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From selling jewellery at Adelaide markets to becoming one of Australia’s early online jewellery retailers, Fleurieu Peninsula designer Simone Walsh is celebrating 30 years of creativity with a brand-new collection inspired by her remarkable journey.
Launching on Wednesday 11 November, the 30th Anniversary Jewellery Range brings together three decades of ideas, designs and inspiration, featuring sterling silver, gold, colourful gemstones and intricate botanical details.
But Simone’s story began in a rather unexpected way, with a necklace she spotted in a Melbourne shop during the 1990s.
The unusual piece, made from woven wire and colourful glass, captured her attention. Rather than wanting to buy it, Simone was fascinated by how it had been made.
“I realise now that I didn’t exactly want to own it: I wanted to understand how it was made. It felt like a puzzle, one I felt compelled to solve.”
Returning to Adelaide, she bought inexpensive pliers, found some galvanised wire and dug out her childhood marble collection to experiment with creating something similar.
The result was nothing like the original necklace, but it sparked a passion that would shape the next 30 years of her life.
“I knew immediately that I wanted to keep doing this.”
At the time, Simone was working in the music industry, but she eventually left her job to study visual arts, specialising in jewellery and metalwork.
Her early creations were sold at Adelaide markets, including Orange Lane Market, and through local galleries and retailers such as Urban Cow Studio.
Like many independent creatives, building a sustainable business wasn’t easy. Simone balanced jewellery making with other jobs, including marketing, web design and administration.
In 2006, she decided to experiment with selling her jewellery through Etsy, an emerging online marketplace.
To her surprise, her very first piece sold within 30 minutes.
By mid-2007, she had established her own online store, Simone Walsh Jewellery, becoming one of Australia’s early independent online-only jewellery retailers.
Today, Simone lives and works on the Fleurieu Peninsula, where she continues to design jewellery inspired by nature, historical ornamentation and the intricate details that have become signatures of her work.
Simone Walsh Jewellery+1
Her latest collection revisits some of her earliest creations, transforming familiar motifs into contemporary designs.
Among them is a new Jumping Fish design, inspired by one of the first original pendants she created as a jewellery student using sterling silver and anodised titanium.
There’s also a new handmade silver paperclip chain, drawing on the simple hand-beaten chains she began creating decades ago, alongside a reimagined Garden Botanicals Pendant Necklace inspired by one of her longtime bestselling designs.
For Simone, the anniversary isn’t simply about recreating the past. It’s an opportunity to reflect on how her creative style has evolved.
“In my experience, a personal style isn’t invented. You don’t sit down one day and decide what it is. You make things for long enough, and eventually you can see the patterns.”
While much has changed over the decades, from the techniques she uses to the way she runs her business, Simone says the curiosity that first drew her to jewellery remains.
“Thirty years ago, I wondered how a particular necklace was made, so I tried to figure it out for myself. I’m still doing that. The tools and materials are better. The puzzles are different. But the curiosity hasn’t changed at all.”
The 30th Anniversary Jewellery Range launches online on Wednesday 11 November 2026, through simonewalsh.com.
30th Anniversary Jewellery Range
Where: Online at simonewalsh.com
For more information, click here.
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