Van Dop was born in the Netherlands and moved to Canada at the age of six. In 1968 he gained a degree in Philosophy at the University of Ontario.

He moved to Cornwall in 1973 and set up his own workshop, beginning with the creation of beautiful boxes using different metals - silver, gold, nickel, copper, bronze etc  used for colour where appropriate. Pieces are cut-out, soldered, textured, assembled and polished. Each of his pieces is a unique study of nature and/or wildlife and his jewellery is collected and treasured. His work is greatly influenced by the Japanese metal tradition.