Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design
Blog

Hello there,

I have just been reading my Elle magazine www.elleuk.com and was really pleased to see an accessories article highlighting jumbo jewellery as we have some great chunky necklaces in purple label at the momment!

The 2007 winter catwalk collections from Dior, Marni, Vlada, Chloe, Catherine Mc Neil, Kim Noorda and many more were covered in chunky and dramatic neck jewellery.

With jewellery you should always think about balance and it's not always wise to mix big earrings with a big necklace. A big necklace can act as the perfect statement piece and is potentially as timeless as a pair of ballet flats. They are incredibly flattering and make your neck look smaller and your shoulders look narrower. So the bigger the better!

These are the best statement pieces to really get you noticed from the purple label collection:

The catwalk was also covered in bangles and bracelets which is fantastic news as we have some gorgeous bracelet designs. If you like wearing a lot of jewellery you're better off with multiples - an armful of bracelets, three strands of necklace rather than one of each.

Here we have some fantastic examples from the catwalk by Chanel, Christian Lacroix, Valentino, lanvin and Louis Vuitton:

And for purple label wrist decoration!

I think this quote is probably the best way to sum up this blog entry!

Donatella Versace: "The most valuable item in your wardrobe is not a piece of clothing; it is an accessory. With a quick switch of a handbag or a pair of shoes, you can instantly change your look and mood."

Hi there,

I have searched a number of times for Jewellery making/design courses to study personally and found it quite difficult to find good advice. Therefore, when thinking about what to write for our blog, I thought it may help other people out there to know what my friends working here have studied/are studying in order to gain employment in the industry or simply to enjoy as a hobby. This will by no means be a comprehensive list of the many courses that are available but hopefully it will be an interesting insight!

OK, this week let's start first with our very talented bunch of Goldsmiths/Silversmiths that are based in our workshop at the Hertfordshire showroom and responsible for hand-making our unique Jewellery.

Richard

Richard has an invaluable wealth of knowledge of being in the Jewellery trade over 35 years. He studied at the John Cass department of Art & design which is now part of London Metropolitan University (you can also progress onto degree level here): www.londonmet.ac.uk

From a very early age, Richard was given on the job training in Hatton Garden and increased his knowledge further with day release at college. He has said that practice is the key and repetitively mastering basic techniques before moving onto more complex projects. For instance, he was given a penny to cut out the queen's head as one of his first tasks; not the most interesting thing to do but after a few of those he was more confident with using the saw. I have taken Richard's advice too and have been cutting out repetitive shapes and I am gaining more confidence!

All of Richard's training and hard work has certainly paid off because there is very little he cannot make and the designers certainly give him some unique challenges! Learning from somebody who has been a goldsmith for such a long time is priceless; Harriet is always keen for her staff to personally develop and so has invested Richard's time in training the designers and design assistants in making dress rings for our Purple Label collection. Due to my interest in the art, I am very pleased that I attend this training also and I will let you know once these are on sale! In the meantime take a look at the site; amongst everything else, there are already some fab rings on there: www.purple-label.com

Another useful tip when starting out is to gradually build up a workshop of some sort at home. This isn't as daunting as it sounds, it can simply be bench peg with a few tools to get you started. There are lots of great companies out there if you look, some even sell student starter kits and you can set up a student account with them.

Vic

Vic is our stone setter and has been setting for over 30 years too! Vic didn't study at college but he had a five year apprenticeship where the majority of time he watched an expert at work. Although sadly there are fewer apprenticeships like this available now, there are still opportunities that do arise if you are enthusiastic and willing to search out companies that take on apprentices. For instance, Nathanael started as an apprentice with us in July this year fresh from finishing his A Levels and studying for a year at Oaklands College one evening per week. He has always been very passionate about making and showed a real flair for Jewellery making and was willing to learn. Enthusiasm is definitely one of the best assets to have.

Anyway, back to Vic! He has worked for years in Hatton Garden and is one of the best in his specialist field. We are very lucky to have him working here and he's very lovely too!

Chung-Shan

Chung-Shan has worked with us for a few years. He didn't study at college but had an apprenticeship in Hong Kong where he once again learned from experts which he described as "perfectionists"! This really paid off as now Chung-Shan is highly skilled and especially talented in intricate work. The leaf ring pictured below is one of my favourite rings that has been commissioned here and was made by Chung-Shan (I'll be sending a copy of this blog to my husband as well I think ;)

Ryan

What can I say? Our lovely Ryan is only 20 and already a highly accomplished Metalsmith. He had some experience of making Jewellery with his Uncle and then studied at the John Cass Department of Art & Design at London Metropolitan University one day per week where he gained City and Guilds qualification. He joined us shortly thereafter and quickly progressed from his apprenticeship. Please check out the website for the Sir John Cass department. Its reputation is second to none and offers many full and part time courses covering a variety of qualifications: www.londonmet.ac.uk/jcamb

Deborah

Deborah is the Accounts Manager here and has been training here in our workshop for a few years a couple of days per week. She has really benefited from the combined experience here and her modest attitude and willingness to learn (and her obvious talent) are an excellent combination. Deborah spends a lot of her own time developing her skills both at work and at home and has produced some stunning pieces.

