Mayo seaside jewellery designer scoops top award

‘MADE with love and sea air’, a unique Mayo jewellery business has scooped a top national award.

Born from the Sea is a small business based in Louisburgh that started life as a little idea at a bedroom desk.

Now, owner Vicky Gray - shortlisted from almost 4,000 business, whittled down to seven finalists - has been named Young Entrepreneur winner at the Micro Business Awards Ireland.

The Westport native creates and produces pieces from her seaside cottage beside Old Head beach. It's a family affair, with everyone collecting shells and other materials for her jewellery from local beaches.

“Growing up on John’s Row, Westport, my Mayo surroundings yielded the idea for my distinct and quirky business, a combination of my children’s shell picking and homesick pandemic stories is where it all began,” she explains.

It really changed during lockdown when people were stuck abroad and quite homesick.

“I thought it would be great to send them a piece of home that they could wear with them daily and also treasure.

“I did lots of research and came up with resin, that was the perfect material to make it look like it was still in the sea, but also protect it; and that's kind of how it was born.”

Every piece produced by Born from the Sea is unique.

Vicky explains the process: “It is a really time-consuming process, but one I absolutely adore. It's interesting work; everything's done with a tool as fine as a darning needle. I add gold leaf and glass glitters to the eco-resin to catch the light, and then I add a little bit of resin dye to just give the illusion of the ocean, the seaweed, the starfish, etc.

“However , I do get help from my family to gather my materials. We collect all the shells from the local beaches, there's no particular beach, it's completely tide dependent. The main thing for me is everyone plays a part, from the littlest hands to the largest, we're all involved in some way or another be it beach combing or packing orders.

“We have good fun making reels and tik toks together too as I think humour is important in a business and not taking yourself too seriously.”

The beauty of the brand is that every piece is unique and one-of-a-kind, even to the point that finding matching pieces for a set can be tricky. “The hardest to make are the earrings, you need a small shell, and you need to find a match,” says Vicky. “I could find a shell today, and it could be four weeks before I find the right one to match, it's all just a waiting game really.”

The tag line for Born from the Sea is ‘Made with love and sea air’, which is something that's at the heart of the business and really important to Vicky.

“Everything that goes into the jewellery has had to be touched by sea air, and that includes any of the pressed flowers. It's just a little added touch I think is important, more for me than anything else. I think it gives a sense of authenticity to the pieces.

“From the collection of the shells right through to the finished piece that I sell, I have collected 100 per cent of them on my own or with the help of my family. We're just super lucky where we live to be able to beachcomb so frequently.”

Check out Vicky's Instagram @born_fromthe_sea and website, bornfromthesea.com.