FOCusof ARTIST

Designer
Profile
Julie Verfaillie
By Susana Sueldo
Created in 2012 by Julie Verfaillie, Femme Mécanique
Designs stands out with its design ethics and quality:
each piece is a unique and wearable work of art that
is 100% hand made. From a background in music and
visual art, Verfaillie decided to pursue a parallel career
in jewellery to fulfil her passion for technical challenges.
She is 100% self-taught as a metalsmith/jeweller,
of which she is very proud. Her techniques are
unique, creative and she always strives for the utmost
professionalism. Wrought from fine and sterling silver,
bronze and brass, these creations are inspired by four
distinct stylistic concepts: Urban, Tribal, Rustic and
Inspired by Nature.
Everyday a design is born, from a found pebble on the
ground that becomes a bronze ring to a minimal architectural
silver double ring. By wearing them, each
piece will be tested for its durability, its comfort and
aesthetic before putting it into the market.
Furthermore, Julie produces each piece of jewellery
she designs autonomously and is directly involved in
every aspect of production from start to finish. She
does not have her pieces produced in series or cast
from moulds by a third party.
She instead constructs her creations from an assortment
of wires that she bends, shapes, hammers and
solders together. She also works with precious metal
clay of the bronze and silver varieties, in which case
she moulds in silicone an assortment of found objects
or sculpts the piece directly in the clay. She then dried
the clay and fires in a kiln to sinter the metal particles
together for hours. Once the pieces have been handfashioned
or fired in the kiln, they are sanded to perfection
and subsequently polished and work-hardened
in a tumbler.
It is very important to Julie that her work is ecofriendly.
Thus, every piece of scrap metal is melted
into pebbles to create her famous Asteroid Earrings.
188 FOCUS of SWFL 2013