Hello My name is Paul Allen and I live in Kalbarri (600km north of Perth in Western Australia).  I started making silver ingot pendants in 1995 for travellers staying at the Kalbarri Backpackers. Before this I did many various jobs including driving trucks, photographer, gold mine worker, security guard and more recently a camel safari owner.  However I always enjoyed making things.

The ingots I make are all hand made in my studio workshop.  The silver is melted and cast into a rough ingot shape.  The ingot is then hammered (forged) into its rectangular shape.  The casting and forging is done by hand and means that each ingot has a slightly different weight and shape, therefore no two ingots are ever the same.  The ingot  is drilled to take a leather band and I stamp each ingot with my initial  "p" and the fine silver stamp "999".  I use fine silver because it is soft to work with the hammer and is low allergenic for the wearer ( there is no nickel or other metals in it ).  Sterling silver "925" is used to make the rings as they need to be stronger and harder wearing .  I use 9 karat gold "375" for the sun and gold spot inlays as it makes a nice contrast against the silver background.

The designs on the large ingots represent  Australian themes,  hence the Sun ingot , Surf ingot and Southern Cross designs.

The sun has a big influence in Australia and is one of the first things a person thinks of when you mention Australia to them.  I tried to reflect this in the Sun ingot and it flowed onto some of the other designs.  The Sun ingot is my favourite and is the one I have worn since I started making them .  Everybody is different however, so if you see something you like on these pages, or have an idea of your own which I can design for you on an ingot, please contact me.

My studio workshop is open to the public, so visitors are welcome.  Call me if you are visiting Kalbarri on (08) 9937 2121 or ask at the Kalbarri Visitor Centre or the Kalbarri Backpackers.