The BASIC Show
The BASIC Show
Hosted by BASIC Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Viktorija Pashuta, The BASIC Show blends luxury aesthetics with unfiltered interviews featuring bold voices in fashion, art, and culture.
Each episode dives deep into topics like identity, reinvention, emotional resilience, and the real stories behind public success.
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The BASIC Show
HANNAH MARTIN: Fetish, Feeling & Genderless Jewelry | EPISODE 18
In this episode of The BASIC Show, host Viktorija Pashuta welcomes London-based fine jeweler Hannah Martin for a visceral, art-drunk conversation taped at 405 Motoring during Season 4’s “Dark Matter” theme—days before she launches Perfect Drug: Part II at Maxfield.
Hannah opens up about:
💔 Turning a brutal heartbreak (and a Nine Inch Nails mosh pit) into a two-part collection about feeling everything in a numbing world
🧷 Inventing “sensual matter”—small-scale chainmail that warms to skin—and pairing it with hard, cast metal for a push-pull of intimacy and armor
🟡 Why she designs selfishly (“I make what I want to wear”) and refuses to chase trends or money as a compass
⚧ Her 20-year stance on genderless jewelry: “If you like this piece, it’s for you”
🛠️ Mixing ancient craft with modern tech: hand sketches, plasticine, CAD models, and 3D prints before flame and metal
🪙 Materials & stones: 18k gold, hallmarked mixes of sterling + gold, grey/cognac/champagne diamonds, obsidian, and malachite
🤝 Collaboration with Coldplay’s Guy Berryman (Applied Art Forms): scavenging engines for forms, sparks, and ideas
💫 The talismanic “eagle” ring she can’t leave home without—and why jewelry carries the wearer’s stories across generations
🧪 Launching Hannah Martin Pierce for accessible fine piercing pieces (soft-launched in LA with Brian Keith Thompson)
🔥 Real talk for emerging designers: work harder than you think, fail fast, learn faster, and build a voice no one else can copy
Plus: a travel-from-hell arrival story (Stockholm layover + LAX shuttle breakdown), the joy of London sun, and a scent confession—Heretic’s unforgettable perfume that even Uber drivers notice.
If you’ve ever wanted to alchemize pain into power—or wear art that asks to be touched—Hannah’s philosophy will light a fuse.
🎧 Listen now and share: Which feeling are you brave enough to fully experience this week?
📺 Subscribe for more powerful interviews every Wednesday!
🛒 Subscribe to the Print Edition of BASIC Magazine – A Collectible Work of Art Delivered Quarterly: https://buybasicmagazine.myshopify.com
🎙️ The BASIC Show is hosted by Viktorija Pashuta — Editor-in-Chief of BASIC Magazine.
📍 Recorded at: 405 Motoring, Los Angeles @405motoring
🔗 Follow Hannah: @hannahmartinldn
I thought I'd this had happened to me before, but I didn't realise that I could go to lower depths of pain of heartbreak. If you like this piece of jewellery, it's for you. Like it doesn't matter who you are, what you are. It's like I want you to want to eat it or lick it or like stroke your skin with it. But money doesn't bring happiness. It makes your life easier, right? I literally make things that I want to wear. You know, like I'm like, I can't stuff because I'm like, I want that. And the two people, even Uber drivers, are like, what's that smell you're wearing? And it's so I love it. I lost it in a river. Swimming in the river swimming ten years ago and found it. It was dead. I was in the mush pit in the middle of the mush pit in a nine-inch hour show with like this really broken heart.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome to the basic show.
SPEAKER_03:Welcome to the basic show season four. We're here at 405 motoring, uh, the ultimate odor spot experience. Anyway, so you guys are ready for this special episode because, in fact, surprise, surprise, I do have a very special guest, Hannah Martin. Hi, Hanna, welcome to the basic show. I'm so happy to have you, guys. So, you know the little um, you know, backstory that Hanna just landed literally yesterday in Los Angeles, right?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely, last night. Perfect timing.
SPEAKER_03:Perfect timing. So I was planning this episode and we had this theme for the season, Dark Matter. And actually, no, what happened is I received the book. It's called The Jewelry Book. Okay, I received the Jewelry book, and I'm just browsing through it. I see all the icons, you know, all these historical figures, all of these, you know, amazing, beautiful brands. And I'm like, oh my God, I know this designer. Hanna Martin is there. And I messaged her. I'm like, hey Hanna, I just saw you in this book. Like, looks fabulous. Congratulations. If you're ever in LA, let me know. I would love to, you know, for you to be on my podcast. And he said, you know what? I'm actually flying from London to LA literally like this Sunday with taping today and Tuesday.
SPEAKER_00:So I'm so happy how things were literally was like the universe looking out for us. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So what happened with your flight?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I was supposed to arrive on Sunday night. Took me two days to reach Los Angeles. Uh I didn't walk, almost walked. Yeah. Went up in the air, came down in Stockholm, got stuck in an airport hotel in Stockholm because there was no flight broke. Uh made loads of new friends. There was loads of people trying to get to America. I was like, I've now got like 20 new friends. We all hung out in the Stockholm Airport Hotel for a night and finally made it last night, like over 24 hours late. So I was like, yeah, but I literally, it was like the journey from hell. So everything had gone wrong. I finally get here, I get off at LAX, I'm like, I made it. Thank God. I get on, you know, have to get the shuttle bus to get to the camp. I get on the shuttle bus, it starts to pull out, and the bus broke down. So basically, we were stuck on a shuttle bus. It blocked the whole the whole of LAX was in total carnage. And I was like, of course that just happened. Of course it did. It was like comical at that point. Welcome to all the centers airport.
SPEAKER_03:Have you like the worst airport in the entire country?
