“He quickly realised that these boxes not only enhanced his own products but also attracted the attention of other artisans, who soon asked him to create packaging for them as well. And so, almost by chance or perhaps through a stroke of ingenuity, the foundation of our business was laid,” Wolf explains. He adds that for generations, the company has been driven by “a spirit of innovation, constantly reinventing itself to meet new challenges”.

At its core, the company’s DNA is about “problem-solving”. Sometimes, that means tackling complex engineering like designing a watch winder that keeps timepieces perfectly wound, with precise turns per day in the correct direction, all while preventing magnetisation. Other times, it’s about creating something as simple yet essential as a travel jewellery box.

“One of our standout innovations is LusterLoc, a specially treated lining in our jewellery boxes that prevents tarnishing, keeping your pieces pristine for longer. This commitment to innovation and practicality traces back to my great-great-grandfather’s original goal: enhancing the presentation and preservation of fine jewellery. Although we moved away from packaging many years ago, our mission remains the same, to create products that make people realise they need a Wolf,” he explains.

Wolf also talks about how the constant drive to do better has been key to the brand’s longevity and success for nearly two centuries. He says: “Of course, everyone aspires to improve, but actually executing on that desire is far more challenging.”

Over the past 190 years, just like any other company the brand has experienced its share of ups and downs, including near bankruptcies and countless obstacles. However, working alongside his father for most of his life, Wolf states that despite the challenges his father had unwavering determination and mindset and always said: “We’ll find a way through and we’ll solve the problem.”

That resilience, Wolf says, is deeply embedded in the Wolf family DNA. He adds: “When I joined the business at 21, I didn’t fully grasp what I was stepping into, but looking back, I’ve realised that the same instinct is in me too. It’s simply part of who we are.”

Having started in the sales team and now leading the company as CEO, Wolf plays a key role in overseeing the design of every Wolf creation. The London team currently has five designers alongside Wolf who is also the creative head of the company. “Most of the collections you see today originated from my own ideas, while others come from our talented designers,” he says.
Designing a Wolf product starts with a blank slate, focusing first on its purpose. The team considers key details such as its function, will it be a travel case or a home storage solution? Will it organise jewellery or keep a watch properly wound?

Once the function has been defined, the team focuses on the aesthetics, as Wolf says that “functionality alone isn’t enough, the design must also be aesthetically pleasing”. Every piece the group creates needs to have “perfect proportions, a balanced sense of form, and an intuitive feel in the hand”. Additionally, Wolf states that its perspective should be “just as striking from the back as it is from the front”.

After perfecting the structure, the team focuses on materials they use, whether it’s vegan leather, bio-based alternatives, or other sustainable options. According to Wolf standards, the colours must be “timeless yet modern, balancing fashion trends without being overly trend-driven”.

He notes: “Our new Bella collection features mocha and bone shades, which align perfectly with Pantone’s colour of the year. While they feel current, they’re also classic enough to remain relevant for years to come. All in all it’s a multi-layered process that I personally oversee, and some pieces take up to a year to develop. But that’s okay because for us, getting it right is what truly matters.”

This meticulous approach to design goes hand in hand with Wolf’s commitment to sustainability, ensuring that every product is not only beautifully crafted but also responsibly made, a dedication that has earned the brand the prestigious Butterfly Mark by Positive Luxury.

Wolf says that he believed as a company they were already doing a great job, because they don’t use plastics in our products or packaging, and have banned polythene plastic bags long ago, but he quickly realised “there was still much more they could improve” during the process of receiving the Butterfly Mark.

Today, all Wolf products feature 100% recycled leather and its packaging is made of 70% post-consumer recycled waste. Wolf says: “I became vegan about eight years ago, and I no longer see animal hides as an elegant or ethical choice. It’s important to shine a light on these issues, and that’s why we’re transitioning to 100% bio-based, vegan materials by the end of this year, we’re already at 70%. I personally feel that in today’s world, we need to recognise that animals experience emotions, family bonds, and suffering. We would never treat our pets the way factory-farmed animals are treated.”

He adds that today, one can create a product using bio-based materials like apple leather, Piñatex from pineapples, or mycelium from mushrooms, and the result is not only sustainable but also elegant.

“The beauty of these materials is that they are grown naturally as part of a regenerative process, rather than relying on traditional leather production, which involves force-feeding cows, pumping them with steroids, and ultimately stripping their hides in a cruel and harmful way. That perspective made it easy for me to reflect on our company’s impact and ask what else can we change to reduce our footprint on this planet?”

The UK Wolf office has recently installed solar panels alongside other green initiatives such as composting food waste, monitoring water and energy consumption and allotting eclectic cars for every salesperson.

