There is a goldsmithing workshop in Rome that feels like it belongs to another century.

Pastries and wine for morning tea. No OHS. Pure Italian passion. It was there, surrounded by people who loved making things with their hands as much as I did, that I fell deeper in love with the craft.

I'm Lizzie McFadyen, the designer and jeweller behind ELM.

My background is in graphic design, but jewellery found me the way the best things do. Slowly, then completely. What drew me in, and what keeps me here, is that it is one of the few things that takes me entirely off a screen. I light a candle, open the windows, put on music and lose myself in the process. My quality control manager, Freddie, rarely leaves my side.

That's the energy that goes into every piece.

I make jewellery for moments that deserve to be held onto. An engagement. A new baby. A quiet promise kept. Each commission begins with a conversation about what that moment means to you, and ends with something made by hand that carries it forward.

When someone puts on a piece I've made, I want them to feel the love that went into it. I want them to feel proud to be wearing something made for them alone, that captures that very moment in time.

ELM is made to order in Sydney using ethically and sustainably sourced materials. Every piece is one of a kind. Nothing sits on a shelf waiting.

It's yours before it exists.