Watch this space for the next instalment where I will be telling you about the designers and their education/training and our budding gemologist too (aka the Project and Resources Manager!).

All the best,

Hi there

I have found a new supplier who actually specialises in repolishing, regrading and selling recycled diamonds. We love this idea and so have bought one and put it in a lovely simple and classic engagement ring... this diamond used to be a bracelet! What a great way to look after the environment - and of course this also means that the diamond is low in price too.

Please let us know what you think of this idea - we are dying to know so that we can decide whether to include more recycled diamonds in our ready to wear collections and bespoke jewellery.

Look forward to hearing from you

Hi there

Last week I was approached for an interview by a big New York site aimed at grooms-to-be. I see a lot of sites when things like this happen but when I had a look through their site and was really impressed with it. I think it is great for the guys who just want information on what to do! There is even a little salary calculator to help grooms work out what they should spend on their rings!! Their site is here:- www.GroomGroove.com.

They have put a link to the interview up now on the homepage and the permanent link to the article is here:- http://groomgroove.com/our_pick/custom_engagement_ring_for_the_groom.php.

See you soon

Hi there

I have been doing some research on turquoise for a talk I recently did at our charity open day. The reason that I choose to talk about turquoise is that it is the birthstone for December.

Turquoise has historically been mined as far back as 6000 BC in Egypt. The French called it the name "Pierre Turquois" meaning "Turkish Stone" because Western Europeans thought it had come from Turkey; this was a mistake though because it was actually imported from Persia (now Iran) where they had been mining it since 5000 BC.

Turquoise is usually a rich and intense blue/green, and often has thin veins running through it which are deposits of brown limonite or black manganese oxide.

This stone has always been treasured and highly sought after. One of the oldest piece of jewellery in the world is an Egyptian turquoise and gold bracelet which is one of four bracelets discovered at Abydos in the tomb of King Djer of the First Dynasty. They were fastened onto a linen-wrapped forearm of a woman, who might have been King Djer's queen (Queen Zer) or a member of the royal family. The tomb was unearthed in about 1900 - can you even imagine what it must have been like to walk into that tomb for the first time - let alone to discover those bracelets?

A quote from the excavation reads "The hawk bracelet consists of thirteen gold and fourteen turquoise plaques in the form of the façade with the hawk, which usually encloses the ka name of the king. The gold hawks have been cast in a mould with two faces, and the junction line has been carefully removed and burnished. The gold was worked by chisel and burnishing; no grinding or file marks are visible." If you click on the tomb picture above it will take you to more information written by the excavators which I found completely fascinating - it is like stepping back in time.

The bracelets were held in place by linen bandages, which made it possible to recover them in their original order of stringing and there are some good pictures of them below. If you click on the link you will be taken to a good educational site which tells you more about Egypt which I found very interesting.

Turquoise is still used commonly today, and can be found in China, India, Iran, Afghanistan, and in parts of South America and the USA. Turquoise is one of the traditional and modern birthstones for December.

The Traditional Metaphysical Properties for turquoise are said to be open communication, protection against diseases, regeneration, and strengthening. The healing properties of the December birthstone are reputed to be effective for health problems relating to the throat, lungs, asthma, teeth, depression. and general infection. The Turquoise is also used to enhance creativity, serenity and spiritual bonding.

As it is the December stone, many believe that wearing turquoise in December enhances these properties - so perhaps it can also make the perfect Christmas present. It certainly is a lovely intense colour and perfect for brightening up the grey weather.

See you soon

PS - Many thanks to Dr. Neal Spencer, Assistant Keeper (Curator, Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, British Museum Egyptian department who helped me find the picture of the bracelets above which are in Cairo museum. And of course if the information has whetted your appetite about all things Egyptian you MUST go to the new exhibition at the British Museum (although these bracelets apparently aren't there though). I haven't been yet but there is a review of the exhibition here and some other good ones on their blog here: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2007/11/tutankhamuns_treasures_are_wel.html. I for one will certainly be buying a ticket. I well remember the wonderful mask back in the 70s when my mum took me to the museum in my pushchair - and although it won't be there this time, the rest of the artifacts will make the visit very worthwhile I am sure. I think that attending that exhibition at an early age is one of the main reasons that I became so passionate about jewellery design and historical influences in jewellery design.

Also there is a very good collection of Egyptian jewellery at the Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge by the way: www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk and www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/pharos