SPEAKER_00:Oh my god, I hate Heathrow, but like LAX might beat it. Oh my god. It's like people beeping oars. It was like we were just stuck on this bus. I was like, I just want to get the keys. Yeah, it was so hot. I was like, But I bet you love it.
SPEAKER_03:Last time we talked, I was like, oh, I miss the heat. I missed the heat.
SPEAKER_00:It's never too hot for me. I'm like, I literally yeah, turn it up another like 20 degrees and I'm still happy. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:How many sunny days do you have in London?
SPEAKER_00:Well, actually, we've had a really good summer. So we've had like a very non-English summer. It's been sunny for like two months, which is unheard, it happens like once every 10 years. Right? Yeah. But usually it's like, you know, you have a sunny day and all English people go crazy because they don't know if it's gonna come back again. So you're just like, it's like a carnival, and everyone's like, the sun, the sun, the sun. They're like pink in the parks and bikinis, like getting drunk, everyone goes wild. Takes days of everything.
SPEAKER_03:I remember this game because the time I lived in London, there was I remember vividly, it was like dark and gloomy, and then it was one ray of sun, and I was like, almost almost people fight for it. One sun of ray. I'm like, oh my god, I'm finally reaching the sun and then it's gone. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00:You've got to make the most of it.
SPEAKER_03:But I feel like you get the most creative in the gloomy weather, no?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean it's there's less distractions because you, you know, it's not so fun going in.
SPEAKER_03:That's that's yeah, less distractions, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's all do another go party, go to the beach.
SPEAKER_00:You can lie in the sun. It's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't really want to go outside. Thanks.
SPEAKER_03:Well, enjoyable. How long are you staying here? Two weeks. Two weeks. Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_00:Two weeks. So I've got like this week's kind of full on work, so I'm at Maxfield launching a new collection, and then next week's a bit more chill seeing people hanging out with friends, making the most of the sunshine and one day work day, and then yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Other like 13 days party. Yeah, I love that. Well, that's how I get, I guess you get your inspiration, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, totally. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So you mentioned that. So you release your new collection, The Perfect Drug. Is it your 10th collection? Yeah. Wow. Tell us about what inspired it.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, so it came out that it's actually in two parts. So we launched Perfect Drug Part One last year. Yeah. Uh, and then Perfect Drug Part Two is launching literally on Thursday this week. Um, and I mean it's such a personal collection. It told it came out of me getting my heartbroken, like really and truly, like I was like, I thought I'd this had happened to me before, but I didn't realise that I could go to lower depths of pain of heartbreak. This was about two and a half years ago. And that this that breakup had just happened, and I I think it was probably within the same week. I also had to get to a nine-inch nails show in London. I almost didn't go because I was like, I can't leave my house. And actually, my really good friend of mine was like, Fuck that, Hannah. I'm picking you up, he picked me up on the back of his motorbike, drove me across London to Brixton Academy, was like, this will make you feel better. So I was in a mosh pit in the middle of the mosh pit in a nine-inch nail show with like this really broken heart. And honestly, I feel like it was a transcendental experience a transcendental experience. It was like I I honestly was feeling every feeling I think a human could feel at the same time. Like it was like kind of the pain and sadness, and then this sort of communal experience of like all these like hot, sweaty bodies and loud music, and like it was really intense. And I so I when I started I was starting a new collection like a few weeks after that, and I was like, that is what I want to try and capture in this work. It's like that not necessarily it kind of sort of started from heartbreak, but it it actually became a collection about love, and like you know, those feelings, feeling all of that full spectrum of feelings is what makes us human. It's like we spend, we live in a world that's like it's kind of almost designed to numb us. It's like we have screens to look at, we flick through socials, like the world's a really hard place to live in at the minute, anyway. You know, it's like whether it's big things like kind of numbing yourself with booze or drugs or or screens or just like watching shit stuff on tell, you know, we so I was like actually maybe I talk about rebellion like all the time. I was like, maybe the biggest rebellion that you can do is to actually feel everything and let yourself be in it, whether it's the good stuff or the bad stuff or all of it. Um, so that's kind of where the collection started out, and it turned into this kind of epic journey was like I wasn't finished with it last year, so I did the next I did part two because I was like, there's still more to come for this. Um so it's kind of the climax of it now that I'm launching like this week.
SPEAKER_03:I could feel like I you explained to me your feelings, I could almost like feel it and really.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you know, like we all know those, and actually, like for me, those feelings of intensity, you know, like being in a mosh bit, I go to loads of live shows, like that's what I get from it. But like other people get it from standing in a meadow watching the sun go down, you know, like but it's those moments where you feel like you're really in your body and really in yourself, which we get so rarely because you're always there's always like an outside factor. There's a like you know, you're shooting stuff for Instagram, you're doing this, you're thinking about other people, and there's so many, there's so few moments that you are like really purely you that I realized that's so important for us not to forget as well. And it's like that the collection I designed, it was like everything, I wanted everything to like feel something. So it's this chainmail that I developed that like it's really sensual. I kept saying to like the guys that I make it with, it's like yeah, it's like sensual matter, exactly. It's like, and you want to like I was like, I want you to want to eat it or lick it or like stroke your skin with it, or you know, so it was like really like human and fleshy, and yeah, anyway.
SPEAKER_03:That's where you know, like it's it's very fascinating you mentioned that because all the negative stuff that we read, I feel we feel helpless because there's nothing we can do. We're just small pieces and uh, you know, in this huge puzzle. But what you do, you use your feelings as fuel in your art, right? You having those feelings and you take control, you know, this expression that says, if you don't like something, uh wait, how did it go? If you can't, uh if you don't like something, change how you feel about it, right? So true. Yeah. So and I'm thinking, like in your case, right, you actually using your pain, your feelings into your craft, into your art.
