Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design
Blog

Now the Oscars are a time to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry. But for me it is a time to recognize and admire all the beautiful jewellery on show. At the HK studio we noticed a reoccurring theme of elegant antique bling! Beautiful sparkling diamond earrings teamed with layered bracelets, but with a distinct lack of neck jewellery.

Helen Mirren went against this theme, making an effort to shine with a stunning oval shape diamond necklace, pear shape diamond drop earrings, and a fancy, rose cut diamond cuff. It seemed the antique style was popular with Sarah Jessica Parker opting for a '50s diamond swirl bracelet, rose-cut diamond bracelet, cognac diamond bracelet, and an antique diamond ring.

This opulence reminded me of a lovely loose champagne rose cut round diamond we have newly got in stock. It is a stunning revival of an antique cut shape, just waiting to be used in a commission. We are all very excited to see how it will be incorporated into a beautiful bespoke piece of jewellery. You are always welcome to come along to either of our showrooms to see this stone, along with other gemstones we have for inspiration, or to use in your very own bespoke item.

To get an idea of a rose cut diamond, have a look at this previous commission. In keeping with the historic influence of the stone cut, the band has some traditional hand engraved leaf shapes around it which catch the light and also echo the facets on the rose cut which has a chequer board effect across the top.

Carrying on with the theme of old style glamour seen at the Oscars, I thought I would highlight this stunning, elegant antique style cluster engagement ring. It is currently in our show room in Halls Green, so why not come along to take a closer look. It holds a sumptuous and rich brilliant cut natural cognac 0.35ct diamond. The dark natural colour of the white gold compliments the diamond and creates a vintage look. Sixteen 1mm full brilliant cut H SI quality white diamonds pave set (a Victorian style of setting) around the diamond.

A strapless gown encrusted with jewels and sequins would look perfect topped off with the beautiful ring! Now all I need is an Oscar invite for next year!

Ros x

Hi

Don't forget that Mother's Day is on Sunday. If you are thinking about a really lovely present do consider some of our handmade jewellery.

Take a look at our Mother's Day Jewellery Collection on our sister site www.purple-label.com. Harriet and the team have put together a few pieces that they think would be idea for mum.

There's still just about time to get your order delivered but you'd better hurry! Alternatively if you happen to live near to either of our jewellery shops then do please drop in for a browse.

Good luck finding the perfect present.

Tim

Engagement rings with a twisting band has been a popular style for a while and I wanted to talk about a few designs that I have recently been working on.

This is a blue sapphire engagement ring that is currently in the ready to wear collection. It has a beautiful blue sapphire as the center piece and the band twists around the setting for a flowing design and has a three pave set diamonds on one shoulder. When it comes to the wedding ring the ring would need to be shaped to fit. Having a band that is shaped neatly in to the twist can create a dynamic shape for a wedding ring and can complete the set for a truly interesting set. Twist wedding bands can have subtle curves or dramatic swoops but will be determined by the design of the engagement ring.

Here is an example of a twist engagement ring with a matching fitted wedding ring which would be a similar shape that could compliment the ring above (and a mans ring to complement as well!) and various shaped wedding rings around some different shaped twists.

A shaped wedding ring is not for everyone though and we have created some designs that means that a twist design is possible but a simple more traditional wedding ring can fit against the band. Some people need to take their engagement ring off for work for example and want a simple no shaped wedding ring.

This is a new ring in our ready to wear collection. It is a three stone (trilogy) engagement ring with classic six claw settings however it has a band that twists around the side settings for an interesting and slightly different spin on the classic three stone design. But one of the main benefits on the way the band twists in this ring means that a simple wedding band can sit alongside the engagement ring. The twist lays flat against the wedding ring at the sides and the back of the ring.

Another way of creating a twist design but again still having a straight wedding ring, we can lay the twist onto the band of the engagement ring so that the wedding ring can fit up against it. As you can see this set of rings that I designed for a customer (in Alaska!) the delicate twist wraps around the setting and down onto the band. The ring does not obviously twist entirely but creates a soft flowing feel.

