Hello, hope all is good with you and you’ve been enjoying what we’ve been bringing to you these past few weeks. Just a reminder that if you know somebody who is graduating this year or has achieved another success lately, our Shine jewellery collection is perfect to celebrate their achievements. We’ve also been busy with a lot of commission work, so if you’d like a bespoke jewellery design just or you, we’d love to work with you, so please get in touch ☺
In this week’s blog I want to talk about other jewellery designers and why I think they are so fabulous! Yes you heard correctly. Because let’s face facts, other designers also make fantastic jewellery and other jewellery designers are often a source of huge inspiration to each other. I don’t know about you, but when I have some time to spare, there is nothing more relaxing and all-consuming than looking at all the fantastic jewellery designs on Pinterest or looking at the newest designs just by typing your favourite designers’ name into Google. So today, I want to share some love and showcase four jewellery designers I feel are truly fantastic and deserve some of our attention, and how each of them shares the same passion as myself regarding the powerful meaning jewellery has for us.
Rachel Galley
I’ve been a fan of Rachel Galley’s jewellery for so many years and have bought several of her pieces. I now have plenty of rings and necklaces for every occasion and I never get tired of wearing them. She’s a designer who focusses on making bold, statement jewellery from sterling silver, sometimes with a touch of gemstone colour, her designs really do make you feel as if you can take on the world. Her signature style is gorgeous lattice work, inspired by memories of her grandmother, which you can see on the majority of her designs. If you want to wear sumptuous layers of bold, chunky sterling silver, her designs are truly phenomenal. Based in Cheshire in the UK, she has won several prestigious UK jewellery design awards.
Mari Thomas
Based in my beautiful homeland of Wales, Mari Thomas makes the most exquisite jewellery that are pure works of art. She specialises in silver jewellery that has a wonderfully organic feel about it, with many pieces carved to reflect the natural world around us. What I love is that she’s able to translate this style into large or daintier jewellery pieces, meaning you can wear her look whatever your style. She’s also no stranger to fame, with many of her designs being worn by notable Welsh celebrities such as Catherine Zeta Jones and Sian Lloyd.
Tracy Matthews
This lady is truly awesome. Based in New York, Tracy specialises in breathing new life into heirloom jewellery pieces. So, if your grandmother left you a piece of jewellery that you feel needs a new lease of life, you just need to book a consultation with her and she will work her magic on creating a contemporary design just for you. Her bespoke engagement rings are also to die for. If you’re looking for something truly unique to you, Tracy has this fantastic knack of getting to know you and knowing exactly what will suit you. She really is quite the master of creating that truly unique jewellery design just for you.
In addition to designing jewellery, she also runs the phenomenal Flourish and Thrive Academy, a fantastic club for jewellery designers wanting to take their businesses to the next level. And if that wasn’t enough, she is also writing a book on how creative people rule the world. She is one talented (and very busy) lady.
Annie Haak
Like Liri, Annie’s jewellery designs are inspired by paradise, but for her, it’s the beautiful island of Bali that leads her to create such wonderful jewellery. Famous or her stunning bracelet ‘stacks’, Annie makes elegant sterling silver boho chic jewellery. Dainty silver beaded bracelets with gorgeous charms you can wear on their own or stacked together with more colourful designs. Her designs are truly flexible and can be worn casually or elegantly, it’s all in how you decide to mix and match your jewellery. If you love the dainty silver beaded look, she also makes rings in quite an innovative way – by threading beads on elastic. So no more wondering what your ring size is, as these funky designs fit any size finger.
Sharing Liri’s values
What I love abut each of these jewellery designers is their attention to detail and quality. You can tell by looking at their designs that they believe jewellery is something exquisite, to be made of high quality materials and to be truly treasured. Each designer also has very clear inspirations – not one jewellery collection is created out of thin air. This echoes my sentiments that jewellery has meaning and is a considered purchase, which is why I cannot abide by fast fashion jewellery, as discussed in my last blog. It’s also great to see how their inspirations have a strong significance for them, from Rachel Galley’s grandmother, to the rugged Welsh nature, seen in Mari Thomas’ jewellery designs. The power of the sentiments behind them is truly heart warming. Seeing Annie Haak make funky and fashionable jewellery designs but not compromise on the quality of her materials also reinforces my belief that quality and fashion can coincide. Quality doesn’t mean boring and fashion doesn’t mean cheap materials, jewellery designers just have to think creatively outside of the box.
I find each of these designers truly inspirational in that they use their creativity to bring the world around us to life through beautiful jewellery. They use their imaginations to translate things that have meaning to them into items we can wear and treasure for always. Now who doesn’t want jewellery like that?
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