SPEAKER_00:And it's really interesting because I've talked since doing that, and then I obviously talk to other friends who are like musicians or artists or whatever, and and I've had this conversation. I'm like, God, actually, we're in such a lucky that's an amazingly privileged position as a like creative of whatever you're creating, that you can actually transform this negativity into something. It's like you're kind of I don't know what do they call it, like a phoenix from the ashes or whatever. Like you're you're managing to make something positive out of a really negative experience. Like that I feel lucky that I can do that. You know, at the time it didn't feel like that. At the time it was just like um, but you know it reminds me of something funny.
SPEAKER_03:My dad used to say, like, hey, uh, I was kind of grungy, but again, I remember it said, you know, there's a skill to turn uh shit into fertilizer. Yeah, it's so true. It's like exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you take something so ordinary and ugly, and then you create beautiful things, you know, with your own hands, with your imagination. This is really incredible, yeah. Yeah. So tell me about that, what is essential metal?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. It was like, so there's the collection's like almost made up of two like visual elements. So it's like a kind of solid, like cast pieces of metal. Okay. That's lots of there's a lot of kind of fetish references in it as well. So it's like I was looking at kind of really quite hardcore, like Tom of Finland sort of leather straps and like ball gags and all this shit. And then the and so there's a lot of like that referencing, but then I also developed this, it's it's basically chain mail on a really small scale. So it's it's almost like fabric. So it's all these tiny little rings, it acts like fabric, it's like it feels and it's totally soft and malleable, so you can make you know these straps that kind of wrap around, or and it that contrast of the hard metal and that kind of chain mail, it's like you do just you wear the chain mail and it takes on the warmth of your body, like it's really intimate almost. So it's it because I love gold, as you know, it's like my favourite thing in the world. It's like I love it. Um, but it felt to me like I'd found a new way to use it almost, like it's like a whole you know, I've been doing this 20 years now, and it's like I found like I'd found a new way with this material I've been using for so long. Or was it actually trial and error or something? It was trial and error. Like I kind of knew what I wanted, and I don't know where that idea came from. And then it took us about a year to work out how to make it properly, that we can make it in a way that we can we we sort of started making it by hand in the studio, and it's like we could make it, but you basically can't sell that because it would cost about three million pounds because it took so long to do. So we looking for a supplier that could help us make it on a scale that we could use it to sell was like a whole journey that took us around the world. So, how many pieces exist? So there's like we've got so the first part of Perfect Drug was like 30 pieces. Obviously, we make more than one of everything, and this part is so it's like a 60-piece total collection. Um and you know, with some of those pieces are like super limited editions, some of them are like more available.
SPEAKER_03:Um, so yeah, a lot of I bet each piece has a like a unique story or like specific feeling that you use, you know, as inspiration for that piece. Yeah. I know I read in the in the jewelry book that you mentioned, uh you already mentioned Tom Holland was one of the inspirations, but also the um classic photographer Man Ray. Yeah, right? So how did you use his inspiration?
SPEAKER_00:I mean, that was a lot of I was the because I build like when I start a collection, I have this kind of like seed of an idea of what I want, but I try not to think about jewelry, like I try not to think about the end product at all. It's like I think about the world and this kind of visual world, and I build mood boards and like I almost make this it's like I write a film in my head. It's like I create this whole visual world that I then I have all the mood boards like around my studio, I kind of immerse myself in it. So like there's there was one particular Man Ray picture that I used, which was kind of it was basically like a ass, woman's ass, but it looked like a peach, so it's like kind of totally surreal, you couldn't see the rest of the female. Um, and you have that next to like I had that image and I had it next to like a piece of brutalist architecture, and in my head, something happens when you put those two images together, and it kind of gave me the feel of it. And actually, you can kind of see that Man Ray picture in some of the pieces because they're very like there's a lot of like quite round and fleshy sort of feeling. So it's more like it gives me a feeling, which I then translate into the piece of jewellery that I'm finally drawing. It's got it's quite how your mind works, right? How you're getting all this thing. It's like I have to put everything in front of my eyes for it to go into my brain, and then it kind of mashes. It's like having um the ingredients for a recipe, you know, like uh you have tomatoes, you have bezel, you have olive oil, and you have pasta, and then how you put that together can be so different. That's kind of how I see it. It's like I have all these different images that on their own mean one thing, and then you put them together and you make this mashup and something else comes out of your head.
SPEAKER_03:And there's a magic ingredient called Hannah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, whatever goes on in there.
SPEAKER_03:But everything goes in there, right? I think it's good, right, to get inspiration from icons from legends, but also there's always a little bit disavieu, right?
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. And that's why I try never to use like I'd never have another piece of jewelry on a mood board. It's like if you're looking at things like photography or art or or architecture or whatever, it's you're kind of using it as inspiration and using it as like a visual language, but there's no chance that you can make it look like something else. You know, like I always want to make something that you feel like you've never seen before. So by putting all those ingredients together, hopefully that works rather than just being like, oh, that vintage piece of cartier is great, or that you know, it's like I try not to look at jewelry and not to see what other people are doing, so I'm making something fresh.
SPEAKER_02:If you guys hear the car noise, this is clear. Clearly can say, Well, we're not tricking you, we're not in the studio. We're actually in the car shop where they're moving. What is it, a Porsche?
SPEAKER_00:I think it's a beautiful Porsche.
SPEAKER_03:It's a beautiful Porsche that they're moving right now. Yeah, they want a little bit of this five-minute fame.