Here is a ring currently in the ready to wear collection and shows you in the side view the principle.

This ring actually twists to hold the diamond rather than twisting around the setting.

This ring is an asymmetric design but the principle is the same. The twist wraps around the diamond almost 360 degrees but opens and runs down the wedding ring decreasing in depth and finally turning into an engraved line.

I hope this helps show the options when it comes to thinking of designs for your wedding ring if you are considering a twist engagement ring.

Rebecca

Mother's Day falls on the 14th March this year and we have some lovely pieces of jewellery that will be the perfect gift for your Mum.

We have delicate necklaces such as this pretty Amazonite flower necklace or perhaps you would prefer to give her a brooch, like this Sterling Silver Fallen Leaves design. Whatever you choose, I'm sure your Mum will be delighted and it will be a lasting memento of how much you appreciate all that she has done for you.

It is interesting to know that Mothering Sunday or Mother's day as we now know it, originates from centuries ago when it was considered important for churchgoers to visit their home or mother church once a year. As time went on, many families were separated as children were sent off to other villages to work as domestic servants and the fourth Sunday of Lent became a day when they were allowed to return home for a family reunion, often taking a cake or flowers along as a gift. This tradition has continued into our modern world and I think it's rather lovely.

Happy Mother's day.

Katy

Hello everyone! I hope you had a lovely Fairtrade Fortnight and that you all swapped lots of your normal products for Fairtrade!

Harriet has just written a really interesting blog about the progress of the fairly traded gold we use towards fully certified Fairtrade / Fairmined status, so because of this and our proximity to Fairtrade Fortnight I thought you might like to know about some more ethical options for your bespoke jewellery. You may have noticed the term 'recycled diamond' cropping up on our website so I thought I'd better explain what this means in greater depth.

'Recycled' diamonds are diamonds that we buy from a dealer in America. Lots of pawn brokers in the USA accumulate diamond bracelets, necklaces and earrings which they then find they can't sell on, or if they do they don't get real value for their jewellery. What our dealer does is buys these pieces at a fair price, takes the diamonds out and gets them re-polished and graded to then be sold on. There are several reasons we like this idea so much:

1. No new stones are mined so this is a great if you're concerned about the ethics of having a diamond in your engagement ring

2. The old jewellery is being re-used and worn rather than accumulating dust in a shop window

3. The new piece of jewellery has a bit of history and soul before it's even worn!

4. You can't tell the difference visually between a newly mined stone and a recycled one, but the price of the recycled diamond is lower

We do not buy diamonds that have been in previous engagement rings as a lot of people feel that this is not quite the same as re-using a diamond from a relative's engagement ring and are less comfortable with this than they are with stones that have come from other pieces of jewellery.

Because of the shipping involved in bringing these lovely stones over from America we can't usually source an individual stone for a customer in the same way that we might order in a stone specifically for another commission, but we do have a few recycled diamonds in stock which are waiting for just the right wearer to come along. Don't be afraid to ask us if we've got the perfect stone for you if this is something you're interested in!!

Here are some really pretty rings we have made using recycled diamonds.

Alice

I love the idea of having a matching set of bespoke rings which is probably the romantic side of me coming out but, to me it is the idea that the two rings represent each partner and it shows them fitting perfectly together just like the perfect match. This particular pair of bespoke rings has always caught my attention and the inspiration of the design has been used beautifully by Antoinette. They were inspired by the Ocean and this is shown wonderfully with the rich side stones. The 0.42cts trillion cut diamond sparkles perfectly in an all around setting protecting each corner from any knocks. The slight wave of the band mimics that of the rolling current in an ocean wave, smooth and steady and beautifully serene.

I am a particular fan of the channel setting, I love the way the stones sit together and each one adds an extra bit of sparkle to the other as they bounce off from each other's refracted light. I would definitely choose to have something along these lines in a ring of my own. The graduating colours of the heat treated diamonds compliment the sparkle of the central diamond.

