About Kathryn

Kathryn Dieroff has returned to her hometown of Hamilton, ON and brought her impressive body of work with her. After establishing herself as a force in the Metal Arts community, Kathryn opened a retail jewellery store in Toronto that rose to be one of the top ten jewellery stores in Toronto according to Now Magazine, BlogTO, and Toronto Life. Setting down roots in Hamilton with her family four years ago, Kathryn hand crafts custom wedding and engagement rings, creates a collection of unique handmade heirloom jewellery, and designs and makes a textile collection for men and women. Kathryn has been successfully running her business since 1999. Smith and Tailor, the brand she created for her luxury jewellery and textile lines was launched in 2017.

In my own words

My life has always been about creating. I sewed my first skirt when I was six, we had a darkroom in our home and I began developing my own prints when I was 10. I learned woodworking from my dad, crochet from my grandma, music and art from my grandfather. My journey toward jewellery began in the first week of my first year of University. A friend in my dorm had taken a lost wax casting course and lent me some wax and tools to carve a ring.

Four years, and one Bachelor’s degree later, I returned to jewellery at George Brown college for the three year Jewellery Arts and Design program. Following that I began an apprenticeship with a Master Goldsmith and Gemsetter who tutored us for 18 months in platinum fabrication, hand engraving, and pavé setting. We were required to find our own clients, and work for free so that we could work in the most expensive materials our clients could afford. I looked for work, but kept finding more clients, and my business has been running steadily since 1999. 

Along the way I learned traditional glass enameling techniques, learned lampworking from a studio-mate, opened a store, started a family, and moved to Hamilton, ON. My mission is to continue to grow as an artist. I want to challenge myself everyday to improve, learn, discover something I didn’t know before, but most importantly of all, to make.