SPEAKER_00:A free shout-up drive up and down in front of us.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. It's just beautiful, like a white alapasta. But you know what? Going back to your point, very, very interesting because going back to what I do, right? Fashion photography. And I remembered in the beginning, I keep looking at a lot of fashion photographers. A lot of fashion photographs. Because that's how you learn. Right, right. Yeah. You look, you educate yourself, but then I realized, you know what? I should actually look at other medium to create another concept. So I started to, you know, watch movies or, you know, go to the museums, look at the artwork, right? I stopped completely myself looking and comparing myself to other photographers because what happens, you start comparing it.
SPEAKER_00:You end up, you it's almost it's not on purpose, even. It's like because stuff goes into your brain and it comes back out again.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You don't even realize that it's an image that you saw or a piece of jewelry that you saw. It just kind of comes out and you sort of think you've done it, but it's it's risky. I was I um go and lecture at St. Martin's, my old art school, like for a couple of days every year. And I always say this to students it's like you don't even know you're doing it. But if you're looking at other jewellery, it's bound to come out in some way. So just don't look at it. Like, don't, I mean, obviously it's good to know what's going on in the world, but like if you're in that creative moment, just don't feed anything like that into your brain because it will come out, you know.
SPEAKER_03:Like it will come out, and then everybody's your copy paste, you know, nowadays. Yeah, yeah. And I love how your jewelry specificists stand out, you know. Can you maybe talk about your favorite collaborations today that you've done?
SPEAKER_00:Oh man, I think I mean the most I suppose the most recent and actually the most long-lasting one has been with Guy Berriman, who's the Coldplay guy. Um, and his he's got a menswear, amazing menswear brand, Applied Art Forms. And that was like for me, it's been the perfect collaboration because it's like I've worked with people before and they're all they're all great in their own way, but like this was like an actual collaboration of like creative minds, both bringing equal amounts of stuff to the table. Like we really like inspired each other. I feel like neither of us could have made those pieces come to life alone. Like it needed both of our minds, and both of that we were both like brought different inspiration, and actually it was really interesting doing that because I work, I'm so solo when I work, and usually I'm like, it's just me, I'm in my bubble. You know, I like to work like that. I don't like anyone else's input, but actually, so it pushed me out of my comfort zone a bit with like having somebody else's kind of input into stuff, but it was really interesting because I was then looking at stuff that you know. I went, he's got an amazing um garage that he collects cars, and like he's got this incredible garage down in Cornwall in Cornwall in the Cotswolds where he has a house. And like one day I just went down to the Cotswolds and we just took engines apart for a day. I like looked at what was inside them, like it was so much fun. Yeah, I would never have done that if it was just me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like I don't know what how much like that kind of fed into the collection, but you know, it was really inspiring to have like another person's reference points that kind of then came out and we made these babies together. Like it was really cool.
SPEAKER_03:I bet after this episode, the new collection will be like tired of the. Yeah, absolutely. I'm like starting by scanning, scanning the environment. I love you kind of you know, observing, but you're also almost like using this meat grinder.
SPEAKER_00:That's a really good way to put it.
SPEAKER_03:And you kind of transform it, yeah, pressing it through yourself, right, through your perspectives and create something beautiful. Yeah, and your jewelry always stands out. I mean, like right now, I mean, can you tell us what you're wearing? I mean, this huge pin, or what do you what's the it is a pin, like a giant safe? Giant is like freaking incredible, and you know how to wear it. Like every time I like see you, it's just I'm so amazed how you put things together. Do you know?
SPEAKER_00:I think it's because I'm such a selfish designer and I I literally make things that I want to wear. You know, like I'm like, I've I design stuff because I'm like, I want that. So I make it and then hope other people like it.
SPEAKER_03:You know, this is the best approach because I think the worst approach is what other people like, what are the current trends? And we just end up, like I said, copy pasting each other's design. And if you create something that you personally want to wear, yeah, of course there will be an army of supporters who you know will admire your look and you know want to replicate it. What is that ring? Is it like a freaking no, no, the other one, is it like a tooth or a claw?
SPEAKER_00:This one. That's actually an eagle's so it's an eagle's head with his beak, but it looks like the idea was that it looked a bit like a kind of claw. There's two eagles that he's an eagle as well, a different one. Wow. Yeah, that one's an eagle.
SPEAKER_03:I love it. Is it heavy?
SPEAKER_00:I mean, quite heavy. They're all quite heavy.
SPEAKER_03:Quite heavy? Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I so used to, and I'm not a very good judge because people, you know, I do I do bespoke jobs for people as well, and I kind of make, you know, one-of-a-kind things, and they're like, oh, but I don't want it to be too heavy. I'm like, it's not heavy at all. But I'm so used to wearing the score, and they're like, what? You said it wasn't gonna be heavy. I was like, oh, don't be a wuss, come on. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I love the words they use, the wuss to tell it. It's such a Britishness is coming out. Like, what other words? I'm like, even trying to dissect a little bit and just to make sure I get the words.
SPEAKER_00:You might have to have a translation at the bottom. I know, right? Such a wuss. Did be a wuss, come on.
SPEAKER_03:I love it, I love it. So, can you dive us in a little bit into your creative process? So, from the some of the behind-the-scenes pictures I've seen, you have this grungy studio. Yeah, you have this, you know, I don't know, the workers melting metal and you know, this huge ovens. It just looks like freaking a sci-fi, you know, Mad Max movie. So, can you tell us what there's sort of two parts of it?
