Linda Connelly Enamels

Category: Memories

Pearl in the Adriatic – Enamel necklace inspired by Dubrovnik

Pearl in the Adriatic cloisonné enamel necklace – Silver Award at Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship & Design Awards 2026

This necklace is inspired by a visit to Dubrovnik late last year. ‘Pearl in the Adriatic’ is the name often given to Dubrovnik, Croatia. The design is inspired by the view from the cliffs just outside the old town. The colours of the sea and vegetation combined with the textures of the foliage were absolutely breathtaking and I knew immediately I wanted to try and replicate it in enamel as a piece of jewellery.

I studied the texture of the vegetation in order to try and replicate it in the hand engraved texture that comprises the Basse-taille technique.

Sketch book Designs for Pearl in the Adriatic enamel necklace

I explored different shapes in my sketch book before settling on the final design. I decided to use cloisonné for the agave leaves to bring them forward in the design.

From photos and drawings in my sketchbook I engraved the silver to echo the foliage. I then used very thin layers of transparent jewellery enamel to colour the design, using the enamel like watercolours and adding tiny amounts with careful and painstaking placement. To finish the whole piece was ground and polished before making the silver setting and selecting the freshwater pearls that it is strung with. The finished piece carries the memory of that perfect day with the breathtaking view that the wearer can touch and enjoy wherever they are .

Competition Success

I was absolutely delighted when this necklace too won a silver award at the Goldsmiths’ Craftsmanship & Design Awards 2026. It nearly didn’t get finished in time and it was a real race against the clock. I knew as soon as I saw the view though that I wanted to make this necklace for this year’s awards. It was a huge challenge to finish it in time but I was determined to give it my all. Once I had completed the other necklace, Marsh Dawn that also won an award though!

Success at 2026 GCDC Awards

Pearl in the Adriatic enamel necklace Silver Award at 2026 GCDC Awards

13/03/2026
Seascape – Enamel Jewellery

A celebration of the sea, dunes and marshes of the North Norfolk coast, UK

One of my favourite places to visit in the UK is the North Norfolk coast. My family and I have been regularly visiting for the past thirty years or so and it is a place that always inspires me. Last summer husband and I went again and this time we stayed more centrally than previously and as a result we were able to spend lots of time walking by the sea and marshes instead of driving to and from my favourite places. I fell in love with the landscape there all over again and was able to spend lots of time drawing and photographing the wild flowers and the amazing ever changing views of sea, sky and marsh land together with the abundant birds and wildflowers. During the course of a week of breakfasting on fresh croissants from a local cafe whilst sitting on a bench watching the ever changing water in the inlet together with long daily walks along the coast, ideas for a whole new range gradually appeared in my sketchbook as if by magic. They were literally born as a result of immersing myself in the spirit of the landscape around me whilst hunting for fossils, paddling in the sea and walking the coastal footpaths with marshes, dunes, pebbles and wildlife together with the ever crashing waves and the sound of gulls as a soundtrack. I called them Seascape and some of you may have seen some of these at shows last year. I hope they convey a sense of the place and remind you of your own special times on beaches and by the sea in with family and friends.

Seascape Pins and brooches

The first pieces I made were small brooches. The one on the right can also be worn as a pendant. I love a brooches myself as they pin just as easily to a fleece or jersey as to smart going out clothes. They are cloisonné enamel on silver that I have hand-engraved.

Seascape brooch

Seascape pendant/brooch

Seascape brooches

Seascape pendants and earrings

Like the brooches these are all hand engraved silver with cloisonné enamel. Many of my piece feature a jelly fish because we saw them in the harbour whilst we were disembarking after a boat trip along the coast.

Seascape Earrings

Seascape Earrings

Seascape Earrings

Seascape Pendant

Seascape pendant

Seascape Pendant

Seascape Earrings

Seascape Earrings

Seascape Tiny pendant

Seascape pendant

Seascape pendants and earrings Silver cloisonné enamel

Chips and Ice cream – A perfect meal for the beach

Seascape chip fork and ice cream spoon

More pieces are being added to this range so please check out my shop if you are interested. If a piece isn’t available please contact me as some pieces may be able to be repeated. They won’t be identical but could be very similar.

More pictures from North Norfolk coast, UK

Here are a few more images of the spectacular scenery. They don’t do it justice but I hope they convert just a little of the huge skies and sense of space and freedom that I felt there.

06/02/2025
New ‘Memories’ Silver and Enamel Jewellery

When I first heard the theme of ‘Maps’ for this year’s Guild of Enamellers’ conference, I wasn’t sure it was for me! Maps and I do not have a happy relationship. All this squiggly lines that jiggle when I am anxious or stressed! Default emotions for me when I come to use one it has to be said. How my husband and I have stayed together when driving anywhere is a total mystery. Actually it isn’t because I used to drive whilst he navigated. I have only let him drive us places since Sat Navs came into being! These ideas have evolved during many sleepless nighttime design sessions. My best ideas come at about 3am! My recent jewellery has increasingly come to contain memories and emotions; hopes and dreams. These new pieces have continued to develop this theme. Jewellery with meaning in celebration or remembrance, to inspire and define you.

Map of Memories Necklace – Brighton

Champleve enamel on sterling silver. Silver, Champleve enamel. SOJE 238,51,61,101,604,161B

Brighton is a very special place to my family and I. This Map of Memories necklace recalls many visits over the years, parking in Madeira Drive, walking along by the Wheel, up to the Brighton Pavilion in its green park, (one of my favourite places in the world,) and then back down to the sea to walk on the pier. I often seem to have been blessed with beautiful sunshine and a blue sky, even in winter so my Map of Memories Necklace symbolises the very best of days out in Brighton.

Map of Memories Necklace – London

Champleve enamel on silver. SOJE604,101,238 and BJG V23. All other colours are shaded with one over the other. The colours have been left pale to recall misty wintery days on the Thames.

This Map of Memories necklace holds memories of many visits to London and trips down the river. Here we have embarked at Embankment and we travel down the river past Big Ben, the London Eye, St Paul’s cathedral, Tower Bridge and then the Gherkin Building.

The edges of both these necklaces are irregular because memory is never perfect and the silver is shaped like pebbles to hold the fragments of special memories.

Precious Places Belfast Bracelet

I like the idea of a piece of jewellery holding memories of people and places. This is a map of the Northern Ireland coastline. A gold X marks where Belfast is. My son Kieran is at University here and I like to wear this bracelet and think of him.

Silver, 18ct gold, SOJE45, SOJE161B

Precious Places Sorrento Brooch

A map of the Italian coastline. A gold X marks Sorrento. This is a place which holds lots of happy memories for my family and I. The concave shape holds the memory as a secret, thus it appears decorative with only selected people understanding the meaning.

Silver, 18ct gold, SOJE45, SOJE161B

15/04/2017