My nanny’s charm bracelet Wednesday, October 1st 2008

I now have the charm bracelet that I loved as a child and I love a story that comes with a piece it makes it all that more personal.

So I set about finding out when the charms where hallmarked and any other relevant information, I took out a hallmarking book from the library hoping for the answers but to no avail.  Three of the charms seem to be designed by the same jeweller with his initials of WHC and the assay office was Chester which no longer exists.  All the charms are 9ct gold this was identifiable by seeing 9 375, the padlock which enabled my nanny to put the bracelet on has worn over time with some of the hallmarking hard to distinguish even under a magnifer.  The chain I was told by a jeweller was an old pocket watch chain from the 1920’s, he showed me one he had in the shop to compare and the tell tell signs are that each link is stamped with 9 375 and the type of link was the same.

I spoke to my nanny yesterday to find out more information and what she can remember.  It was great to know that the chain was a pocket watch chain and it belonged to my great grandfather, my nanny and grandad bought the first charm which was the wagon from an antique shop in Plymouth, she mentioned that the wagon had a door which I promptly found and inside was a little lady (gypsy) at a table.  The purple heart she continued to say was originally a pendant which she found at a church fair, the seller obviously didn’t know what he/she was selling as my nanny knew it was 9ct, the heart is belived to be an amethyst which was a stone that had no value back then and it is surrounded by freshwater pearls.  All the charms were bought because she liked them not because each one meant something specific such as a 21 key charm.

I am going to get it all cleaned up and back to it’s former glory and continue to find out the hallmarking but it is believed to be at least 50 years old.  I will never sell this piece and I haven’t been doing the research purely for a valuation it for the love and memories.

Ideas galore! Tuesday, September 23rd 2008

I always carry a notebook actually if you looked in my handbag now there is actually 2!  I have one that I sketch any idea that comes to me whether it be on the bus, at friends or out shopping and the other one has all my written ideas, information, to-do lists, websites of interest to look at and future business ideas.  If my handbag was to be stolen I would be more upset at my notebooks going than my purse, strange you may think but at least my cards can be replaced, my memory is not as good as it used to be and trying to remember all details is a project I would not enjoy!!

When a client asks for a bespoke order I will be thinking about it all the time and I will suddenly come up with an idea that I must sketch there an then, once I have a collection I will then draw them up in a neater sketch book and then send them on to the client along with their pack.

I was lost! Monday, September 8th 2008

For the last two years I have been putting my heart and money in to building what I want to be a successful jewellery business, but recently I felt that I had taken a wrong turning.  I have this vision of the pieces I wish to handcraft, especially in the last few months I feel I get so close to touching this vision but then it moves further away from me to the point I see myself getting tired.  It’s like chasing after someone who out runs you, you get to the point that you can’t run no further, you stop, you concentrate on your breathing, and then you see that person disappearing in front of your eyes.

As soon as I felt I was losing my direction I had to find the right path to take, so I had to evaluate me and my business and make some changes and my solution was…

…sterling silver!  You’re probably thinking “you dozy mare”, but I don’t know why I didn’t take plunge until this springtime.

Well you see in May I was asked to handcraft bespoke cufflinks for a client and as I don’t wish to turn anyone away I decided that she will get these cufflinks on the day she specified no matter how I managed it!  I searched the internet, youtube.com (great tutorials), any books and silversmiths for the answer and I was saved in the 11th hour and the solution was on my door step, I couldn’t believe my luck!  I found a professional and respected silversmith who runs courses 10 minutes from my studio and he had one place left, It was “meant to be” so I grabbed the opportunity to learn how to solder and I have been hooked ever since.

I love silversmithing I can’t believe I was such as chicken, the only thing that put me off in the past was soldering and I had to face my fear head on and I’m so pleased I did because now I feel I am back on track and in control.

From a hobby to business Saturday, September 6th 2008

By the end of 2005 there was some job uncertainty in my place of work and it made me think and take stock of my future career.  I couldn’t leave my job as I needed the money to pay the mortgage so I started handcrafting jewellery as a hobby.

I told a dear friend of my ideas and who then taught me that life is too short and that you should enrich it with things you love and enjoy – a positive message from someone who has now sadly passed away.  To this day when the jewellery side of my life hits a barrier I think of Michelle and the advice she shared and that enables me to stretch myself that little bit further and keeps going.

With my parents both being successful with their own businesses I am always learning, listening and use them as a great resource so I know that no business will be successful overnight and this will take me years to be where I want to be, so considering I am normally impatient it’s suprising how I have accepted this side of business.

my own jewellery collection Saturday, September 6th 2008

Having loved and looked at many sparkly pieces through my childhood it continued in to my adulthood but with one difference, I am able to buy what I like.  I attend antique and collectors fairs in my area and I buy what I like not whether it can generate cash in the future.  The pieces are all costume jewellery from the 1950’s era with a sprinkle of new and inherited pieces. 

Looking back in my jewellery box none are of any high value and have yet to be worn by myself, I think I buy the pieces more as part of history than to wear.  I was asked to look at my collection earlier in the year to find a piece suitable for my sister to wear on her wedding day, looking at the pieces I had been collecting over the years I didn’t realise I only bought necklaces and brooches, the same two items I loved as a child.

Why is it I sub consciously head towards necklaces and brooches at antique fairs?  Do I relate the two pieces to a happy and warm part of my childhood?  Or is it just because in the old movies the camera only really focused on the top part of the actresses body and the jewellery dominated the screen?

I would love to know the answers why I have this attraction to jewellery but I should imagine it will be one mystery that will not solved!

 

Why jewellery? Friday, September 5th 2008

My passion for jewellery started when I was a young girl, I remember looking through my mum’s jewellery box as all girls did, I know my mum had gemstone rings but I can’t remember them, what I do remember is her two brooches, one being a cameo and the other being a large brass setting with a shiny shell as the focal point. 

Looking back it wasn’t my mum’s jewellery that excited me, I can think of two other areas which was part of my growing up that inspired me more; both my Nanny’s and old movies.  My Nanny Cambridge loved her jewellery, anything that sparkled! along with her fur coat I would remember her solid gold charm bracelet jangling everytime she lit a cigarette.  My Nanny Ipswich’s jewelley would be more subtle with small but perfectly formed diamond rings but it wasn’t her jewellery but the old movies we used to watch on a Saturday afternoon with a cup of tea.  Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardener and other women from that era used to sparkle on the screen, wearing gorgeous outfits with jewellery that was larger than life, something that I wanted to aspire to as I grew up. 

Audrey Hepburn

Diamonds are a girls best friend

Nanny & Grandad Ipswich

Nanny Cambridge