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KATALYST

The craft, and the passion.

Every commission exists thrice: in the mind, on paper, and in metal. Every decision has intention behind it.

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One commission, start to finish.

Three moments in the life of your design. Draft, craft, and the final piece!

  1. Kat's design board for a sapphire signet ring, with a top view, a rendered three quarter view and an elevation, annotated in her handwriting.
    The design: a 1.2 carat cushion cut blue sapphire from Sri Lanka, 18K yellow gold, soft square shank, size 5.5.
  2. The same ring part way through making, in yellow gold with the bezel still empty, tried on a hand.
    The same ring in gold, bezel still empty, waiting for its stone.
  3. The finished ring: a deep blue cushion cut sapphire bezel set in 18K yellow gold, on white stone.
    Finished, set and polished.

Design boards

Working drawings from pieces designed by Katalyst Jewellery showcase the planning, thought and passion behind each creation.

Hand drafting has become something of a lost art, but drawing a piece of jewellery by hand creates an intimate understanding of its proportions, structure and construction. Every line is considered before the piece takes physical form.

For Katalyst, the drawing is not simply a presentation of the idea, it is part of the design process itself.

After all, if a piece is made and finished by hand, why shouldn’t it begin that way too?

A design board for a pear cut solitaire in yellow gold, the finished rendering laid over Kat's own pencil sketch of the same ring, annotated in her handwriting.

Design board

The modern classic. A hidden halo solitaire featuring a fabulous pear shaped diamond. A 2.25 carat pear, lab-grown diamond, in 14K yellow gold with a hidden halo.

A design board showing an illustrated hand wearing a solitaire, with diamond grading notes written beside it in Kat's hand: two carat, colour F, clarity VVS1, cut EX.

Design board

Grading notes for a two-carat diamond, captured as the design begins to take shape. Gemstone selection, proportions and setting considerations become part of the conversation, allowing the stone and the design to develop together, rather than treating one as an afterthought.

A design board showing a gold crescent drop earring and matching necklace with brilliant cut diamonds, drawn onto Kat's illustrated figure.

Design board

A drop earring and necklace designed as a set, drawn directly onto the figure rather than photographed. Seeing jewellery on the body gives a sense of scale, movement and proportion that an isolated drawing cannot always capture. This one is less about technical planning and more about the joy of drawing, a casual sketch exploring how jewellery might live on the person wearing it. Not every drawing needs to become a finished piece; sometimes the pleasure is simply in imagining it.

More boards are added as commissions are completed. Kat draws continuously, and the set grows with every day of inspiration.

Finished Work

Studio work, objects designed and made by Katalyst Jewellery. Some by Kat herself. Keep an eye on this space as our portfolio expands. Kat has designed and created thousands of rings and hundreds of other pieces over the years.

A white gold ring set with a princess cut black diamond flanked by channel set white diamonds, photographed on weathered pale wood.
Black diamond and channel set white diamonds in white gold.
A heavy silver signet ring set with an oval labradorite cabochon flashing blue, resting on grey slate.
“This stone just had to be set with the flat side up.”
A textured silver pendant flanked by two gold posts and set with three blue stones, hanging against dark twisted driftwood.
“A family matter.” Silver, gold, and stone.
A wide silver ring holding a domed golden citrine cabochon in a gold bezel, on cream woven fabric.
“Whiskey Drinking Ring.”
A brushed silver tower ring set with an oval labradorite cabochon, photographed on slate.
Silver tower ring, designed and made by Kat MacLean.

In the studio

Stones chosen in person, measured, drawn, and set by hand. This is what the work actually looks like between the first conversation and the finished piece.

Kat's hands at the workbench, holding a metal template against a bench pin, with pliers and burnishers laid out around them.
At the bench. The hands that draw the piece are the hands that make it.
A hand holding tweezers with a red garnet, over an open Katalyst notebook showing handwritten stone measurements and ring sketches.
Working notes: the stone measured, sketched and specified before anything is made.
A hand holding tweezers with a rhodolite garnet above a metal parcel tray of loose red stones.
Choosing from a parcel. Stones are viewed in person before they are set.
A wooden ring clamp holding a bezel set purple cabochon, with the workshop out of focus behind it.
A cabochon held in the clamp, part way through setting.
@katalyst.jewellery

New pieces, work in progress and stones worth looking at go up on Instagram first.

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Follow the work as it happens

Commission something of your own.

Every piece here started as a conversation. Yours can start with a photograph, a rough idea, or a stone you already own.

Book a consultation

Call 403 926 7464 or email kat@katalystjewellery.com. Book a consultation in-studio or online. We try to answer all enquiries within two business days.

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No obligation.

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