Heat treating diamonds is a special process which produces a beautiful and permanent colour change. The diamond is heated up to a very high temperature speeding up the process what would happen after when the diamond is under the ground. We strongly recommend any customers with heat treated diamonds to be very careful with resizing or polishing the ring, as the stone is put under high temperatures, either by a flame on a goldsmiths bench or an ultrasonic cleaner, that can change the colour of the diamond. Heat treating diamonds is a fantastic process as a lot of natural coloured diamonds could cost thousands of pounds so this new technology makes these beautiful stones within reach!

In our Hertfordshire showroom we also have this beautiful pear cut 0.27ct heat treated pink diamond which compliment's the delicate design wonderfully.

Cognac diamonds are the easiest natural coloured diamonds to source and are another favorite of mine, we have this stunning cognac diamond engagement ring in our Cambridge showroom which has such a lovely warmth to the design.

Please feel free to come and visit us in either of our showrooms to see some of our lovely stones as well as our matching wedding and engagement sets.

Jenna x

We are very pleased to announce the launch of our Spring Jewellery Collection on our sister site Purple-Label.com

Spring fashion in 2010 is all about candy-floss colours and ruffles or natural textures in neutral shades. Whichever you go for, you are bound to find the perfect pieces in our range so do take a look.

The best bit about my job is seeing a commission through every stage; from the initial enquiry to finally handing over a beautiful ring to a happy customer. I thought I'd share the background behind this design with you to illustrate exactly what happens during a commission and how this ring was made!

Michael proposed to Nicola with a proposal in a box as he knew she wanted a purple stone and white gold but didn't know where to start. When they came for an appointment with Alice, Nicola had thought about every aspect of the design she wanted and came with a complete design! As she has studied jewellery design in the past, she even knew she wanted a double gallery, four claw setting like the ring below. This is very unusual! However not only is the history behind this ring interesting, but also how it was constructed.

The vast majority of our rings are handmade from precious metal in sheet or wire form which is exactly how this ring started its life. Alice ordered a length of square profiled wire in 9ct white gold the same width of the widest part of the ring. The wire would then be cut to exactly the right length to form up into a ring the correct size for the customer, taking into account the size of the setting that would be soldered between the two shoulders of the band. The goldsmith would have cut into the centre of each end of the wire along its length about 5mm to create the split effect on either side of the stone. The prongs that would be created would then be manipulated apart to create the split effect. When the ring shape had been formed around by hand using parallel pliers, the setting would then be soldered into place. The outside shape of the angular Celtic shapes would then be pierced out using a piercing saw and then the inside shapes would be drilled, pierced and filed using tiny needle files to get the basic look of the ring.

To get the appearance of the overlapping lines, the surface would have been gently filed back to give the impression of slim wires twisting over each other in a Celtic style. This method gives the ring a lot more strength and durability than if thin, overlapping wires had been used.

Here are some other rings that use the same technique in other styles

These ready to wear rings use exactly the same production technique but with more flowing, rounded curves which still give a Celtic feel. The previous commission below uses these infinity symbols to echo the shape of the central stone and are again made in the same way.

This technique has also been used in eternity rings, as in these previous commissions below. The first design has a Celtic style twist going all the way around the ring, and the second has just three 'twists' at the front of the ring, both with stones grain set into the petal shaped spaces between the twists.

Michael and Nicola were over the moon with their rings, so I hope that this has given you some inspiration to create your own Celtic inspired commission that you will love as much as they do!

Jodie x

The cut of a gem doesn't actually refer to the shape of it (i.e. heart, or pear etc.) but rather the proportions of the stone, it's symmetry and polish. A poorly cut stone will not have the same luminosity and brilliance that a well cut stone has, so the importance of a good cutter is imperative.

