Under Leandra Hill’s torch, cherished mementos become everyday wear
In a small studio in the Village of West Greenville, a goldsmith’s workspace hold small bags filled with heirloom jewelry: oversized rings and broken watches, a lustrous belt buckle, and an old brooch. Individually, the pieces are valuable sentiments but fated to storage as dated trends, oversized fits, and mismatched styles. Under Leandra Hill’s thoughtful touch and torch, however, cherished mementos become the molten material of everyday wear.
“It’s great in theory to have your grandma’s ring,” explains Leandra Hill, a goldsmith and a Greenville native. “But how great is it if you can actually wear it every day, and touch it, and feel it, and have it with you?” In her studio on Pendleton Street, clients bring heirloom pieces to Hill, where she carefully melts and reforms them into minimal gold rings, necklaces, earrings, and charms, often set with diamonds.
Hill’s journey into jewelry-making began when was a senior at the College of Charleston, studying cognitive psychology and working part-time at a jewelry store, stringing and knotting pearls. “Anytime I made something that someone bought, and they loved, and they wore, it gave me the best feeling,” she explains. “It was just this click of ‘Oh, this is what I’m supposed to be doing.’”
After moving home to Greenville and apprenticing with Danielle Miller, local jeweler and co-owner of Make Made Jewelry, Hill worked at J.B. Lacher jeweler, mostly in sales and marketing. When a young girl and her father walked into the store one day, wanting to exchange a piece for something new, Hill explained she could melt and reshape the metal into a gift for the girl’s mother. It was a transformational moment for Hill.
“The little girl’s face just lit up,” Hill reflects. “It was just this wonderful moment.” The little girl’s reaction inspired Sentimental Meltdown, a process where Hill melts and reforms inherited pieces into contemporary jewelry, sophisticated and minimal for everyday wear. Like the little girl in the jewelry store so many years ago, clients brighten when realizing Hill can transform stashed mementos into something worn, felt, and carried every day.
To create her pieces, Hill uses traditional goldsmithing methods, meaning she melts, forms, hammers, and shapes each individual item by hand. “It’s very organic feeling,” she explains as she holds a former collection of crosses, melted and forged into a dazzling ring bearing marks of the artist’s craft. “You can see the hammering, and it’s a very irregular edge.” Clients adore this luxe organic style, and many return with pieces for Hill’s torch again and again.
Along with custom and ready-to-wear pieces, Hill personalizes pieces such as her balance beam ring, which is 14-karat gold and features a gemstone on each end of the bar. The clever design hides a gemstone on each of its edges, often children’s birthstones that can clash with other pieces or outfits. Like many of Hill’s pieces, the minimal gold jewelry holds meaning designed to be worn and cherished each day.
Advice on Gifting Gems from Leandra Hill
- Don’t stray too far from a person’s style
- Find a piece that complements their current collection
- When in doubt, let them pick out their own piece
- Gift a consultation for a custom piece
Find Gold
Grand Bohemian Gallery
44 E. Camperdown Way, Greenville, grandbohemiangallery.com
Augusta Twenty
26 Augusta St., Greenville, a20market.com
Leandra Hill Metal Works Showroom and Studio
1256 Pendleton Road, Ste. C, Greenville, leandrahill.shop
