewhere they probably shouldn’t be.

And then it is gone.

The Curious Fox captures that moment.

Hand cut, carved and engraved from an old British silver half crown, this little fox carries the wit, curiosity and independence of one of our most familiar wild neighbours.

From Half Crown to Fox

This necklace begins with an old British silver half crown.

I don’t melt the coin down.

I don’t cast a fox and attach it afterwards.

The original coin becomes the fox.

The design is drawn directly onto the old silver before the spaces around the animal are painstakingly removed with a fine jeweller’s saw.

Then the character begins.

Fur is engraved.

Features are carved.

Edges are refined.

Little details are added one at a time until the animal that was hidden inside the coin finally appears.

Old money. New fox.

The Curious One

The fox has always seemed to occupy the boundary between two worlds.

Wild enough to belong to woodland and field.

Clever enough to live almost alongside us.

It watches.

Waits.

Adapts.

And usually knows we are there long before we know it is.

That wonderful alertness is what I wanted to capture in this piece.

Not the fox running away.

The fox that stopped to look back.

Fox Symbolism

Across folklore and storytelling, the fox has become associated with intelligence, intuition, adaptability and wit.

It is often the smaller creature that survives not through strength, but through understanding.

The fox notices things.

It changes course.

It finds another path.

It knows when to disappear.

That makes The Curious Fox a rather lovely talisman for someone who has always preferred finding their own way.

Observe. Adapt. Stay curious.

The Old Coin Remains

Part of the pleasure of making jewellery from old coins is allowing the previous object to remain visible.

I want you to be able to look at the necklace and discover that it used to be money.

The outer edge of the half crown survives.

Small remnants of its original details may remain.

Wear from its previous life becomes part of the finished piece.

Each coin has already travelled its own path before arriving at my bench.

I don’t erase that history. I work with it.

Made One at a Time

Every Curious Fox is individually made.

There is no mould producing hundreds of identical animals.

The old coins vary.

My saw line varies.

The engraved fur varies.

One fox may look a fraction more inquisitive.

Another may carry slightly different marks from the original half crown.

That is exactly how I want them.

Your fox should be your fox.

Choose a Little Companion Charm

The necklace can be finished with a small charm at the Hairy Growler fastening.

Depending on the options available, you can choose from designs such as an oak leaf, star, crescent moon or heart, with different recycled metals creating their own character.

It is a tiny detail, but one that makes the finished necklace feel even more personal.

A moon for intuition.

A star for guidance.

A heart for love.

An oak leaf for strength and the woodland.

The Hairy Growler Shepherd’s Crook

The fastening is part of the necklace rather than something I want to hide.

Each piece is completed with my handmade silver Hairy Growler Shepherd’s Crook fastening.

Formed and finished at the bench, its curled shape has become one of the little signatures running through my work.

It means that even the practical part of the necklace carries evidence of the maker.

From fox to fastening, it has passed through my hands.

Make It Personal

If this fox is being made to mark somebody, somewhere or something important, initials or a short name can be engraved on the reverse.

That turns a woodland necklace into something rather more private.

The fox remains the story everybody can see.

The reverse can hold the story meant only for you.

Made to Become an Everyday Companion

The Curious Fox was designed to be worn rather than kept for best.

Let the silver gather little marks.

Let the high points polish against clothing and skin.

Let the old half crown continue travelling.

Jewellery becomes much more interesting when it becomes part of someone’s everyday life.

After all, this piece has already spent decades being handled.

There seems little point becoming precious about it now.

Product Details

• Original Hairy Growler Curious Fox necklace
• Handcrafted from an old British silver half crown coin
• Old coin typically dating from the late Victorian and early twentieth-century period
• Approximately 50 mm x 30 mm
• Fox individually hand pierced from the original coin
• Hand carved and engraved detailing
• Made using traditional hand tools and jewellery-making techniques
• Original coin character and historic details retained where possible
• Choice of necklace chain lengths
• Handmade sterling silver Hairy Growler Shepherd’s Crook fastening
• Choice of small finishing charm where available
• Optional initials or name engraved on the reverse
• Every old coin and every handmade fox will have subtle individual differences
• Fox symbolism includes intelligence, intuition, adaptability, curiosity and wit
• Handcrafted and recycled in Cambridge

The Curious Fox

Once, this piece of silver was money.

It passed from hand to hand.

It bought things.

It travelled in pockets.

It gathered scratches and softened with age.

Then its first life ended.

Eventually it arrived at my bench.

I drew a fox into the old silver.

Drilled a tiny hole.

Threaded through my saw.

And began removing everything that wasn’t him.

Slowly, the coin disappeared.

Ears appeared.

A nose.

Fur.

Those watchful little eyes.

Until eventually he was there.

As though he had been hiding inside the half crown all along.

The Curious Fox.

Old silver. Sharp eyes. Still finding his own way.