"I brought a piece for you,” says Nigel O’Reilly, as he reaches into his satchel to retrieve a box.

“Be careful, I might take that statement too literally,” I joke, learning forward as he flips the lid to reveal The Talisman Pendant: a 69ct rare salmon pink morganite circled by 200 graduated champagne and white diamonds encased in 18ct rose gold.

“The stone itself is cut by a master goldsmith who passed away two years ago, whose work is in The National Gallery. I only made it nice around,” says Nigel – modestly – of the masterpiece from his Flesh collection, which took over 80 hours of labour to complete.

Talisman pendant designed by goldsmith Nigel O'Reilly.

And while we could easily imagine this piece sashaying down the Oscars red carpet, it quickly becomes clear that its creator – a farmer’s son and former toolmaker – has his feet firmly on the ground.

Which is in Mayo, to be precise, having returned home mid-recession with his wife, Tracy Sweeney, to build their own exclusive brand.

Farm to high fashion

Raised on a suckler farm near Claremorris, Nigel explains that having dyslexia meant he was always drawn towards working with his hands, which is why he initially served an apprenticeship as a toolmaker in Galway, and went on to specialise in making surgical instruments for companies like Boston Scientific.

“It taught me a lot of discipline and precision making, which is important for this,” he says, “but there was no creativity to it whatsoever.”

It was in Galway that he first met Tracy, who is from a farm close to Castlebar, where her parents also ran the well-known TK Sweeney & Sons agri-fuel shop up until recently.

“Driving forklifts and selling beef nuts,” she smiles of her involvement in the family business, before going on to study art at GMIT.

And really, it was their relationship that led Nigel to his true career path, after he decided to make up a ring one day at work for his girlfriend.

Trying to impress her: you know you have to keep these art students happy and Tracy was like: ‘This is really cool, you should get into jewellery.’

“And it just reminded me of when I was doing my Leaving Cert when I did LCVP (Leaving Cert Vocational Programme) and we had to do a case study on a jeweller.

"When I was looking at it, I thought: ‘That’s really cool’, but I had no knowledge of what to do about it.”

Researching his options, Nigel applied to study as a goldsmith with the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland in Kilkenny, where he also worked alongside renowned jeweller Rudolf Heltzel, before an opportunity rose in 2009 to train as a diamond setter in Stockholm, with both himself and Tracy making the move.

By 2012, however, they were ready to come home and start to build their own brand, despite the economic outlook; and the many doubters.

“Everyone thought we were daft,” recalls Tracy. “‘Why would you come home?’”

“It was kind of like: ‘You’re wasting your time. No one’s going to send jewellery to Mayo,’” continues Nigel. “That’s the back end of the world to some people – if you’re from Dublin – and it was like: ‘No one’s going to buy jewellery there’ … and within two weeks or something, I had six UK companies sending me work.”

And not just any companies, as Nigel’s skills as a setter were soon in demand by some of the most exclusive jewellery brands on London’s Bond St – a short hop, thanks to the flight from Knock – with many of the pieces eventually ending up on A-listers.

Meanwhile Tracy – whose own art work is sold through the prestigious Saatchi Gallery among others – developed the business end of things, from the website and photography to paperwork.

Making a statement

But while this high-end trade work helped pay the bills – and hone his skills – Nigel says he wanted to separate himself from the crowd and last year, launched four collections: Flesh, Blood, Light and Flame.

Using the most precious metals and rare gemstones (including those cut by the late master lapidary, Erwin Springbrunn), pieces include his Cerulean topaz ring surrounded by a web of 108 rippled white diamonds, globe amethyst cocktail ring finished with a band of rose gold and green tsavorite garnets, lilypearl pink sapphire dress ring, Viola diamond and sapphire drop earrings and heartstone tourmaline and sapphire pendant.

Cerulean topaz dress ring designed by goldsmith Nigel O'Reilly.

And simply put, it’s jewellery that makes a statement.

“I suppose what I would like with my jewellery is when a woman walks into a room with a piece of my jewellery on, they’re taken seriously immediately. They’re not to be messed with,” says Nigel, recalling an anecdote he was once told about a businesswoman who said she “silenced the boardroom” with her ring.

As well as his own collections, Nigel also works with clients on bespoke engagement and wedding rings, as well as on other commissions.

While wedding bands can range from €1,800 to €2,500, most pieces start from €5,000 up, due to the high quality of the materials, but Nigel hopes his jewellery will be seen as an investment.

“I treat them as pieces of art and I want them to be collectible. So in 10 years’ time, these pieces will be worth more than they are now,” he says. “That’s where we’re aiming towards and that’s the plan.”

Pastures new

Indeed, as well as attracting Irish clients, Nigel and Tracy have also started to make inroads to the American market via New York by meeting with designers like Don O’Neill, and have their eyes firmly on the fashion pages of Vogue.

They have also partnered with Phyllis MacNamara of Cobwebs jewellery in Galway, and having recently moved into their new studio in Castlebar, they believe that their rural location is all part of their unique appeal.

“People are travelling to us, and I guess it’s a case of making part of the experience of coming to Mayo – to our studio – a destination,” says Tracy.

Moreover, they are extremely grateful for the support of Mayo County Council, LEO and their local enterprise office, with Nigel receiving a €15,000 investment after winning the Mayo and Connacht finals of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2017.

And it is becoming very much a family business, with two of Nigel’s brothers also involved in diamond setting and CAD (computer aided design). And who knows, maybe in time, sons Tadgh (6) and Davitt (3) will join the business too.

And while 2018 glitters with opportunity, there’s one thing that just never gets (g)old.

“The thing I love is taking a piece of metal literally from the bar and then creating something that people go: ‘Oh my God, that’s amazing!’ It’s such a good feeling,” says Nigel.

“And I’m nervous every single time I give jewellery to a person when they open the box, because you want them to love it as much as you do.”

For further information, visit www.nigeloreilly.com or follow on Facebook or Instagram.

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