Vintage rolling device the jewel in the crown

Tucked away on a busy Wellington street sits Nick Hensman’s hidden gem. He’s not sure how old it is, but he knows it’s special.

It’s a rolling mill – a set of rollers used to flatten and shape precious metals, which are then handcrafted into bespoke pieces of jewellery.

Hensman believes the device symbolises his mission of creating timeless, one-of-a-kind jewellery.

He and his fiancee, Vee Burroughs, started the business in 2014.

When throwing ideas around for the name of their business, a few rolled off the tongue, but one stuck – The Rolling Mill.

This tool came from a fellow jeweller, who was selling all his old crafting tools, Hensman said. He began collecting more old tools, and started making unique pieces of jewellery in a traditional way.

‘‘I started in a tin shed where I had this cool old equipment, and I thought ‘this is pretty cool’.’’

Soon after, he opened a store in Aro Valley.

‘‘I came back from overseas and was in between work. I never set out to be a business owner, I just wanted to make nice jewellery,’’ Hensman said.

‘‘I had a bit of a vision and so I thought ‘let’s do it’.’’

He wanted to keep things traditional, despite technology advances in the industry.

‘‘The majority of our tools are secondhand – they are old and used ... Every piece of metal that gets rolled here, goes through [the rolling mill],’’ he said.

‘‘We don’t have any boundaries with making jewellery.

‘‘In terms of the future, we don’t want it to be a big thing.

‘‘We like it small, personal, and we don’t want to lose touch with that.’’

Hensman has been in the jewellery industry since 2007, while Burroughs has been a graphic designer for more than 10 years.

Prior to focusing full-time on the jewellery business, Hensman was working in a bike shop parttime.

‘‘I’m no bike mechanic, it was just a temporary job to tide me over.

‘‘I was that guy at high school, the one who did the automated engineering class and made rings and knives .’’

The 27-year-old also tried his hand at music, before settling on starting his own jewellery business.

‘‘The uni life was not cut out for me – [making jewellery] is what I love doing ... It was in me from day one.’’