SPEAKER_00:Because there's like obviously the designing part, which I do, which is like, you know, I did I trained as a to make, so I'm like, I and for years I was making everything. So at the beginning it was just me, it was me designing, making everything. And then obviously I can't kind of keep on doing everything. So now I do more of the clean bit, which is like the designing part and all the images. So I have my design studio, and then underneath we have the workshop. So that's where all the like really good-looking stuff happens, like the fire and the melting of the metal and like all of this stuff. Um, and it is, I mean, I love it. The thing with making jewellery is like a lot of it has never changed, you know, like it's a kind of a lot of the techniques we use now, they were literally using 2,000 years ago to like melt metal. But then there's also been like massive advances in tech, in like you know, the we use CAD a lot now, so it's like I draw everything, I'm very um hands-only, so I'm totally analogue. I draw everything, I don't design anything on a computer. It's all like I need everything like printed out and ripped up and drawn, and like um, and then my like right-hand man who I've worked with for years and years, he uh takes what I've done and then he creates models in a computer, and it's changed how I work totally because I used to prototype by hand-carving wax, which is awesome, but it takes forever, and you can't like keep you know, it's basically one hand-carved model takes days to do. Um, so now we can like make models in the computer, we 3D print them. I can like look at the proportions, like test it, we can change it. It's like it's literally like another stage of designing where you can make it in 3D for like very little money. So before we even get into working in metal, I know I'm totally happy. You know, I know that it's like the right size, the right scale, it works well on the body. It it's amazing. So I love jewelry, and it's this real mix of like absolutely old school techniques of like melting metal, soldering, like all of even the workbenches that we use are like they've looked like that for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. And then we also have this tech that has that kind of works in with it. It's like another tool in the box. Yeah, well, you know what?
SPEAKER_03:Like you remind me, like you sound like a tech virgin, right? I love how you don't touch the technology, right? It keeps you pure, it keeps your vision pure, right? You know, like okay, Ahana, yeah, you know, she handheld everything, you know, she's she drafted, she scratched, you know. And then it goes into the thing.
SPEAKER_00:I I'm always like, I mean, obviously it's kind of my age as well, and it's like but I think I say this again to students. It's like there's something for me about uh holding a pencil and the connection between like your brain, your hand, the thing that you're making the marks with. I I can't get that from drawing something on a computer. Like, I just don't have the same connection. I feel there's something physical about the making of marks, or the I even like, I mean, I use like literally, I mean it's so old school. It's like I model make out of plasticine. Like, I'll find any way I can to like try and get quickly the shape that I want. Um and I just don't think you can I can't get that if I've got this if I'm one part removed by a screen. Like I need to be able to like rip paper and stick it down and like it's a few.
SPEAKER_03:It's so fascinating because it makes it human, right? You know that your item is not by made by a machine, right? It's not made you know in a huge factory and millions of copies of it.
SPEAKER_00:Like for me, it's like it's a bit it's got like human soul in it. It's like we've made that with our own hands from the very beginning to the end, and that I I think that puts something else.
SPEAKER_03:Anyone's buying your piece, they're buying a little bit of Hannah. They're buying a little bit of not buying, they you know, maybe they're giving a little bit of your soul, right?
SPEAKER_00:There's a bit of spirit in there, hopefully people feel it.
SPEAKER_03:Well, well, this is incredible. So let's talk about you know, gender and rebellion. Do you think jewelry is kind of gender-based or your jewelry is more unisex and can be worn by anybody?
SPEAKER_00:I mean, that's what I hope. And I always started out with that in mind. It's so interesting because I have it's Bran's 20th anniversary this year, of which you believe, which is why. Oh, oh my god, I believe actually about this month is about 20 years since I started. Um, and you know, even when I was at art school and studying, it's like I always had this thing that I didn't ever understand why there had to be gender put on jewelry. I mean, I wrote my thesis about gender and masculinity, I've always been something that I've really been fascinated with. But at that stage, we didn't have terms like gender fluid, gender fluid didn't exist as a term, like there wasn't actually as many ways that you could talk about this idea that I had. Um, you know, the only words available at that time were like unisex or androgynous, both of which I was like, Yeah, but you're a bit old school unisex is not and trend and it's it does work. I mean, it's like it's a word that works, but there's something unsexy about the word unisex.
SPEAKER_03:I was like it's not about like making it unsexy, it's just yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I'm like ugly unisex.
SPEAKER_03:Anybody can be elephant can be. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It's like a it's a good term to like cross, you know, cross up the borders. But like, so always from the beginning, I always like this idea. And and to start with, I called it, I call my work men's jewelry that girlfriends could steal. But even now I don't like to use that because it's too gendered. I'm like, but the idea was it was like if you like this piece of jewelry, it's for you. Like it doesn't matter who you are, what you are, where you fit, and the scale of gender, it's been for you. And like I feel like the world's caught up with that idea a little bit in the last like 10 years. Like, honestly, when I first started, and I was working with like wholesale stores, so it's like I'd go for a meeting at like Liberty, let's say, and they were like, But do you want to see the men's wear bio or the women's wear bio? I'm like, well, either or both, or like, does it matter? Like, do we have to do we have to put this in a category? And no one could get their heads around it. So it's it's actually amazing how far we've come in that way in terms of like fashion way.
SPEAKER_03:But see, when you create something new, right? It does when it doesn't fit in a certain box, that's where you make a change. Yeah, you know, I can make the same comparison about the magazine, right? So it's like I feel like it's a unisex publication, right? We have everything, but then they always put in a woman's interest. I'm like, damn, it's not it's basic magazine, it's not a just women's interest. I mean, but they're like, where do we put men's interest? I'm just put into like art and fashion. Yeah, exactly. Like, why do we have to give this a box?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. It's world. I mean, I still think there's a like there's a long way to go with that because you still do have like magazine. I'd not even thought about it for the magazine, but of course it's the same thing.
SPEAKER_03:It's like a certain box. Why in your case, you're creating artwork, right? I would say it's an art piece, you know. I don't know what I believe it, you know, deserving the museum. Yeah, so let's think about let's think about longevity and mortality for a second. Yeah, so you know, jewelry is such an artifact that outlasts a human life.
