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Risca jewellery start-up goes global, selling as far afield as Canada

22/10/2021, 10:43 am

A small Risca jewellery business that only launched in the Spring has already gone global.

Sales around the UK and Europe are growing by the day but October saw Earth Symbols, set up by Jade Newman, achieve a new distance record, with a delivery to Canada.

Earth Symbols uses resin and highly advanced 3d printing to make unique pieces of jewellery and homewares, such as the selection of earrings below.

“You'll always struggle”

The irony is that, at both school and university, Jade, now 35, was repeatedly told by her teachers and lecturers that she would struggle with maths and technology.

She proved the maths teacher in question wrong, achieving a B at GCSE and, while studying Creative Music Technology au Uni, defied the comments of her lecturer that "girls always struggle with the mathematical and computer programming module of this course”, by going on to get her degree — the only female student out of 180 undergraduates.

Proving the doubters wrong

Now Jade, from Risca, is using complex maths and the latest 3d CAD technology to create beautiful jewellery with an army of 3d printers, eagerly printing her endless creations using a plant-based polymer called PLA. 

Calibrating and tweaking 3D printers requires a deep understanding of maths, technological know-how and lots and lots of patience, skills that Jade was told she would never have.

She has even stepped into the world of programming, using a Raspberry Pi microcomputer to control her printers remotely, coding the Raspberry Pi with Python, a high-level programming language. 

Jade markets the eco-friendly products she creates through her own website and other platforms, including NOT ON AMAZON, one of the world's fastest growing Facebook groups, which doesn't charge a penny in commission.

Reflecting on her experiences, Jade says:

Both at school and at University I was told, time and again, that I just wasn't cut out for maths and technology. And yet here I am, running a start-up that is powered by maths and tech. My message to other people is don't listen to teachers who tell you that you're not good at something. Go out and prove them wrong. I also think it's important that more girls have the opportunity to break stereotypes and follow careers in design, engineering and technology, which are still heavily male-dominated."

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