Pieces Of Me… CC-Steding

Pieces Of Me… CC-Steding

"In many ways, our drive comes from a distaste for fast fashion, consumerism, and the traditionally opaque and old-fashioned jewellery industry. I hope our work prompts people to think more deeply about where everything comes from.” ~ Ben Chaplin, one half of CC-Steding

This series is a dedication to the things that are most important to us. To the heirlooms (and memories they hold) that we wear on repeat; that we’ll cherish forever; that become part of us.

In homage to the fine jewellery designers whose pieces bring us so much joy, we’re taking a closer look at their lives through an intimate lens, gaining a sentimental snapshot of their personal stories and what’s most important to them.

For this installment, we’re spotlighting one of London’s favourite jewellery studios, and the lives and loves of the creative husband-and-wife duo behind it. Designed by Nichola Farnan and Ben Chaplin, CC-Steding realises wearable pieces of fine art in reclaimed silver to live in, that we can’t stop, won’t stop wearing on the daily.

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"Physical prints from our most recent campaign, shot by Oscar Foster Kane and hand printed by Adrian Ensor.”

"Cosey signed this for us when we met her after a talk she did on the book. One of those days where we are super grateful to be living in London."

"Some hoarded treasures that live in our studio.”

“Inside the cinema at the Institute of Contemporary Art, where there’s an amazing program of new and old films.”

What was your route into design and how did you begin the brand?
Nic: I originally studied fine art, before studying and working in menswear, and a bit in costume. We were already customising and designing a lot of our clothes and possessions, and at the beginning we were just instinctively making jewellery pieces that we felt could exist within our world, because there wasn’t really jewellery around that we wanted to wear.

Those early pieces resonated with a bunch of our friends and colleagues, who started requesting them and the amount of time we were spending designing and making grew from there.

  Ben:I’ve always revered designers and makers, but it took me a long time to find the confidence and outlet to start designing and sharing my own work. I don’t have any formal training or education in a creative field so I used to feel like an imposter, but I’m increasingly comfortable having my own unique perspective.

My mum makes jewellery and has a great workshop space. This was fundamental in enabling Nic and I to start making jewellery quite casually without any huge pressure, at a point when we both had other careers. I don’t know exactly where it comes from, but we both have an independent, DIY outlook on the world - so what started as a side project quite quickly turned into something more than that.

Who or what inspires you? What drives your creativity?
Nic: Process and materials are the things I react to creatively when making jewellery. I enjoy the line between the poetic and the scientific. There is always a kind of ‘part two’ to the design process that we have no control over, which is when it goes out into the world and takes on a new life with whoever wears it, how they wear it, how it’s marked.

It’s always cool for us to see how that plays out when we run into people who have had our work for a while. I like the contrast of having that complete control over something to a point and then just handing it over knowing that it will keep developing. Seeing this process of pieces growing in emotional weight and value on a wearer is something that drives me.

Ben: Since the earliest age, I’ve been inspired by people who challenge the status quo, and by work that pushes the audience to ask questions or change their perspective. Recently I’ve been predominantly inspired by materials and processes. In an increasingly digital, mass-produced world, I think physicality and longevity is more inspiring than ever.

We’re excited by objects that carry signs of the life they have lived. With CC-Steding, the relationship between jewellery and wearer runs through all our work. Previous collections have been focussed on the symbolism, meaning, and emotion we invest in objects, which can become points of contact between people. More recently, we’ve found inspiration exploring the physical interaction with the jewellery itself - silver is the medium but also forms part of the subject of our work.

What did you want to be when you were growing up? 
Nic: I was very serious about classical music. I studied and played flute, starting at age nine for years - my poor family had to listen to hours of it everyday.

Ben: I had no idea, I still have no idea.

"Some of the art on our studio wall.”

"Every link is hand-formed, sawn, and soldered individually. There are faster methods but the result just wouldn’t be the same."

"Nic as a baby, shot through the remains of the Berlin Wall. November 1989."

"Nic’s newest addition to her personal CC-Steding collection, our Square Wire Floating Pearl Ring."

One thing you can’t live without?
Nic: Ben.

Ben: I grew up always having dogs around, they bring me so much joy. Our current life in London doesn’t really allow us to have one, but I’m lucky to have a bunch of great dog friends.

What piece of clothing/accessory/jewellery makes you feel most like yourself?
Nic: My Opening Ring, which was the first piece of jewellery we made.

Ben: I own a few great leather jackets, but one in particular is like my second skin.

What is your greatest piece of treasure?
Nic: A print of my friend Oscar Foster Kane’s early work that I begged him for (for years).

Ben: I love found objects. Recently, I’m particularly in love with a giant piece of rusty chain I acquired on a trip to Cornwall.

