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Rebecca Howarth
10th December 2007 15:32

A Career in Jewellery Design

 

Recently I was interviewed by a company called Camlee Associates who are writing a series of publications called Working in, in this case Jewellery. It consists of almost 50 careers information booklets, aimed primarily at 13 to 19 year olds. The main aim of the series is to broaden their knowledge of the vast range of different jobs that exist and give them a real feel for the range of tasks within various jobs. The books are distributed to schools, colleges, universities and careers centres across the UK. Each book features case studies of real people actually doing their jobs so here is my interview.

Rebecca Howarth

How would you outline your role?

I am a Jewellery Designer. I design engagement, wedding and eternity rings and other dress jewellery. I work on designs for the ready to wear dress jewellery collection Purple label and Ready to wear rings but I mainly carry out appointments with customers who want to commission a unique piece of jewellery. I also provide quotes for enquires and I help train my design assistant Kerrie.

What are your main responsibilities?

To carry out commission appointments:

The customer either comes into the studio or has a phone appointment usually at a pre arrange time and we chat about their ideas, talk though the design possibilities and discuss metal types, different stones, style, type of setting and budget. I will do sketches for them either at the appointment, or if it is on the phone I will scan and email or send in the post to help them visualise their ring and help them make decisions on the fine detail. It is a friendly and relaxed appointment and customers regularly come with designs from our collection and past commissions or their own ideas and we come to a design that they are really excited by.I then draw out the making instructions, order the exact dimensions of metal to make the ring and order and select the stones. The piece will go through all the various making processes and I will check the piece at least three times during the process often more depending on the complexity of the design.

Design ready to wear rings:

We have a constant collection of engagement rings in the showroom, all unique in design for people to buy off the shelf. I design a number of these rings using many different inspirations and also following what general trends and styles people tend to be asking for, for example

Design for Purple Label:

I design and make the prototypes for our dress jewellery seasonal collections using a range of semi precious beads and other materials.

http://www.purple-label.com/search/web/designer/rebecca-howarth

A team of makers at our Cambridge branch make the pieces and we check them before they are displayed in the showrooms. My favourite designs at the moment are:

I work with a design assistant who sits in my appointments and helps with general things including helping with sketches, writing emails to customers, updating customers, weighing stones etc. I also help to train her to be able to progress and take her own appointments.

What hours do you work?

9.30 to 6 Monday to Thursday and 9 to 4.30 on Saturday with Friday and Sunday as my days off. Saturdays are our busiest days as couples will come in together to have an appointment so it is important that there are designers available so I work Saturdays.

What is your working environment like?

Wonderful, the studio is in a converted barn on a farm in the Hertfordshire countryside. It is a lovely drive in the morning, no traffic just pheasants. I sit together with the other two designers and two design assistants in one section of the office along with the other members including the accounts, project management and off course the all important workshop. Upstairs are the appointment areas and beautiful showroom and it is generally a relaxing and calm environment with hammering, drilling and phones in the background.

Who do you work with?

I work in a team of three designers, two design assistants, the design director Harriet, five makers, a stone setter and alongside a project management team, showroom staff and accounts, 30 in total. The team are really great and the working environment although busy busy is fun.

What special skills or qualities do you need for your job?

I needed to have a design related degree for this role, ideally jewellery design but product design has also been accepted along side a loving appreciation of jewellery - Alice. I graduated at Sheffield Hallam University BA Hons degree in Silversmithing and Jewellery design.

You really need to be a great communicator both verbally for appointments with customers and drawing ability for communicating with goldsmiths, setters and polishers. Organisation is definitely key with approximately 30 to 50 commissions at anyone time to look after means you need to be efficient and well organised. You have to have a good eye and good attention to detail.

Why did you choose this type of work?

When I was young I was always dressing up in my mum's jewellery, bit of a princess. My dad took me to see The Crown jewels in London aged about 8 and I loved them. I knew I wanted to be a jewellery designer before I did my A-levels as I remember going to the exhibition of New Designers at the Business Design Centre in Islington with a friend and thought, I want to do that. 6 years later after my A levels, Art foundation and my degree I exhibited in the same exhibition.

I love constructing things in 3D and what is more wonderful than using beautiful materials, sparkly things and being able to enjoy them by wearing them.

What training do you do/or have you done?

My degree and training on the job

These include, making training with our chief Goldsmith- we work through a programme of designs which get more and more complicated to make. This helps us have a good understanding of how our designs are constructed and the difficulties you come across.

Stone training with Harriet, we research into various types of stones, where there are mined, what size, shape and cut they are available in and their properties in order to be able to advise customers in our appointments.

Do you use any special tools or equipment?

I use a loop which is a ten to one magnifying glass, callipers for measure points of a millimetre, stone scales which are very sensitive and accurate scales for recording the weight of a stone, stone tweezers and of course good drawing equipment. The goldsmiths, setters and polishers also use a huge amount of specialist equipment.

What do you like/dislike about your job?

There is not really anything I dislike! Obviously when it gets very busy it can be stressful but I like being busy so it is not really a problem. I love meeting people, working out what they like, designing something perfect for them and then knowing they love and cherish the piece.

What are the particular challenges in your work?

Each ring is like a miniature sculpture and because the designs are always unique each commission is a new challenge. The natural materials and the metal used works differently in each piece so this can be a challenging part of the job for the maker and subsequently me as the designer. It can also be a challenge to design a piece to someone’s budget. I give the customer lots of options so that there are always choices within their budget.

How do you see your future?

Well I am really happy at the moment with my role and hope to continue along this path. I will keep learning and finding out about new ways of looking at things, new inspirations and new techniques. That's is the beauty of commissioned jewellery, each piece is different, trends change- it keeps you on your toes.

What has been your career route so far?

  1. 10 GCSEs 3As, 6Bs and 1C
  2. A levels in Art, Business and psychology, three C’s
  3. Art Foundation Studies, Merit
  4. BA Hons Degree in Silversmithing and Jewellery Design. 2:1

Three or four brief tips you would offer to a young person interested in doing your job

  1. Having a jewellery design degree has helped me in my career. It is a recognised qualification and valued milestone. I would suggest doing it as it not only is great fun it helps you look at things differently.
  2. I would also suggest any work experience that you can do along side is great, especially if you can help a jeweller. Practise, practise, practise is what you are always told so if you have someone you can watch and help it is most definitely worth doing. I did not do this before I went to University and felt that if my skills had been a little more practised before I went I may have been able to push my designs even further.
  3. Practise drawing in three dimensions- it helps to visualise how things are constructed.
  4. Researching, keep eyes and ears out for current trends, new materials and fresh design. Keep a note book on you at all times.

Rebecca's designs

To see some of Rebecca's ring designs, click here and select 'Rebecca Howarth' as the designer.

Or click here to see Rebecca's dress jewellery designs on Purple Jewellery

Rebecca Howarth
 

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  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, North Barn, Fairclough Hall Farm, Halls Green, Weston, Hertfordshire, SG4 7DP, England
    Phone: +44 (0)1462 790565 Fax: +44 (0)1462 790140 enquiries@hkjewellery.co.uk
  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, 6/7 Green Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 3JU, England.
    Phone: +44 (0)1223 461333 Fax: +44 (0)1223 365269 cambridge@hkjewellery.co.uk

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