Wolf believes that even small individual changes can make a difference. He says: “If you eat meat one day less per week, choose to walk instead of drive or opt for an electric car, those choices add up. Recycling, while valuable, is complex, much of it is incinerated for energy, which is frustrating, but awareness is key according to me.”
He also highlights that the Butterfly Mark has allowed the group to spark important conversations promoting small individual changes that matter. He says: “When people ask about the Butterfly Mark, I explain its significance, and they often leave inspired to make changes themselves. Consumers also recognise how difficult it is to qualify, which reinforces that this isn’t just a marketing ploy, it’s a genuine commitment.”
Looking ahead to 2025, Wolf has realised that connecting with the consumers through social media has been challenging yet wonderfully rewarding over the years. As a result, he wants to expand the brand’s outreach even further. Wolf states that as a company, they embrace social media “as it allows us to engage directly with our audience in ways that weren’t possible before”.
Building on its success with social media, the group has also embraced technology to streamline operations and enhance efficiency. Its sales force uses an app to place orders seamlessly, and its ERP system provides real-time data insights. Additionally, with five global warehouses, the company can efficiently ship anywhere in the world.
The group also engages with its customers through events and its extensive network of retail partners from department stores like Harrods to specialised watch retailers like Watches of Switzerland, as well as independent boutiques around the world. “These relationships are crucial to our growth, and we invest significant time in nurturing them,” Wolf says.
He adds: “What truly sets us apart is our global sales force, no other company in our industry has representatives on the ground like we do. We have dedicated agents in France, three sales representatives in the UK alone, and nine in the U.S. This means we maintain a direct, hands-on connection with our customers, constantly gathering insights on what’s selling, what isn’t, and what they need from us.”
As a result, the group’s focus remains on deepening these connections by listening, adapting, and strengthening its brand.
A commitment to innovation has also shaped Wolf’s approach to leadership. Remembering the day he started working with the brand, Wolf talks about how he was simply asked if he’d like to work with one of the sales guys, and he thought, “Yeah, that would be fantastic.” From that moment, he says he fell in love with the business. “My father was always supportive, offering simple but reassuring advice: ‘Don’t worry, it’ll be alright. You’ll figure it out.’”
“Growing up, I watched him closely, whether he was cutting the grass, fixing a wall, or building a doghouse, he always did things the right way. He never cut corners. He also flew light aircraft from his mid-twenties. Seeing him balance running a company, managing a factory, and flying a plane instilled a mindset in me that has shaped how I work today,” he adds.
Even in the modern world, Wolf states that those values remain “completely relevant”. His ultimate vision for the business is to be a truly “enduring brand that holds a distinct place in people’s minds”.
He says that when someone wants a jewellery box or a watch winder, they don’t just say, “I need a jewellery box” or “I need a watch winder”, they say, “I want a Wolf.” And when others hear that, they immediately understand. “Oh, you want a Wolf? I have a Wolf.” That, to him, is the definition of success.

The afternoon telly staple was censured by the Beeb’s complaints watchdog after an antiques dealer, named Peter (second name mysteriously unknown), said his reputation was tarnished on the programme by false on-air claims that a ring he sold to contestants was not a Victorian original.

The jewellery designer approached the public broadcaster to raise his concerns, but struggled to secure a correction. Eventually, the BBC capitulated and contacted The Goldsmiths’ Company to investigate Peter’s claim of the ring’s origin.

Eleni Bide was brought in to examine the piece of jewellery.

“It was the production team from Bargain Hunt who asked us, and it was quite a challenge, because they needed the issue resolved and they needed us to come up with an answer quite quickly,” she said. “They had a time limit on when they needed an answer as the programme was scheduled to be aired.”

Bide was fascinated by jewellery at a young age. At just six years old, she was enamoured by the Crown Jewels while on a trip to the Tower of London. “I think I asked Father Christmas for a crown that year,” she says. This fascination, along with her undergraduate degree in history, led her to study history of design for her masters, focusing on jewellery and metalwork at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Currently, Bide is librarian for The Goldsmiths’ Company, working alongside the Assay Office on hallmarking enquiries.

“I’ve worked for Goldsmiths for about 12 years now, a fair old time. As the librarian, me and my team look after the company’s library and archives. This includes our amazing archive, which goes back to the 14th Century and chronicles the company’s history, and also holds other important collections relating to jewellery and silversmithing from elsewhere.”

Establishing the truth was not easy, given both Goldsmiths’ library and Assay Office have been forced to navigate the complications arising from the pandemic and working from home. Alongside her team, Bide has been forced to adapt to the ‘new normal’ like the rest of us.

“This situation was more complex and required a team effort, with different people working on it to see if we can get the answer,” explains Bide. “In terms of authenticating hallmarks, we give our opinion as to what that mark looks like compared to the archival record. That’s what we were able to give to the producers of Bargain Hunt; our verdict on how the mark compared to the marks in the records and the dates that were suggested for the ring.

“We don’t have members of staff on site to consult the archival record because of coronavirus. One of my colleagues was scheduled to do a regular condition check of the archives. She hasn’t been working with us for a long time so she wasn’t as familiar with what to look for.”

She added: “In order to make sure we had an answer in time, she had to look at various records and then WhatsApp/video call me, while showing images in the archive.”

