Jihyo Kim is a jewellery artist and designer. She graduated from the MA Design (Jewellery) course at Central Saint Martins in London and holds a BA in Ceramic Design from South Korea.

Her background across ceramics and jewellery has given her broad experience in materials, processes and methods of making. She combines 3D printing with handcraft to create contemporary jewellery using circular materials found in everyday life.

Kim explores how materials acquire value through the ways they are selected, transformed and used. She approaches Korean lacquerware with mother-of-pearl inlay, Najeonchilgi from a sustainable perspective, applying this way of thinking to contemporary circular materials rather than reproducing traditional forms.

Kim was selected for Bright New Gems’ ‘Ones to Watch’ and shortlisted for the Maison/0 Green Trail by Central Saint Martins and LVMH. Her work brings together material awareness, digital fabrication and hand processes within a single practice.

Jihyo Kim’s practice explores how materials can be perceived differently through jewellery. Grounded in a sustainable approach, she considers material selection, making processes and the life cycle of each piece as connected decisions.

Kim works with circular materials made from spent coffee grounds, alongside mother-of-pearl and metal. Her approach is informed by Korean Najeonchilgi, not as a form to reproduce, but as an example of how materials can be transformed through craft knowledge and careful making. She brings this perspective to contemporary materials and methods.

Her jewellery integrates 3D printing with hand processes. Digital fabrication provides precision and structural control, while hand-finishing introduces variation and sensitivity to each material. Clear silhouettes, rounded volumes and carefully composed details form a distinctive visual language.

By integrating circular materials, traditional craft knowledge and contemporary production, Kim proposes a way of making that shifts attention from what a material is to how it is understood, handled and transformed.