My Story

Uniquely handcrafted by Ben Perkins

My name is Ben Perkins, I'm 20 and I have been making things with my hands for as long as I can remember. In 2018 I took up blacksmithing as a 14 year old, using a hole in the ground, some coal and my Mum's hairdryer as a forge and have been progressing my skills with blacksmithing and metalworking since. At the start of 2020, I began making jewellery including rings, necklaces and earrings mainly out of silver but some even from wood. This is when I started Ben Makes, where I have been sharing my journey with what I have made for over four years now.

During the first lockdown in 2020, I was able to commit more time to forging and jewellery making, advancing my skills considerably, and I started to experiment more with different materials making a range of inlay rings and creasing steel to produce interesting designs for bowls. In 2021, I surprisingly got over 90,000 upvotes on one of my Reddit posts, which then has led to me working with the BBC for a feature on their website and a short film on live television with BBC South and London. This has been an incredible, unexpected opportunity for me to grow my small business and show more people about blacksmithing and jewellery making. Then in 2022, I was also featured in The Times, with a section about blacksmithing and apprenticeships.

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Since then I’ve continued working on growing my businesses and skills in blacksmithing and jewellery making. In 2024 I’m now in my 1st year at Falmouth university where I study businesses and entrepreneurship and am focusing on ways I can grow my businesses and craft through the skills I’m learning on my course. I’ve been nominated for the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce 30 under 30 2024 and came 2nd in Falmouth Uni’s Annual Dragons Den event.

Being at Falmouth university means I don’t have access to my blacksmithing workshop as regularly so while I’ve been in Falmouth focused on jewellery making specifically making custom rings and necklaces with my mission to create genuinely unique customised jewellery. For example, making rings and necklaces with sand from peoples favourite Cornish beach or the fur or ashes of their pets. I aim to capture personal stories in each piece I make. I still have a burning passion for blacksmithing and when I’m back at home in Guildford I make the most of the opportunity to get back in the forge and continue growing in my craft. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to keep the blacksmithing craft alive and teach others about, as well as being able to advance my skills within blacksmithing and jewellery making while making beautiful pieces for my customers.