Each piece of St Justin jewellery and Designer jewellery is crafted by hand and eye in Cornwall, the South West extremity of Britain. This wild and beautiful land was home to the many native Celts who were driven away from the temperate midlands of Britain by invading European warriors, such as the Angles.  It is in places such as Cornwall, Ireland, Wales and Scotland that the art of the Celts and ancient Britons has survived, carved into stone tombs and discovered on pottery fragments and ornaments.

The CeltsThe "Fathers of Europe" were a vibrant group of people sharing common linguistic and cultural ties. For a thousand years they dominated Europe from Turkey to Portugal before eventually being overwhelmed by successive Roman and Germanic expansions. They continued to survive on the north western fringes of Europe and today, are found in Scotland, Ireland, Man, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany where their culture and individual branches of the Celtic language survive to varying degrees. Famed for their love of war, drinking and feasting, The Celts were also deeply spiritual people, with a closeness to nature. To them, the natural world was a living and sacred entity. The air, water, trees, animals and rocks were deeply revered. This awareness of the earth's sanctity and latent energy is, today, reawakening interest in the wisdom of ancient cultures.  
The Celts were also master craftsmen and this tradition continues. Celtic design both attracts and delights the eye with its intricate complexity based on simple geometry and nature.
The Celtic deities were bold, noble, beautiful and daring, representing mythic archetypes clear to us from modern day psychology.  The Celts thought themselves to be potentially existent in all worlds, in the sense that they related to each part of their cosmology. It was considered easy to pass between the worlds of the created realms and the Otherworld.
St Piran Cross standing stone
Celtic Art and Symbols
As the years went by, religious scholars and monks adopted the traditions of Celtic art, creating illuminated texts such as the Lindisfarne Gospels.   As Christian beliefs spread across the world, the Celtic Cross evolved, with the circle that surrounds the cross symbolising the "great wheel of life" - a belief that pre-dates Christianity.  Carved stone cosses are scattered throughout the country and are a common site in our churchyards today.
Modern interpretations of Celtic tradition have given us the Arts and Crafts movement and the era of Art Nouveau, where the ancient Celtic belief in elegance of form and a reverence for the Earth and it's creatures is apparent in the work of artists from many nations


Trescele
Two triscele earrings, Cornish bronze

The triscele is found in late Celtic art and may have some Roman influence, although fine examples are found in the native art of Ireland and Scotland. It may represent the three realms of Celtic lore: the past, the present and the future.  It survived well into the Christian period, possibly because itcould also be considered to represent the Holy Trinity.
The Tin Industry
Diamond bar pendant, tin
Cornwall's ancient tin industry began nearly 4,000 years ago during the Bronze Age. Tin was mined by our Celtic ancestors and exported to Europe and the Middle East where it was used in making weapons and tools. Nowhere in the world was tin mining so engrained into the local culture as Cornwall and especially so during the 19th and 20th centuries. In medieval Britain, the tin industry kept Cornwall relatively independent, with its own stannary law allowing some self-government. Tin is traditionally given as a gift on Tenth Wedding anniversaries, and St Justin have created the Tin and Diamond Collection with this in mind, although the pieces are also ideal for other occasions.
Celtic CrossesCrytal Cross neckletThe Celtic cross symbolises the bridge to higher energies and planes of existence. It represents the relationship between the celestial realm (vertical axis) and the earthly plane (horizontal axis). The circle around the cross symbolises both the Great Wheel of Life and the solar energy. They represent the union between the earth and spirit, the stones firmly fixed in the earth and reaching upwards to the heavens.
Celtic Knotwork
Celtic Knot ring, narrow

The Celts used knotwork to decorate many of their artefacts. The intricate patterns woven into spirals and knots symbolised the continuity of life.
Celtic spirals developed from natural examples in shells or plants.  These may relate to Winter and Summer, the light and dark seasons.




Hearts
Celtic heart necklace
Hearts represent love in all its many aspects. They also symbolise "having heart", the power of courage and will. The ancient Egyptians believed it was the heart that held the person's soul.
Lugh's KnotCeltic necklace
Lugh was the most honoured of the Irish gods. He was renowned for his multitude of talents and skills. Similar to the Roman god Mercury, Lugh was known as a god of both skill and the distribution of talent.
Cornish Bronze
Cornish Bronze heart pendant

The Bronze Age in Great Britain and Western Europe began over 4,000 years ago.  Copper and tin were fused together to form the alloy bronze, renowned for its strength and longevity.
Using recycled copper and Cornish tin St Justin has re-created this ancient metal. After casting at over 1000 degrees centigrade the raw pieces are refined. Finally, the jewellery is  hand-polished to produce a collection of unique bronze jewellery that looks like gold.

Thors amulet
St Petroc
Sty Petroc Cross

St Petroc was a Welsh nobleman who was educated in an Irish monastery and then sailed with a small band of followers to the Camel estuary. He built a church at Padstow with a Celtic monastery as a centre for spreading the Christian faith. In his travels he also started churches in Bodminand Little Petherick, as well as in many parts of Britain, Wales and Brittany. King Constantine ruled the area at this time and was said to have been converted to Christianity by St Petroc when he rescued the deer that the King was hunting. There are many legends about St Petroc's healing, miracles and banishing monsters. He was buried at Padstow. In the 12th Century St Petroc's Church in Bodmin obtained his relics and put them in a painted ivory casket, which can still be seen today.
The Staffordshire
Hoard

The Staffordshire HoardOn the 5th July, 2009, whilst metal-detecting on farmland in southern Staffordshire, Terry Herbert began to unearth the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure ever found. Comprising over 1500 items in gold, silver and other alloys and valued at £3.3 million, the collection is thought to date back to the late 7th and early 8th centuries.