The Silversmith
Meet Elizabeth Harman, Silversmith and founder of Argent Silversmith. After living much of her younger years between Australia & France, Elizabeth has settled back here in Australia near the snow fields of Falls Creek. While Elizabeth has only recently found and fallen in love with the art of crafting quality jewellery, Argent Silversmith has quickly become a stand out edition to the Australian hand-made jewellery arena. In this interview with Elizabeth, we chat about her journey to becoming a woman that makes beautiful things for a living and Elizabeth shares some pearls of wisdom for anyone looking to make a success of their small business endeavour.
INTERVIEW : Alice Armitage PHOTOGRAPHY : Danii Forde
I might start at the beginning. Where did you grow up?
I was born in France. My mum is English and my Dad is French. We moved to Vanuatu when I was six, then to Sydney when I was twelve. We moved back to France when I was sixteen, I finished my education there and then went travelling. When we lived in Australia, my Aunt & Uncle were living and working here in the alps, running a ski hire business. We spent a lot of time in this area when I was young and as we travelled so much, this always felt like home, a little space in the world that always felt familiar. When I found myself back in Australia when I was 24, I came back here and that’s where I’ve been since then – so for the last 12 years.
How did you start doing what you’re doing?
I was always schooled in the French educational system which is very academic, and any kind of creative subject gets dropped very early on. I feel like I never really had the chance to explore my love for making until after I finished my education. I started making these little dome bubble rings filled with colourful microbeads. I think that was my first exploration into jewellery making and then I met someone here in Falls Creek who taught me how to make silver jewellery. Mystee had the most beautiful silver feathered earrings, I was admiring them when she said she’d made them herself. Mystee offered to show me how she made them. That was my introduction to the art of silversmithing. From there I was taught how to make a ring, and a few other things. I just fell in love with it. Mystee had the tiniest little setup in the common dining room of the ski lodge she was living in, and I just couldn’t believe that you could make real, quality jewellery with no real machinery, just a little hand torch and a very small amount of tools.
How long ago was that first interaction with Mystee?
It must be five years ago now.
That seems like such a short period of time. Both in your craft and also in the business.
I was always destined to do something creative, I just always felt stifled throughout my younger years and once I found an outlet for that creativity I just let loose. I always loved silvery, jewellery, bangles et cetera but I could never find nice bangles that fit because I have really big hands. Being able to create my own jewellery was so cool. I had all these ideas for designs and the more I learnt and explored different techniques the more I could create.
What was the transition from hobby to business like for you?
I set up in the staff accommodation at Falls Creek on my days off, which is where I was living too. I would be making and people walking past would just be intrigued by the process. I started selling right there and then, just to the other staff and to my friends. Eventually I had my jewellery stocked in a couple of local shops. I was managing the childcare centre at Falls Creek and was making pieces on the side for quite a while but I was just getting busier and busier. Eventually I decided to go at it full-time.
What does it mean to you to be a craftsman? To have developed a skillset that so many people don’t really have anymore. Do you ever really think about that?
Not really because a lot of the time I still feel like I’m still fumbling around. There is so much left to learn and so many techniques I have left to master. It’s when I’m teaching that I remember how far I’ve come. Making jewellery isn’t easy but so much of jewellery making is second nature to me now so it doesn’t feel hard anymore. It’s so cool to be at the place where you can imagine a design and just whip it up with your own hands.
It’s a really interesting thing for you to say, that it doesn’t feel hard anymore. I really resonate with that, when something that felt impossible a few months ago doesn’t feel hard anymore. It might still be far from perfect but one could argue that is the meaning of developing your craft, that it’s just not hard anymore. What do you think?
Every now and again I remember the first bangle I made, and that it took me five hours and I swore the whole time. That gruelling five hours also had a lot to do with me not having the right tools or understanding the preparation I need to make my life a lot easier. Anything new I learn in the art of jewellery making usually comes back to tools and preparation. But also practise obviously, it all gets a little easier with each piece you make.