SPEAKER_00:Or lives beyond all of us, yeah. Beyond all of us.
SPEAKER_03:So, say 100 years from now, somebody finds one piece of Hannah Martin jewelry. What would it be? Yeah, and what do you think would it mean?
SPEAKER_00:Oh god, that's a really hard question to answer. Uh I mean, I like I like there's one idea that I always think about that I love the idea of that there'll be a piece that's passed down through generations. There'll there'll be stories, so rather than it being like fat, I like the idea of it being dug up out of the ground as well in like 500 years. But you know, like if someone buys something, it gets passed down to their kids and grandkids and whatever. Because like with jewelry for me, it's like gold, especially. It's like I feel like it's a material that takes on its wearer, you know, like you hold like because you wear jewelry next to your skin all day, every day. I feel like it kind of I don't know whether it's true, but it feels like it takes on something of the wearer's being, and people kind of have this very intense relationship with it, with their jewelry, especially something that you wear every day, and it becomes almost like a talisman.
SPEAKER_04:Right.
SPEAKER_00:And you know, people have I hear it all the time, where it's like, oh my god, I can't leave the house without it because I feel like it's unlucky, or I feel like I'm gonna something's gonna happen to me, or like, you know, people build these stories. So I love the idea that there'd be something in like, you know, five generations down the line. Like, for example, this ring for me, this is like an eagle's head. That's for me, that's the ring that I can't leave the house without. Like, I feel like something's gonna go terribly wrong. Like, wow, I it's it's been lost and found. Like, you know, it's got so many stories multiple times. It's like I've it's always comes back to me. Like it's flies back. I've lost it on, I've lent it for shoots, it's got lost by people, it's come back. I lost it in a river swimming. In the river swimming. Ten years ago and found it. It was there.
SPEAKER_03:It's like honestly, it's wait, hold on a second. You lost a ring in the river and ten years later?
SPEAKER_00:No, I found it that day. No, it wasn't ten years later. No, no, no, no. No, it's not that great a story.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, still. So you I still found it.
SPEAKER_00:It was on like a stone on the edge of the river. I was like, I thought I'd lost it forever. It was like three hours from that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, oh my God. Incredible story. So, yeah, I kind of like the idea that that, for example, that ring, if someone has it in like five generations' time, it will be the same. Have the same like talismanic power to it. Um, yeah, I don't know if that answers the question.
SPEAKER_03:But no, that does answer the question. No, speaking about the energy, yeah, you're absolutely right. If I go like to vintage stores, I'm thinking, if I get this ring, will I get the energy of the previous first one?
SPEAKER_00:I hope it's gonna be good energy.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, but you definitely have really strong positive energy that it feels like you're putting your heart and soul into your project. It's not like something you're just creating, you know, commercially, you know, commercially liked by everybody. Sums it up here. Yeah, you're creating for you. Wow, this isn't you know, this is a really great story, and I love to hear stories like that because they inspire other people to, you know, looking more inwards rather than looking for external, you know, ideas or external um, you know, factors that move them and push them, force them to do something, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think it's so important. I mean, I you know, there's obviously space in the world for lots of different kinds of creativity and all of that. I'm like I do believe that if you're only looking outside, if you're only kind of following trends or like thinking, you know, trying to anticipate, I suppose, a more commercial, a more commercial way of doing it of like what are people gonna want to buy? It's very hard to make something unique doing that because you're always you're always basically the the market is leading you rather than your creativity leading you. And I don't feel like you can create something that breaks any molds, that can rebel in any way, that can do anything new if you're just following that. I mean, I know some people that I work with are probably like, honey, you'd probably make loads more money if you maybe did that. But I'm like, I'm like, I don't care. I was like, otherwise I could just go and get a job.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, because at the end of the day, right, like money does, I mean, it's cliche, right? But money doesn't bring happiness, it makes your life easier, right? But at the end of the day, if you let's say, I mean, let's go that route. If you do imagine you have all the money in the world, what is the first thing you would do for the first week?
SPEAKER_00:I'd make all the pieces of jewelry in my head that I've really wanted to make for years that I haven't been able to afford to do. That's what I do. I do answer. Right, you see you answer your question.
SPEAKER_03:So, like, it will just give you an opportunity to do something which you love, which will bring you, you know, happiness.
SPEAKER_00:I can't imagine having all the money in the world, I would still be doing what I'm doing. Like, I love it.
SPEAKER_03:So, what is that grand piece that I don't know costs so much that you would never were able to create all this thing? Is it the material? Is it shape? Is it material, right?
SPEAKER_00:Material. I mean, the the like I suppose it's also the like you know, I'd make something huge in gold, basically. Like, I'd make something huge and completely outrageous and probably unsellable. Like I'd in my head, I was just like, it was something that goes up your arm, or like something that's like absolutely impractical, and I probably wouldn't do, even me wouldn't do, because I was like, there is no chance in the world that yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah. Something ridiculous out of gold. I that yes, that it's something like that. I'm like, no one's gonna buy this, but I just want it to be, I want it to exist in the world. It's like, yeah, something like that.
SPEAKER_03:I love it. What about um, you know, like using natural materials from cosmos? What about like volcanic rock or stuff like that?
SPEAKER_00:Do you know what I've done something? I've done a few projects I did for one client with moon rock. So it's this amazing couple who've become friends of mine, um, who I met through work, and they commissioned me. It was the first commission that I did, and one of them wanted to uh create a 50th birthday present for his husband, and he'd bought this moon rock. I mean, we actually don't know whether it's even real or not, but it was like he'd bought it at a flea market in New York or something, and he was like, I have this piece of moon rock, and I made an earring and set we set the moon rock in it, and we kind of loved the idea of it. Whether it's real or not, I it didn't even matter. It was like more the concept of like having this piece of moon rock. And I've the one I would love to do, there's like apparently you can get um are they called meteorites. So meteorites are meteorites, it's almost metallic. Okay, I've never done anything of that with that, but I would love to do something with that because I know that actually exists and it is a metal like material somewhere between metal and rock.
