Jeweller Lisa Clune keeps her beloved nana close to her heart. On her ring finger — which the ancient Romans believed had a direct connection to the heart — Lisa’s wedding band looks deceptively simple. But the gold and tiny stones carry a long and rich history. Lisa’s nana, Teri, gave her a large 1980s illusion-set ring, with 10 small stones clustered to appear as one.
“It was so big I was never going to wear it,” says the founder of Set Together Jewellery Design. Instead, Lisa carefully dismantled the piece, lifting out the stones and holding onto the gold for more than a decade before melting it down to create her own wedding band. “I knew it was the right occasion,” she says. “It’s my connection to Nana.”
Lisa credits Teri with setting her on the path to becoming a goldsmith, gemmologist and jewellery designer. Her nana’s mantra was simple: “Save and then buy jewellery”. “Nana had this amethyst ring – a really big one – and I just loved staring at it as a kid,” Lisa recalls. “I think that really was my introduction to precious jewellery.”
That sense of continuity – of past lives folded into new forms – now runs through Lisa’s work. As a child, Lisa had a fascination with all things Ancient Egypt and in high school she was “always into art, always drawing”.
Growing up in a small town in New Zealand’s central North Island, jewellery-making felt distant and specialised. But that changed when Lisa auditioned for a jewellery school in Auckland and sat at the bench for the first time. “I was really good at it. And I loved it from that moment.”
The school followed a German six-year apprenticeship model, compressed into three demanding years. If students didn’t achieve an 85 per cent average, they had to repeat the year.
After completing her Diploma in Goldsmithing and Design, Lisa moved to Melbourne, deliberately dividing her time between three different jewellers: a diamond dealer, one that solely did trade in hand-makes and a boutique specialising in coloured stones. Working two days a week at each gave her a broad, practical education. She eventually became the main jeweller at Fedele Jewelworks, where her boss, Frank Fedele, sponsored her gemmology studies. Night classes opened up a deeper understanding of gemstones, and Lisa spent eight years working under his mentorship.
By then, friends were already coming to her for engagement rings and wedding bands.
“I felt a bit limited only being at the bench,” she says. “I wanted to make my own designs.”
In 2019, Lisa and her husband Will moved to the Coast where she quietly built her own practice – first from her lounge room, then in a private Forest Glen studio, where she now works by appointment.
Her gems are ethically sourced, from Australian small-scale miners to stones from Sri Lanka, procured through visits to the mines herself. Her aesthetic sits in a thoughtful middle ground: classic, with a twist.
Engagement rings are the mainstay of her business, followed closely by remodels and wedding bands. Remodels, in particular, carry emotional weight.
“You’re utilising what you already have,” Lisa says. “There’s sentimental value. It’s sustainable. And it becomes a new piece made in your style.”