You had someone show you some skills initially, but what has been your learning process since then?
There is always a lot of trial and error, in every area of the business. Be that marketing, e-commerce or actual jewellery making, it’s all trial and error. Mystee was really there for me for the first little bit, I learnt a lot from her and it was all practice from there, and a bit of YouTube! I’ve also been very lucky that one of my recent staff members is a full fledged jeweller, Amelia, who worked for a jeweller in Melbourne for ten years. Amelia moved to the valley a couple of years ago and since joining our team she has allowed me to have the confidence to take on the next stage, doing more gemstones and engagement rings. Having her with us has just been invaluable.
So all your pieces are made to order?
Most of our pieces are. We do have some stock on hand but it’s really just bits and pieces we have left over.
When things are made to order, there is always an element of the imperfect, which is beautiful because each piece is very unique. Is that something that you’re proud of?
It’s super special. We’ve made sure a lot of our designs are fully customisable, which allows people to have their dream piece made. It’s also a way we can be as sustainable as we can. We also use recycled materials, ethically sourced stones and we have a free repairs for life program. Anyone who has ever purchased an Argent piece can access our free repairs program because I firmly believe your jewellery should last you a lifetime and I just want our jewellery to be worn and loved. If for whatever reason you’re not wanting to keep your piece we offer a credit to the value of those materials as well. I just hate the thought of something we’ve created not being worn .
Argent has grown so quickly, you’ve got five staff now, how did you do that?
Who knows?! It started pretty slow. Just me at home. Eventually the orders kept coming in and it just so happened that my childhood pen pal, Simone, moved to the area and was looking for some work. She came onboard and the team continued to grow organically from there. Things really changed for me when we bought a building to be
our showroom and studio space a year ago, it pushed me to expand the brand to fit the new space. There is also something to be said for cultivating a space that allows us all to work well, especially in this space where we can have real ownership over the way we exist in it.
Now that you find yourself at this stage where Argent is a little more established and you have a team in place do you have a more balanced life?
No! There is always the next thing. But it’s the hustle that keeps it fun and interesting. You still wake up everyday and try to figure out the best way to sell your product, employ people, be a good photoshoot stylist, manage your customer service. Still so many things but it is very nice having staff and systems in place.
It would be remiss for us not to talk about your relationship with social media – you’re a little bit Instagram famous! What role has that played in the growth of your business and what’s your relationship like with social media? Do you feel like social media is still serving your business in a time when so many of us are struggling to have a healthy relationship with it?
It’s always been a bit of a love / hate relationship but Instagram has been a platform that I’ve always invested a lot in. Both time-wise and financially, and it’s definitely paid off for us. I definitely got in at a good time, and I’m still working hard to follow what the algorithm wants in my own way. I don’t dance for the Reels but I’m working towards creating mostly video content because I think that’s what people want to see now. And I think about myself, and what it is that continues to engage me, taking inspiration from others and trying to understand why a post is engaging for me and to bring some of that to my own content creation. It also helps if you take your lead from your followers and create content based on what they want to see, putting my own spin on it in the process.
What has your experience been like as someone who is running a business that’s growing so fast in a regional area?
Our business mainly lives and thrives online – majority of our sales happen there but I definitely feel the business wouldn’t be where it is now if it wasn’t for the support of the local community here. The community still comes to me for jewellery – locals have just been so amazing in supporting what we do and if I was based in a big city I think I would have found it so much harder to get off the ground. People also come to us from Sydney and Melbourne for workshops or to pick up jewellery. In a way that contributes to the overall experience of getting an Argent piece.
What do you hope the future will look like for you and for Argent?
The first thing I think about is my daughter, and how she’ll be big in the future! I’d love to spend some time in France. I speak French to my daughter and I’d love for her to have more of a connection to the culture and the language. We’re spending six weeks in France this year so it will be a good test run for the systems I’ve put in place to hopefully be able to spend a longer period of time travelling. With Argent, the launch of our engagement collection in spring will be a huge and exciting next step for us.