SPEAKER_03:Would it be like different uh ways or different tools to cut it to work on this?
SPEAKER_00:I think so. I we'd have to do I've never even got my hands on it. I've just heard I've read about it.
SPEAKER_03:Can you imagine filling it like something you know out of space?
SPEAKER_00:I mean that would be so cool, you know, that you could because gold feels like it's made by magic anyway. You know, I find gold so fascinating, and to be able to set something that's come out of space into a piece of gold, like combining those two things, I would love to do. I'll do it one day. Watch this space next collection.
SPEAKER_03:So you know, I I actually wanted I did mention it in the beginning. So the extension of your company is Hannah Martin Pierce, right? Yes. So can you give us a little bit more info about your Pierce collection? Maybe Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um I mean that started out, I think we launched that three years ago, four years ago. I've been thinking about it for eight years. We were actually about to do it just before the pandemic, and then obviously COVID hit and like launching a brand, a thing that involves close personal contact was not great at that time. I was like, we're gonna wait for that. Um so we I think we launched it in 22. Um, and it really that kind of came out of like personal need. It's one of those things where I was like, I actually wanted to get this um industrial bar pierced years ago. And you know, when you do something like that, you have to wait for like a year or so before you can change the jewellery. And I was like, I I can't, I could only find ugly pieces of jewellery. I was like, okay, I'm gonna have to make something. So I made my own and I got pierced with it, and then I would start making other bits and like some for my team, and they were like, Oh, can you make me something for my nose? So we were just doing it, and then clients obviously saw it and they were like, that's really cool. I was like, okay, we'll make you something. So in the end, I was like, we should probably just do this because everyone seems to want it. So we launched Hannah Martin Pierce.
SPEAKER_03:Um, that's how we no, it's not how we met, but we did a shoot with Brian because that's how so you introduced so guys, Hannah introduced me to Brian Keith Thompson, who was in the first season of the basic show. So like the old. There's a whole nice circle going on, but it's happened to the full circle.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, when we launched in LA, shout out to Brian. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:That'll be fine.
SPEAKER_00:Um we did like um we we sort of soft launched at Brian's store, and he was like really part of it. And so it's been amazing because it also like my idea was because of the scale. I mean, literally the thing that makes my pieces expensive is the amount of gold in them. It's like if they're bigger, they're more expensive because gold's really expensive, and you that's it. So actually, for the piercings, they're made out of 18 karat gold and diamonds, but they're much smaller, so it's kind of becomes a accessible price point a bit more than say, like that gold eagle ring. Yeah. So I like the idea of it being this kind of part of the brand which you could kind of start, you know, it's like a starter version of Hannah Martin that you can kind of begin with and then kind of move on up and end up with your big giant eagle ring.
SPEAKER_03:So, what other materials do we work with? Maybe educate us a little bit about depending on mainly gold.
SPEAKER_00:So it's like it's all 18 carat, the metal. We've started working now, so in the perfect drug collection was the first time that I've actually introduced silver as well. So we made some pieces and it was kind of an experiment. And again, because it felt kind of rebellious.
SPEAKER_03:That I can't remember how anything not rebellious that you would. I tried to rebel.
SPEAKER_00:Everything I try to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was like we were I'd sort of designed the whole collection as this mixed colour, so like white and yellow, because again, I really I wear like lots of mixed colours, and actually it was it was Michael, who's my head of production, that was like, well, we could try doing it in like silver and 18 karat gold. And uh honestly, even my reaction to start with was like, we can't do that because in jewelry world, like silver's one thing, gold is another thing. They're two very different types of jewelry. I was like, fuck it, why not? Like, and actually they used to like back in the third twenties and thirties, silver had the same kind of you know, it was considered the same preciousness as gold. It's just over the years it's kind of been like silver's like this entry level and gold's like up here. I was like, well, let's do it, let's mix. Oh, now we're doing like these pieces where it's like sterling silver and 18 karat gold. We had to kind of fight with the because in the UK we have to legally have everything hallmarked, so it's like whatever metal you use. And we had to have big arguments with the assay office about that we could hallmark these things with silver and gold, because no one really does it. So which we won and we do now have like a silver hallmark and a gold hallmark. Going to the upper level. Yeah, it's like we must lead the movement. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, come on. Um, so this idea of mixing metals. So yeah, I work with like mainly 18 karat gold, but then we obviously work with stone, so I work with diamonds. I try and I mean I love diamonds, but they're also a bit predictable. So I'm like, they are my girls' best friends. But for me, there's more interesting things, so I'm like, I love diamonds. I use a lot of different coloured ones. So in the perfect drug, I've found they're amazing. They're these grey diamonds, so they're like just a bit off-white, they're like slightly less yeah, they're but they're clear, so they're not um, they're just they're a bit more they're steely coloured rather than that kind of bright white. I also work with like in Hannah Martin Pierced, we work with like cognac diamonds and champagne diamonds, so they basically browns brown diamonds and like kind of yellowy brown diamonds, yeah. They're much so much sexier when you call them cognac and champagne. Um, but then I really love working with like the less obvious stones. So like I I've started doing a lot of carved stones. So actually, in the last couple of collections, I've done like in the perfect drug, we've been using obsidian, which is like a really amazing, like it's black, but it's kind of got silvery hues to it. It looks like the world, it looks like the globe from a distance. It looks very spacey, actually. It looks very like you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Um, and that we've we've used malachite, like stones that are kind of again less obvious or like they're not kind of we used to call them semi-precious. They don't use that term anymore. They're a couple of yeah, and each one of them's different. It's like even though I can make the same piece out of malachite and we carve it, it's the same shape, but nothing will ever be the same because every single piece of malachite is different. Diamonds, they're amazing, but like they're kind of all look like diamonds. Yeah, like it's not like boring. Diamonds are diamonds are diamonds, and they're beautiful and sparkly and like obsidian.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, you never get the same piece exactly. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I'm like, that's what I want. Stuff that you don't, yeah, yeah. It's less obvious. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03:You know, off topic, kind of like you always look so fabulous. But may I ask you, what is the perfume you're wearing? I can't.
