Stonehenge Celestial

A Two-Layer Stonehenge Necklace Handcrafted from Old British Silver Coins

Before the roads. Before the cities. Before much of the history we recognise as Britain, the stones were already there.

Stonehenge Celestial is my attempt to capture something of that extraordinary place in old silver.

Two separate layers form the necklace.

Below, Stonehenge stretches across the piece, individually constructed from recycled silver crown and half crown coins.

Above it hangs a second celestial layer. A crescent moon cut from an old silver crown faces a sun made from a vintage bronze threepence coin, with the option of a 22ct gold sun.

Stone, sun and moon.

Earth below. Sky above.

A tiny ancient landscape made from pieces of Britain’s own history.

The Stones Beneath the Sky

Stonehenge has stood on Salisbury Plain for thousands of years.

Its stones have watched countless sunrises and sunsets while almost everything around them has changed.

We know that the monument was constructed and altered over many generations. We know that its relationship with the movement of the sun was important.

But Stonehenge still refuses to surrender everything.

That mystery is part of its power.

People have stood beneath the same sky and wondered about these stones for thousands of years.

We are simply the latest generation to do so.

Sun, Moon and Stone

The necklace is deliberately constructed as two separate horizons.

The lower layer belongs to the earth.

A line of ancient stones rises from a gently curved silver landscape, creating my interpretation of the unmistakable Stonehenge silhouette.

Above it, suspended independently, are the sun and crescent moon.

The movement between the two layers means the sky is never completely still.

As the necklace moves, the sun and moon shift above the stones.

It turns the piece from a static image into a small moving landscape.

The Celestial Layer

The crescent moon is handcrafted from an old British silver crown coin.

Opposite it sits the sun.

In the standard version, the centre of the sun is made from a vintage British bronze threepence coin.

The warm old bronze creates a deliberate contrast against the cool silver of the moon.

There is also an option to have the sun made in 22ct gold.

Against the aged silver, the rich colour of high-carat gold gives the sun an extraordinary presence without overwhelming the rest of the piece.

Silver for the moon. Bronze or gold for the sun. Old silver for the stones.

Following the Sun

Stonehenge and the sun are inseparable.

The monument is famously aligned with the solstices, connecting this immense construction of stone with the changing position of the sun through the year.

At midsummer the sun rises in relation to the monument’s principal axis. At midwinter, the setting sun takes on particular significance when viewed through the stones.

Whatever ceremonies, beliefs and gatherings once took place there, the people who built Stonehenge were paying extraordinary attention to the sky.

Thousands of years later, we still gather there to watch the same sun.

The Moon Above the Stones

The moon adds another, quieter rhythm.

Long before clocks and calendars organised our days, the changing moon provided one of humanity’s most obvious measures of passing time.

Waxing.

Full.

Waning.

Darkness.

Return.

Placed above Stonehenge, the crescent moon becomes a reminder that while human lives are brief, the cycles above us continue.

Made from British History

The materials matter enormously to this piece.

I could make Stonehenge from fresh sheet silver.

But it would lose something.

Instead, the stones are constructed from old British silver crown and half crown coins.

The moon begins as another silver crown.

The bronze sun begins as an old threepence.

These were once pieces of everyday currency.

They travelled through pockets and purses, crossed shop counters and passed between generations before becoming obsolete.

Now those fragments of more recent British history have been used to depict something far older.

Old coins remembering ancient stones.

Built Like a Tiny Monument

The Stonehenge section is not simply a flat silhouette cut from a single sheet.

The individual uprights and lintels are formed from recycled coin silver and assembled by hand.

Each stone is textured individually to give the surface the weathered character of rock rather than polished new metal.

The irregularity is deliberate.

Stonehenge is not neat.

Its surviving stones lean, weather, fracture and carry thousands of years across their surfaces.

I wanted the silver to retain something of that feeling.

The completed Stonehenge layer measures approximately 75mm in length, with the highest stone reaching approximately 20mm.

It has presence when worn, but its open construction allows the piece to remain visually light.

Made Slowly at the Hairy Growler Bench

This is a piece that has to be built rather than simply produced.

Old coins are selected, cut apart and transformed into the individual components.

The stones are shaped and textured.

The lintels are fitted.

The silver landscape beneath them is formed.

The moon is pierced from a crown coin.

The sun is made separately before the celestial elements are assembled onto their own chain.

Then the two layers are brought together so that the sky hangs naturally above the stones when worn.

There are quicker ways to make jewellery.

This is not supposed to be one of them.

Marks of the Old Silver

I do not try to erase every trace of the coins these pieces came from.

Old silver carries scratches, softened surfaces, patina and small irregularities acquired during its previous life.

Some of those marks remain.

They belong here.

This necklace is not pretending to have history.

Its materials have history of their own.

A Hairy Growler Canon Piece

Stonehenge Celestial sits at the heart of what I want Hairy Growler jewellery to be.

Old materials.

British history.

Landscape.

Folklore and mystery.

Traditional hand skills.

And the transformation of something that had reached the end of one life into something worth keeping for another.

It is deliberately unmistakable.

Not simply a pendant depicting Stonehenge, but a small piece of landscape jewellery with its own earth and sky.

Product Details

• Handcrafted two-layer Stonehenge necklace
• Stonehenge constructed from recycled British silver crown and half crown coins
• Crescent moon handcrafted from an old silver crown coin (approx 20mm)
• Standard sun handcrafted using a vintage British bronze threepence coin (approx 20mm)
• Optional 22ct gold sun available
• Individual hand-formed and textured standing stones
• Separate celestial sun and moon layer
• Stonehenge section approximately 75mm in length
• Highest stone approximately 20mm
• Traditional silversmithing, piercing, forming and hand-finishing techniques
• Historic marks and character of the recycled coins retained where appropriate
• Individually handcrafted at the Hairy Growler bench
• Each necklace will have subtle variations created by the original coins and the handmade process

From Currency to Heirloom

The stones have stood for thousands of years.

The silver has already lived another life as money.

The bronze has passed through unknown hands.

Now they meet beneath the same sun and moon.

A fragment of Victorian and British coinage transformed into a memory of something immeasurably older.

Made slowly.  (((allow 4-6 weeks)))

Made by hand.

Made to carry its past forward.

Old silver beneath an ancient sky.