October’s birthstone is one of my favourites, Opal! Every single opal is uniquely different, with the best specimens showing flashes of colour and vibrancy including all the colours of the rainbow! We have several loose opals at the moment, including the three in the picture, I just have to decide what to make with them! The crystal opal in the front of the picture is a particularly lovely one (even though as per usual I am finding it impossible to capture the mesmerising colour displayed by this gorgeous gem in a picture) not only does it have the usual colour flashes of yellow, orange and green, but it also displays lots of red flashes and a stunning blue that looks like lightening running through! The other two are equally unusual, because they are both fire opal which is usually a lovely flat transparent orange colour, but these two are an orange body colour that also shows really vibrant flashes of green, yellow and orange (the pear shaped one even flashes blue too!) As you can probably tell, I get quite excited about unique rare and beautiful gemstones like these, they’re not something you see every day and I can’t wait to get started on designs!

Things have been strange this year (to say the least!) and several customers have asked if we do payment plans to spread the cost of Christmas, we are always keen to see if we can help so here goes!

1. Come in and reserve all your gifts for as little as £5 deposit, pay off your choices and collect any time before the big day.
2. Interest free payment scheme to help spread the cost.
3. Free wrapping and local delivery service (I shouldn’t tempt fate, but just in case something happens again at least we will get your gifts to you wrapped and ready to go!)
4. Nationwide Postal Delivery service available.
5. If you see something you like, don’t miss out! Reserve it! 😉

I know we’re nearly at the end of September but I wanted to share something I’ve been working on! Did you know we can arrange to have jewellery on approval?? A lovely young man wants to pop the question with sapphire and we didn’t have quite what he wanted in stock, so I have been getting some stunners in to show him including the ones in this picture. I am always happy to get a selection on approval with no pressure, and if what you want just doesn’t exist we can make you a bespoke and truly unique piece that’s sure to get the happy tears flowing!! Don’t forget us when you want something special, we may not be the biggest but I guarantee you that we will try incredibly hard to please you, because it actually means something special to us to have happy customers!

Yay, it’s that time of year again when I get to choose beautiful things to fill the shop!! I have enjoyed picking out some lovely amber, and I’ve tried to get a mix of dramatic and wowzer pieces along with dainty understated pieces, hopefully there will be something to please everyone! Amber is such a beautiful gemstone (not a stone at all in fact, it’s fossilised resin between 20 to 50 million years old) and every piece is a truly unique window back in time. In some pieces you can find insects trapped millions of years ago, but incredibly they are perfectly preserved as if alive yesterday! I have necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings of all descriptions currently being stocked, so if you would like an amber “fix” come on in!!

Behold another unique piece from the workshop! We used the customer’s emeralds to made up a really chunky gold ring to match another sapphire set ring she constantly wears on the other hand, and really loves. We took care to match the raised settings and edges, and added in a little twist by frosting the finish of the recessed gold to make the contrast of polished gold stand out! Happily the customer loves her new ring, this heavy and bold ring is something she can wear every day and enjoy for many years to come!

I shall be doing a new window display this weekend in order to display the new stock just in, we’re in love!! So pretty, this sterling silver Tree of Life is a 3D beauty! It is accented with rose gold and sparking gorgeousness, with an unusual split and flared outer circular mount that gives it such a classy and different look! Also available are the matching earrings with rose gold accented branches and little silver leaves, dainty and a perfect compliment to the necklace. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it! 😉

This ring fresh from the workshop, is made from gold and gemstones brought in by the customer to re imagine! The principal stone is a beautiful big peridot, but the old ring did nothing for the gorgeous vibrant grassy green stone so something was designed that does! This setting is a much more simple design that the old ring was, with a diamond to accent and add a touch of sparkle in a modern and unique design. She loves it, and now has a new piece to wear and enjoy rather than having something sitting in a box for ages!

This initial pendant was made in the workshop using the customer’s and his late wife’s wedding rings and a few other items of her jewellery. We made two pendants, using both gold and white gold, with their initials together in a solid and chunky design chosen by the husband. A lovely way to keep her in his heart and she with him always.

I am happy to report that we are open for what is now our fourth week and so far so good!! We are working hard to implement all the social distancing measures, encourage the sanitising and keeping things as clean as a whistle for your safety! The workshop is in full production mode, and pictured is one of the rings to have been completed for a customer. She had several rings that she could no longer wear, sadly it happens to us all, as you age the knuckles get bigger and the fleshy part of the finger gets smaller. This means the ring has to be big enough to get over the knuckle, but when it is over it’s too big for the finger and is always spinning around! We used her gold and all the assorted stones from her rings to make a single ring that is big enough to go on, but if it spins it doesn’t matter because the stones are randomly scattered in no particular pattern, so whatever way you look at it is the right way!! Happily, she’s now happy!! 🙂

We have been re opened for a week and we are starting to get into a rhythm again! It was a little difficult implementing the new system that has been put in place to safeguard both ours and your safety, but everyone has been very understanding and patient while we have been getting back up to speed! I can’t pretend it has been easy, it’s amazing how quickly you forget to do the simplest of things that are automatic in normal situations, but this is the “new normal”! I have been very grateful to both Carol and Annie who work for me, they have got back into the job with gusto and welcomed back our lovely customers to whom I am also incredibly grateful, you have stuck by us in extremely challenging circumstances and we will try our best as always to cater to all your jewellery related needs. Speaking of jewellery, the lovely ring in the picture is from our workshop, this beautiful platinum handmade ring has as it’s centrepiece a stunning crystal opal that displays gorgeous colour flashes as it moves (very difficult to show it in a photo sadly!) surrounded by dazzling diamonds, just heaven! Welcome back everyone, we’ve missed you!! x