True gems

It may be one of the world’s oldest luxury industries, but UK jewellery is seeing an injection of cutting-edge cool. Cue the nearly 300-year-old house of Garrard, the royal warrant jeweller that’s synonymous with iconic and historic gems, from Queen Mary’s consort crown to Princess Diana’s engagement ring. Last year, the house’s limited edition Wings Rising collection was crafted from unexpected meteorite and rock crystal, highlighting Garrard’s use of unique and innovative techniques and materials. “It’s about turning everything on its head, and taking jewellery from being the accessory of a look to centre stage,” says Garrard CEO, Joanne Milner.

The eponymous jeweller Anabela Chan, who picked up Walpole’s Game Changer Award in 2023, says that innovation makes the UK stand out. “I think British craftsmanship has long been perceived as lesser than French or Italian craftsmanship, but I believe we’re better at creativity and innovation,” she says. “We are more adventurous and bold in our choice of materials, borrowing different techniques from across industries.” The ten-year-old brand has notably grown by word of mouth and essentially no advertising, its colourful, uplifting jewels today a top choice for A-list celebrities (Naomi Campbell, Oprah Winfrey and Taylor Swift to name a few).

“It’s about that feeling of empowerment from wearing something magical – that the everyday is extraordinary and worth celebrating,” says Chan. The brand’s other USP is a razor-sharp focus on sustainability: it has exclusively used lab-grown diamonds since the brand’s inception and recently expanded to working with artisanal mines committed to traceability and sustainability. And change is increasingly happening at home: six years ago, all the brand’s recycled gold casters were based in Birmingham, but today are more “widely available” in London, says Chan.

Liverpool-based Boodles – which picked up the top gong for British Luxury Brand of the Year at the Walpole British Luxury Awards 2023 – has also noticed a sea change in jewellery design, spearheaded by clients. “There’s a growing demand for individuality,” says Rebecca Hawkins, Director of Design at Boodles. “Since Covid, there’s a real desire to have something that represents your identity – your life, your journey – and all the things that mean something to you personally.” Boodles’ recent high jewellery collections have been themed around notable cities, evoking a sense of place, and clients are hooked. “Eighty per cent of pieces were chosen because they connected to one’s life or story, an amazing holiday or a happy memory,” recalls Hawkins. “People want something that is unique – and unique to them.”

That personal touch has galvanised Boodles’ design team, which is split between London’s Bond Street and Liverpool. Not only have the number of high jewellery collections increased, but so too has the work around creating each piece (the team has since grown from four to six designers). A Marrakech aquamarine ring, for example, required researching each individual design before undergoing various production stages: design, technical, 3D building with a CAD engineer. “It’s a lot more intensive,” says Hawkins, with clients welcoming the increasing complexity. “All those extra details have meaning.”

Each piece also requires multiple craftspeople where, say, an enamel specialist works alongside stone experts to source and cut the exact shape and colour gradation. “When you think about all the different specialists involved in a single piece, you can easily have more than 100 years of experience,” says Hawkins.

Centuries-old craft is, indeed, part of jewellery’s allure, something that Hamilton & Inches knows well. Its 40 employees all sit under one roof at its five-storey townhouse in Edinburgh, three floors of which are dedicated to workshops. CEO Victoria Houghton describes it as a unique spot that mixes retail and lifestyle, where clients can have a glass of champagne, chat to watchmakers and see their bespoke jewels being crafted upstairs by goldsmiths. “That’s what people want to see, not necessarily just buying things off the shelf all the time,” says Houghton.

The space is also a boon for craftspeople. David James Ramsay is a senior silversmith who’s worked at Hamilton & Inches for 17 years. “You’re always learning from people here who have a lot of knowledge,” he says. “If I ever have a problem or want advice with stone setting, for example, I can go and speak to the goldsmiths. The industry in general definitely doesn’t have that unless you’re in a bigger workshop,” he says. The practical knowledge earned is priceless and hard to come by. “Even if you’re taught once it doesn’t mean you can do it,” explains Ramsay. “You need lots of experience to build that up, to be comfortable with what you’re doing and learning. It’s a long game.”

Fostering that transmission of skills is the Hamilton & Inches’ Craft Academy, which every year recruits two interns from Scottish universities. Uptake is high, says Houghton, thanks again to the townhouse. “Today, people don’t like to join a business and see a ceiling,” she says. “They want to see opportunities.”

In London, the spiritual home for British high jewellery is Mayfair. Graff’s global headquarters is located on Albemarle Street, a diamond’s throw from its New Bond Street flagship, and a property featuring a top-floor design studio and basement workshops complete with five separate studios. Home to 40 master artisans, the skills range from the traditional (gemstone graders, goldsmiths, polishers) to cutting edge (CAD, laser printing and 3D technicians).

Neighbours Garrard and David Morris also have in-house workshops at their flagships, with David Morris’s listed townhouse located on New Bond Street. The site is home to 12 artisans who work on the jeweller’s ten fine jewellery and two annual high jewellery collections, the latter often a huge collaborative effort. For example, its latest emerald and diamond Mosaico necklace was an amalgamation of some ten master craftspeople and skills – casting, cleaning, mounting, diamond and emerald cutting, setting and polishing, among them – who all helped to complete the jewel in 15 months. Like its peers, the workshops fuse traditional and high-tech skills, as with father-and-son duo Alan and Lewis Pither, both mounters at David Morris, the younger Pither specialising in CAD. Lewis – who joined the house aged 17 after regularly visiting his father at the workshop from the age of 12 – will still often be at the bench working alongside his father.

“It’s more realistic that way – you’re actually looking at the real thing rather than the computer screen,” says Alan. He adds, proudly: “He’s got into new, modern technology while also doing bench work. It’s forwards into the future now.”

The Walpole Book of British Luxury 2024/2025 is available to order now, priced at £30. To buy your copy, contact the team using the link below.

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