The world famous Cullinan diamond, found in the Premier Diamond Mine in South Africa in 1905 by the superintendant of the mine Frederick Wells and weighing a whooping 3,106.75 carats (1.33 pounds) was studied by Joseph Asscher the eminent diamond cutter based in Amsterdam for six months before even attempting the first cut. He had to determine the best way to divide the stone keeping the pieces as large as possible, while avoiding the black inclusion in the centre of the stone and achieving maximum brilliance from each cut piece.

The raw uncut cullinan diamond

For that tense first challenge of cleaving the stone Joseph Asscher requested a doctor and nurse be present standing by, as he feared what might happen to his heart should he slip when cutting the $800,000 stone - a phenomenal amount of money at the time. With much drawing in of breath the first strike failed due to the cleavage blade breaking in the grove, but with the stone thankfully unharmed Joseph struck the blade again, this time splitting the stone successfully clean in two. Myth has it that when he did finally break the stone he passed out, but it is probably more likely a huge sigh of relief and a bottle of bubbly was enjoyed instead.

The diamond was a gift from the Transvaal government to King Edward VII for his 66th birthday, and was eventually cut into 9 large stones and 96 smaller stones, with 9.5 carats of stone left unpolished.

The image below shows the rough diamond now cleaved into nine pieces, each piece to be studied to find a shape which would maximise its qualities and brilliance.

The 9 largest stones can be seen set in the British crown jewels in the Tower of London - In order these are

Cullinan I - The Great Star of Africa: is pear-shaped, and set in the Royal Scepter. It weighs 530.20 carats.

Cullinan II is cushion-cut, 2nd largest cut diamond in the world, is set in the Imperial State Crown It weighs 317.40 carats.

Cullinan III - Lesser stone of Africa another pear-shape, set in Queen Mary's Crown. The stone has been set in such a way that can be removed and worn with Cullinan IV. The stone weighs 94.40 carats.

Cullinan IV square-cushion cut, set in a brooch pendant (along with the pear shaped Cullinan III) often worn by Queen Elizabeth II and weighs 63.60 carats. Queen Elizabeth II inheriting them from Queen Mary affectionately refers to the two stones as 'Granny's Chips!'

Cullinan V heart-shaped, weighing 18.80 carats

Cullinan VI marquise-cut, worn with Cullinan VIII as a brooch, and weighs 11.50 carats

Cullinan VII marquise-cut, 8.80 carats

Cullinan VIII rectangular-ish oval-cut set into another brooch, 6.80 carats

Image below shows Cullinan VII and VIII

Cullinan IX pear-shaped, set in a ring frequently worn by Queen Elizabeth II and weighs 4.39 carats

White gold is actually yellow gold that has been alloyed with other metals such as silver, palladium and platinum therefore our customers are often surprised by the natural colour of white gold.

As a majority of high street jewellers rhodium plate their white gold as standard, the beautiful natural warm shades of white gold are often hidden. 9ct white gold is a slight creamy shade of white where as 18ct white gold is a flattering gun-metal shade of white - perfect for those of us who are 'fashionably' pale skinned!

The natural shades of both 9ct and 18ct white gold can also create beautiful results when combined with coloured gemstones, and the below ready to wear ring designed by Rebecca is a great example of this.

This elegant and antique style cluster engagement ring holds a fabulously rich brilliant cut natural cognac 0.35ct diamond. The dark natural colour of the 18ct white gold compliments the central diamond beautifully. Pave set around the coloured diamond, are sixteen 1mm full brilliant cut H SI quality white diamonds. The deep brown tones of the cognac contrasts fantastically with the bright white smaller stones, and the gun metal shade of the 18ct band pulls the whole design together. The simple full rounded profile band is 2.5mm wide - very comfortable to wear and Rebecca has cleverly designed the setting so that a plain unshaped wedding ring will slip underneath the overhanging cluster.

If you too love the combination of natural coloured 18ct white gold and cognac brown diamonds you may be interested to know we have a small selection of unusually cut stones in stock - my favourite is a rare long hexagon cut stone approx 0.23cts which is just crying out to be used in a commission. It would look fantastic set alongside some traditional white diamonds - just a thought.

April x