SPEAKER_00:It's the best, right? Actually, I it's a friend of mine in LA. Um it's a brand called Heretic, and you should get Douglas on your podcast.
SPEAKER_03:I was actually talking to Douglas team. No way. There you go. I can't believe, oh my god. Douglas, Douglas come on the show. Douglas, come on the podcast. Heretic, it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00:It's I and actually Douglas gave me this scent. It was maybe two or three years ago for my birthday, and I was a bit, yeah, it's like by giving someone a perfume is quite a specific thing to do. He was like, I think this is made for you, Hannah. It's like, it's so your scent. And I put it on for the first time. I was like, honestly, people, even Uber drivers are like, what's that smell you're wearing? I was like, it's so I love it.
SPEAKER_03:I've yeah, he has cool names for the perfumes like something like Midnight Vampire. Yeah, they're not like Moscaratu.
SPEAKER_00:I mean it's like dirty vanilla. I love it. He's so good. He's so good, and they all smell amazing. All the smells he makes are amazing. They're so unusual. Um, so yeah, there you go. It's horrendous. That's like you.
SPEAKER_03:It's really, it really portrays your character so well.
SPEAKER_00:He picked the perfect scent for me as well. I was like, oh, you know what you're doing.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, definitely. I was like, I need to ask you that question. So maybe again, like the ideas of our viewers to have an immersive experience as if they hear with us in the studio and hearing like airplanes and imagining the scents. Yeah, yeah. You know, maybe get them out of their, you know, mundane day and just transform to a little bit different reality, you know, a little bit different universe, you know?
SPEAKER_00:Nice. Yeah, that's what I'm all about.
SPEAKER_03:So, Hannah, you've been in this business for many, many years. Your brand, you know, went through so many different journeys. Is there any advice you can give uh younger or uh emerging designers who just finding their path or trying to find their way? What's like the first or you know, one advice you would give them?
SPEAKER_00:Be prepared to work hard. You know, advice. I feel like it everything, you know, even this, like whenever I do interviews and stuff, it's like you obviously hear all the great sides. Like it ain't easy, it's still not easy. It's like you've got to really love it. Um, so yeah, don't be afraid of hard work. But also, I think again, what we touched on it earlier, it's like do what you love. Like it's got to come out of your soul. Otherwise, there's no point. I wouldn't be able to put up with the hard work and the long hours and the like roller coaster emotions that involves like running a jewellery business if I didn't absolutely love what I was doing. And I feel like you have to follow that, like follow your heart, follow what it is you want to make, because you are essentially making art. It's like yeah, it's not an easy route to choose. So if you choose it, it's and and if you do find your own, you know, everyone has their own voice, everyone has their own thing that they love. And there's no point being cookie cutter because there's loads of people that have got bigger businesses that will always be beating you at doing that. So it's like you've got to be yourself, otherwise, what what's the point of doing it? You know, that would be my ex my advice.
SPEAKER_03:If I could add a little bit, usually I don't, but I just want to expand your thought that sometimes we have such high expectations, right? Yeah, we expect so much of ourselves to happen so fast. And you're the love of what you craft takes time, right? Maybe life is testing you, right? It's saying, you know what, if you're not willing to go through these hardships, maybe it's not the love of your life, maybe it's not your true love. And if you give up uh after one obstacle or two obstacles, right? It's like okay, maybe it's not your true passion. Because if it is your true passion, even if you fail, even if you stumble, even if years from now nobody's gonna believe in you, and you still in your heart 100%, 200% believe this is what I'm meant to do, success will come to you eventually, right? So lower your standards a little bit, guys, lower your expectations a little bit and just keep going, keep going.
SPEAKER_00:And I think we get we're in this world where, you know, especially with social media and everything, you know, it's hard to kind of judge what's real and what's not. And I feel like the expectations are even higher because you're like, well, I should be able to succeed, you know, I'm gonna go from like naught to a hundred miles an hour in like a year. It just doesn't happen like that. I mean, it happens for the odd person, but like, and there's also no there's no room to kind of learn in that quick turnaround time. I feel like, you know, you you only learn by failing. You only learn by I mean, God, I could write books and books and books about all the things I've done wrong. You know, like more some way more things wrong than I've done things right. You learn by failing. I don't know. Literally, it's like the only thing, I suppose that's a yeah, another good thing to add. It's like don't be afraid of failing, take risks, and learn from them and keep going. And don't give up.
SPEAKER_03:Don't give up, right? Always get yourself out of your comfort zone because if you always do what you're good at right now, you'll never perfect. You'll never you know get better.
SPEAKER_00:There we go.
SPEAKER_03:Well, and this beautiful phrase, wow, short and sweet. I know you have a lot of things to do and to party in the lab take you too long, but I really appreciate the stars aligned. The moon rock help us. Absolutely. Moonrock got us here and help you to be here and be the guest on the basic show. Thank you, Hannah, for being here, and thank you for being my guest, and thank you for this conversation. That was great. Thanks. Thank you, thank you. Bye.