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Kirsty Brown
22nd August 2012 11:43

Closed for Building Work

 

Please note we are closed to the public for building work from Tuesday 28th - Friday 31st at our Halls Green studio.

We will however still be doing Skype appointments and our Cambridge branch will be open as normal.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Kirsty x

Kirsty Brown
 
Parul Patel
21st August 2012 15:50

Unique wedding bands for men

 

So much of the jewellery that is produced through our workshop is heart-stoppingly beautiful, but unfortunately most of it is commissioned for women. Men generally opt for simple wedding rings. Which is why when the ring below came through I was totally smitten. I spent ages just admiring it!

The customer wanted something totally unique and I think we delivered just that! Michelle (our super talented designer in Cambridge) designed a unique handmade polished palladium wedding ring with a 2mm brilliant cut, heat treated black diamond - invisibly set onto a contrasting satin finish overlay. Stunning beyond words.

black diamond wedding ring with a satinised overlay
Parul Patel
 
Sarah Arnold
15th August 2012 09:28

The High Barn performance

 

Here are a few great photographs of The Folk performing at the High Barn this year wearing our purple label jewellery. Rose is wearing our aventurine necklace with fluorite and Swarovski crystals with aventurine earrings which look striking against her red and golden hair. The green of the aventurine accentuate her green eyes beautifully.

Lucy's sterling silver star shaped chain necklace has a cluster of blue Swarovski crystals and pearls which stand out against the backdrop of her red dress. Lauren is wearing our red quartz and red Swarovski crystal pendant on a 16 inch snake chain. This is simple design and colour suits Lauren’s outfit and chocolate and golden hair.

These pieces are from our purple label collection. Here you will find more jewellery to suit you

Sarah Arnold
 
Michelle Waters
14th August 2012 11:09

Olympic medals

 

As Great Britain have been doing so well at the Olympic games in the past couple of weeks there has been much talk of medals, which made me think about their design and what they are actually made of.

There are certain key features about the design that have to stay the same for each games, and there are design features that are key to the specific to the hosting city. The medals are also circular to represent the world and the front of the medals always features the same image for the summer games, the Greek Goddess of Victory, Nike, stepping out of the depiction of the Parthenon to arrive in the Host City.

The back of the medal always have five key elements, there is also a curved back which is inspired by the shape of an amphitheatre, and emblem that references to architecture being the metaphor for the modern city, a grid which represent the pulling together and the efforts of the athletes a central square which focuses the balance of the design but also reinforces a sense of "place", a theme that gives a sense of celebration for example this year's theme if the rive themes which is depicted as a ribbon.

The gold medal is actually made up of 92.5% silver, 1.34% gold and a tiny portion of copper, the last gold medal to actually be made of gold was awarded in the 1912 games.

The silver medal is made up of 92.5% silver with the remaining percentage being copper, and the bronze medal is made from bronze a metal that is an alloy of 97%copper 2.5% zinc and 0.5% tin.

Michelle Waters
 
Theodora Marshall
14th August 2012 10:04

Dazzling Citrine

 

Did you know that citrine is a member of the quartz family which is the second most abundant mineral in the earth's crust?

The name citrine comes from the Latin word for yellow 'citrina' and these lovely stones are of course known for their bright yellow colour. They can also be found in colours ranging from a redish-brown to redish-orange! The yellow colour of these gemstones is believed to come from the presence of iron.

We love to find beautiful citrines for our customers and often source stones in some of their most popular colours such as Madiera (a deep brandy colour) and Palmeira (a bright amber colour). Dark citrines can be quite rare and are considered to be of a higher value than your paler varieties.

Natural citrine is quite rare and will display an unusual effect known as dichroism. This means that the crystal will appear to be two different colours when you view it from two separate directions i.e. if you viewed it from the side it might look a slightly different colour to if you viewed it from the top.

5.21 carat Citrine

This lovely citrine is a beautifully clear with some golden yellow colour striations. It is an oval cut facetted stone that measures 14x10mm in size and a whopping 5.21 carats!

This fabulous gemstone would look great as a bold cocktail ring or pendant; take a look at one of our galleries to get an idea on Citrine engagement rings. Citrine is also the birthstone for the month of November so might make a lovely gift for someone born in this month too!

Theodora Marshall
 
Sarah Arnold
11th August 2012 11:28

The Folk

 

I have had the pleasure of working with three lovely girls stylizing their outfits with jewellery from our purple label collection.

These three girls are in a band called The Folk who are a fresh, dynamic Acoustic pop group from Hertfordshire. Their passion for music is evident in their talented voices and varied ability to play many instruments at festivals such as Standon Calling, Rhythms of the world, radio shows and our summer open day event!

The Folk recently visited our Halls Green studio for a one to one jewellery 'make-over' with Harriet and I. We had chosen a selection of fresh and dynamic collections to suit each of the girl's styles. We focused on their favourite colours, whether they prefer bold statement pieces or delicate feminine pieces and what jewellery complimented their outfits. After bouncing ideas and trying on lots of gorgeous jewellery ranging from a sterling silver OM pendant, vibrant green agate earrings to delicate a blue pearl bracelet the girls had a wide range of jewellery to wear at festivals throughout the summer.

Here are photos of our jewellery make-over day and more of The Folk in action on stage wearing our purple label collection.

The Folk
The Folk with Sarah
The Folk on stage
Sarah Arnold
 
Iain Robinson
7th August 2012 13:37

Tanzanite Engagement Rings

 

I personally think tanzanites are one of the most stunning gemstones in the world. We have made a lot of Tanzanite engagement rings over the years; each one is just outstanding in shape and colour.

I have a few favourites already which are really eye catching with the mixture of blue and purple. As you can see from the rings below they are truly amazing but having the gemstone in your hand moving it to catch its scintillation and fire is something else and words cannot describe how beautiful they are.

Tanzanite engagement ring
Striking tanzanite and white gold dress ring
Engagement ring using customers own tanzanite
Bespoke 18ct white gold, tanzanite and diamond engagement ring
cornflower tanzanite and pave set diamond engagement ring

Tanzanites are graded by the cut, clarity, carat and colour just like diamonds but on a little bit of a different scale. Teddy has written a great article on how to choose the perfect Tanzanite for your own engagement ring which you can read here.

So come see us and you can view our wide range of Tanzanites

Iain

Iain Robinson
 
Simon Gibbons
2nd August 2012 11:05

Different types of metals

 

The Olympic Games has been brilliant so far with a wonderful opening ceremony, a great atmosphere, and superb performances and now the 'heightened interest' for the type of medals the athletes hopefully will achieve, whether it is a bronze, silver or; that currently elusive gold for Team GB.

This brought to mind the many different types of metals that we have worked with in order to create that unique bespoke wedding ring or engagement ring for our customers.

9ct white, yellow and rose gold wedding ring with a satinised finish

The beautiful satin finish wedding ring designed by Kerrie-Ann McNaughton above, combines' 9ct white, yellow and rose gold providing a stunning contrast and really unique look!

Do have a look at our wedding ring galleries which provide a fantastic source of inspiration and examples of our work and of course get in touch if you have ideas of your own, more often than not it is you the customer that provide the best ideas and it makes the designers day when they are able to turn them into a beautiful ring. Good luck team GB and enjoy your summer!

Simon Gibbons
 

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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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