Which piece of jewellery do you wear the most?
Nic: My permanent silver cuff, because it’s literally riveted onto my wrist and I can’t take it off.

Ben: My dad’s wedding ring, it never comes off. It reminds me why I love making jewellery; it carries meaning, creates heirlooms, and punctuates our lives.

Favourite book?
Nic: An impossible question, books are so important to me. To simplify things for myself, the book I’m reading right now is Re-Sisters, by Cosey Fanni Tutti.

Ben: I think Enzo Mari’s book Autoprogettazione could be the coolest thing any designer has ever made. On the face of it, it’s a set of instructions to enable anyone to build practical, affordable furniture with the most basic tools, accessible materials, and no experience. However, it’s so much more than that.

Favourite film?
Nic: Film is far too big a part of my personal and professional life to pick just one.

Ben: Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. I love films that build an entire world and immerse the viewer in a way that other mediums can’t.

Which three albums would you take on a desert island?
Nic: Kraftwerk: Kraftwerk. This is one of the best albums ever and it is a testament to innovation and DIY. Aphex Twin: Selected Ambient Works. This still feels current to me even though it’s something I’ve listened to for most of my life. Also, Franz Schubert: Symphonies No. 8 + 9 by the Berlin Philharmonic. All this music is quite old, I do like a lot of newer music, but in the context of a desert island, these are all records which have already stood the test of time for me.

Ben: Assuming this desert island has glorious sunshine, white sand beaches and palm trees; I’m going to want some albums that take me to other places and remind me where I come from. Black Sabbath’s Black Sabbath, regarded as the first Heavy Metal album ever - I love imagining how insane it must have been in 1970. Nick Drake - Pink Moon because I like music that evokes something in me, and this is one of the saddest but also most beautiful albums I know. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures. Again, this album represents so much more than the music it contains - it sounds so British and so of its time.

“I adore tools. It’s a running joke that I only make jewellery as an excuse to collect beautiful tools.”

“Our benchpeg. We make everything ourselves, by hand. The ‘Round/Square Coil Ring’ never looks identical twice.”

“Our made-to-measure Lewis Leather’s jackets. They’ve travelled the world with us.”

"I love my bike and ride it every day all year round. It gives me a very distinct perspective on the world."

If you could live in any era, what would it be?
Nic: A lot of art, music and dance that I love came out of New York in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. I would have loved to have seen how they were made at the time, in the context of the things that they were reacting to, and above all without the internet.

Ben: For the cars and motorbikes alone, it would be the ‘80s. Mechanical engineering was pretty advanced, but computerisation of the driving experience didn’t really kick-in until the ‘90s. Cars and bikes were more analogue, offering more involved sensory experiences.

Do you have any hobbies?
Nic: Honestly, no. I’m really not good at casually engaging with things.

Ben: I don’t really have hobbies, but riding bikes and generally being out in nature is an important part of my life. I love London, but I definitely need to escape for a bike ride once in a while to keep some perspective.

Where's your favourite place in the world?
Nic: I’m not sure if it’s about places for me so much as who I’m with and what we’re doing. Any room can be transformed into a favourite place with the right people, art or music.

Ben: London. It’s not the easiest place to live but there’s nowhere else like it. The community of amazing, supportive, diverse and inspirational people I’m able to surround myself with in this city is like no other.

What makes you laugh?
Nic: Ben’s mum’s labrador, Bert. He is the goofiest dog that has ever been born.

Ben: A dog called Bert.

What makes you cry?
Nic: Brexit. On a more personal level, missing my family who live in Australia.

Ben: Also the UK’s departure from the European Union.

Do you have any phobias?
Nic: Banana peel.

Ben: Not yet.

If you could ask anyone a question, who would you ask, and what would you ask?
Nic: I’d ask Bruce Nauman: “Can I have ten more questions?”

Ben: I ask far too many to choose just one, but if I could go to the pub for a beer with Louise Bourgeois, I would have a lot of questions about a necklace she designed back in the late ‘40s.

What do you need more time for?
Nic: I wish I had about 50 more hours a week in the studio to experiment, research ideas and critically reflect on them.

Ben: Everything. Life is chaotic and I’m constantly trying to catch up. In particular, I need to make more time for keeping in touch with friends and family.

An event you wish you'd witnessed?
Nic: I wish I could remember the fall of the Berlin Wall. My family lived in Berlin at the time and there are pictures of my Dad literally chiselling away at the wall with me in a baby sling on his back.

Ben: The Sex Pistols at The Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester on 4th June 1976. It sounds like it was a fun night.

What's your idea of happiness?
Nic: A really, really good gig.

Ben: Tacos.

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