Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

All Outputs (24)

The alchemical dream and reality of man-made gemstones: A review of 10 stones (2023)
Digital Artefact
Boons, S. The alchemical dream and reality of man-made gemstones: A review of 10 stones. [Blog post]

Through the exploration of 10 stones, I will reflect on our fascination with gemstones and our attempts at creating them. I will outline some of the techniques used to grow them, what a crystal is and what they are used for; from jewellery to electro... Read More about The alchemical dream and reality of man-made gemstones: A review of 10 stones.

Laboratory grown colour and gems (2023)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2023, March). Laboratory grown colour and gems. Presented at Colour Day 2023, University of the West of England

The search for, wearing and collecting of gemstones has been a popular endeavour for many decades. For most gemmologists, jewellers and gemstone collectors, the crushing of a stone would be the greatest sin. For painters or those who create pigments... Read More about Laboratory grown colour and gems.

Testing grounds - The SIM project (2022)
Exhibition / Performance
Menger, F. Testing grounds - The SIM project. [Photography]. 10 November 2022 - 31 January 2023. (Unpublished)

Exploring how the SIM card shapes a sense of security, identity and community, the project disrupts the automated nature of the smartphone to create unique, wearable artworks, stamped with QR codes. Exhibition of SIM card size glass plate photographs... Read More about Testing grounds - The SIM project.

Crystal growing design method: An investigation into the growing of crystals for jewellery designs (2022)
Journal Article
Boons, S. (2022). Crystal growing design method: An investigation into the growing of crystals for jewellery designs. Craft Research, 13(2), 303-326. https://doi.org/10.1386/crre_00081_1

Grown crystals are used for a range of novel innovations supporting a wide array of industries such as technology, medicine and electronics. Within the jewellery industry however, grown crystals are only used in a limited capacity and those of gemsto... Read More about Crystal growing design method: An investigation into the growing of crystals for jewellery designs.

The alchemical dream of man-made crystals (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2022, April). The alchemical dream of man-made crystals. Presented at LANS Lab Seminar, Birmingham University

Contemporary jewellers are considered artists of the miniature sentiment and crafters of the wearable statement. Outside the realm of status and commodity, jewellery can be used to visualise the intangible and conceptual, creating objects and adornme... Read More about The alchemical dream of man-made crystals.

Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use (2022)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2022, January). Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use. Paper presented at 16th International Conference on Design Principles and Practices, University of Newcastle, Australia

This paper reports on the history and use of man-made crystals for jewellery in a contemporary context. The cross-disciplinary contextual review traces human fascination with gemstones back centuries, and covers key developments in their ‘imitation’.... Read More about Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use.

Man-made crystals for jewellery (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, December). Man-made crystals for jewellery. Presented at Future Materials Conference, Birmingham

With crystal growing techniques having been around for many years, bespoke man-made crystals now drive innovations in a range of industries. This has however not translated into the jewellery industry, where innovations with man-made crystals have re... Read More about Man-made crystals for jewellery.

Man-made gems: An investigation into the design implications, possibilities and limitations of utilising man-made gems for jewellery (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, December). Man-made gems: An investigation into the design implications, possibilities and limitations of utilising man-made gems for jewellery. Paper presented at IASDR 2021: The ninth Congress of the International Association of Societies of Design Research, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

With crystal growing techniques having been around for many years, bespoke man-made gems now drive innovations in a range of industries. This has however not translated into the jewellery industry, where innovations with man-made gems have remained l... Read More about Man-made gems: An investigation into the design implications, possibilities and limitations of utilising man-made gems for jewellery.

Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use (2021)
Journal Article
Boons, S. (2021). Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use. International Journal of Design in Society, 15(2), 63-71. https://doi.org/10.18848/2325-1328/cgp/v15i02/63-71

This paper reports on the history and use of man-made crystals for jewelry in a contemporary context. The cross-disciplinary contextual review traces human fascination with gemstones back centuries, and covers key developments in their "imitation."Th... Read More about Man-made crystals: A review of their historic and contemporary context and use.

