It started with a sheep brooch!
Jewellery designer Avril Manderson has always been a bit of a black sheep! As an established handmade silver jewellery artist known for her quirky commissioned designs, she was asked to create a new piece of sheep jewellery for an exhibition in 2011. She created a silver sheep brooch and it was received so well that she launched the Fresh Fleeces range.
Avril loves to bring the countryside to life using precious metals and has spent many hours perfecting the range of silver sheep jewellery in our range. As the company has grown, we have retained the same quality and attention to detail that was the essence of the original range. Experienced silversmiths make every piece of jewellery by hand to ensure our high standards are maintained.
Avril explains the story behind the Fresh Fleeces' brand
We are based in Northern Ireland, a part of the world that has no shortage of sheep, and we are spoilt for choice with the range of animals we have to model our designs on. Sheep come in all shapes and sizes and we have chosen a selection of breeds to join the Fresh Fleeces flock of silver sheep jewellery. You can now find Zwartbles, Valais Blacknose and Herdwicks grazing our website!
In addition to our ever expanding range of silver sheep and other animal jewellery, we also make pieces designed especially for you. If you have an idea for a piece of animal jewellery that is not currently available in our shop then have a look at our commissions page.