Man-made crystals (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, October). Man-made crystals

As a self-proclaimed alchemical jeweller Sofie Boons will trace her practice and obsession with scents, substances and science followed by an insight into her current PhD investigation into the design implications, possibilities, and limits of utilis... Read More about Man-made crystals.

Man-made crystals (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, October). Man-made crystals

Sofie Boons, Research Associate and Craft Council Research Fellow of the UWE Bristol will start our discussions about stones by presenting her PhD research project next Wednesday in our first roundtabel. Sofie Boons is investigating the design impli... Read More about Man-made crystals.

Touch: Reflections on making - a crafted digital event (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S., Fahy, N., & Ho, W. (2021, September). Touch: Reflections on making - a crafted digital event. Paper presented at The Image, Twelfth International Conference, Lisbon, Portugal

This paper reports on the online symposium titled Touch: Reflections on Making developed between the Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR) at the University of the West of England and the UK Crafts Council in December 2020. The event addressed the th... Read More about Touch: Reflections on making - a crafted digital event.

Man-made crystals (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, August). Man-made crystals. Paper presented at Nordes 2021: Matters of Scale, Kolding

With crystal growing techniques having been around for many years, bespoke man-made crystals now drive innovations in a range of industries. This has however not translated into the jewellery industry, where innovations with man-made crystals have re... Read More about Man-made crystals.

Crystals as co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers (2021)
Journal Article
Boons, S. (2021). Crystals as co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers. FORMakademisk, 14(2), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.4190

Grown crystals are used for a range of novel innovations supporting a wide array of industries. Within the jewellery industry however, grown crystals are only used in a limited capacity and mainly as a surrogate for mined gemstones. This paper invest... Read More about Crystals as co-creators: An investigation of growing crystals as a methodology for jewellery designers.

The alchemical dream of man-made crystals: A contextual review of the creative use of man-made crystals for the production of jewellery (2021)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2021, March). The alchemical dream of man-made crystals: A contextual review of the creative use of man-made crystals for the production of jewellery. Paper presented at Fifteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices, University of Monterrey, Mexico

This paper reports on the limited creative use of man-made crystals for the production of jewellery designs through a contextual review. Jewellers have used crystals for the creation of jewellery for centuries (Philips, 2012) utilising tools to adjus... Read More about The alchemical dream of man-made crystals: A contextual review of the creative use of man-made crystals for the production of jewellery.

The golden box (2021)
Physical Artefact
Boons, S. The golden box. [Handkerchief, gold, bioresin]

Home, four walls, both protecting and isolating from a world outside. A safe domestic haven, for contemplation, reflection and nourishment. A place of clarity, order and love, hidden from turmoil and chaos

Touch for luck, a jeweller's perspective on touch (2020)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2020, December). Touch for luck, a jeweller's perspective on touch. Presented at Touch: Reflections on making, Online

Microscopic interpretations trough touch in the jeweller’s practice. A reflection of touch in our culture today; from ‘touch for luck’ to ‘touch and get Corona’ and how changed perceptions are impacting practice or providing inspiration.

CFPR Showcase (2020)
Exhibition / Performance
Boons, S., Field, L., Jorgensen, T., Dessain, C., Butler, A., Hoskins, S., …Trujillo Vazquez, A. CFPR Showcase. [Various]. 9 December 2020. (Unpublished)

Our shift towards the digital has provided us a new challenge: how can we offer an alternative experience that surpasses a physical visit to an exhibition? This showcase is a first response to this question. It includes a range of images, a video, an... Read More about CFPR Showcase.

Questioning the ‘real’ and ‘natural’: A case study on diamonds (2020)
Presentation / Conference
Boons, S. (2020, December). Questioning the ‘real’ and ‘natural’: A case study on diamonds. Presented at Art of Research 2020, Aalto, Finland

The aim of the presentation is to explore and question the definitions assigned to materials and their promotion as natural’ and ‘real’. When it comes to identifying materials, how many processes applied to the material can be justified for it to be... Read More about Questioning the ‘real’ and ‘natural’: A case study on diamonds.