Conservation is a crucial part of managing a collection, which is made all the more difficult by Covid. While Bide’s team does make an effort to regularly go on-site for enquiries, her team is fortunate enough to have their own hallmarking libraries at home, albeit on a much smaller scale than Goldsmiths.

“There are four of us working as a team and my colleagues also have a selection of reference books at home as well,’’ she said. “This is because we’re all interested in jewellery and hallmarking in our personal lives. Between us, we’ve got a reasonable selection of reference books just in our houses.”

Her research into the ring confirmed the designer’s dating was accurate and the producers were forced to admit their error, as well as providing him with a letter to show his future customers he was in fact correct.

The BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit ruled Bargain Hunt’s efforts to address the mistake were insufficient, vindicating Peter.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We note the findings and have apologised to the dealer. The programme will not be rebroadcast with the mistake in it.”

Despite the pandemic, Eleni is determined to keep the enquiry service open during the health crisis for industry professionals, such as Peter.

“A lot of the time, we are able to answer inquiries by discussing them via email or Microsoft Teams, looking at our own reference books and helping people that way without recourse to the original archives,” she says.

“We’ll try to do that as much as possible and keep the inquiry service going throughout.”

Eleni Bide is the librarian for The Goldsmiths’ Company.

The idea for Palenque can be traced back to the period when the pair first met in Chiapas Mexico, where Susana originates. At the same time as meeting his future wife, David was also introduced to a rich culture and tradition in the production and selling of hand crafted jewellery, gifts and accessories. 

As the relationship blossomed, the pair eventually moved to Edinburgh and decided to start a business by importing sample orders of silver and costume jewellery. On arrival they identified a small gift shop to offer their products for wholesale. It was well located in a row of largely empty, but refurbished retail units in the middle of a succession of streets known as the Royal Mile. The business was run by a Chilean lady and her daughter and after a period of time Susana and David decided to purchase the shop from the previous owner. 

David explained that the name Palenque was chosen “after much deliberation and attempted dissuasion”, and he notes “to this day not many can pronounce it properly”. Palenque is the name given to the Mayan archaeological site in Chiapas, nestled in the mountains, shrouded emerald green forests, and was one of the first places the couple visited when they first met. 

David added that ethnically named businesses were also “very much in vogue” at the time and the logo was designed in keeping with the Mayan theme.  

Fast forward and Palenque has established an additional site in Edinburgh as well as a third store in York. The Edinburgh Royal Mile store has since benefitted from refurbishment in 2015, which has led the business to experience “healthy and encouraging growth in turnover” since, despite the retail environment be so challenging.  

Palenque also saw its “strongest summer and best ever August this year”, which David puts down to “having great products, new collections that are exclusive, appealing and compliment the fashion of the day, good quality and excellent value for money”.  

Today, Susana is focused on designing and curating a unique, wide and varied collection of silver jewellery, while David leads on business administration and management. Looking ahead the future goals for the business he explained are to “maintain stable and strong performance in store and online” and to expand into wholesale for its most sort after collections.

For its centenary year, Anna Blackburn, the group’s managing director, says the company wanted to focus on creating a “year of celebration” looking at everything that has led up to this point. “We wanted to focus on our successes as a great employer and a great workplace, but we also wanted to celebrate with the people that we do business with, and our customers,” she adds. “So it was this balance of celebrating but also using it as a real commercial opportunity to talk about our history and heritage and what we stand for.”

Blackburn says Beaverbrooks has historically been “very modest”, so the celebrations this year were about “getting the balance right”. “No one wants to shout too much about the great stuff they do but people do need to hear what makes us different,” she adds, “So I feel we have gained great confidence over the last two years in terms of internalising that philosophy with our people and making sure the competency is there. Additionally, the belief internally of everything that we stand for and what we are here to do is important, as we are certainly doing more of that than we have ever done.”

Naturally a lot can happen in 100 years, and Mark Adlestone, chairman and grandson to founder Isaac, says a major change that happened within the business during that time was the transition from a family-owned and run business to a family-owned, professionally run business. Adlestone says the “best example” of this was when Blackburn became the company’s first non-family CEO, going on to become managing director, which Adlestone and Blackburn felt was a more “appropriate” title given the nature of the business.

He explains how it has been a “very interesting transition”, which started in around 1990 when his father Gerald Adlestone and his cousin Michael Brown both retired due to poor health. “I needed to build a senior management team around me, which I did,” he recounts, “Over time that senior team became stronger, more involved and taken on more responsibility.

Adlestone adds that as a result of Anna’s appointment, Anna has been able to pull the best out of the company’s family history and background, while blending it together with its professional approach, in order to bring everybody in the business together and pulling in the right direction.

THE BEAVERBROOKS WAY

Beaverbrooks’ core purpose is to ‘Enrich Lives,’ which simply means making a positive difference to the world we live in – their colleagues, customers, suppliers and the wider community.

Adlestone and Blackburn both agree that its successes comes down large in part to this core purpose of enriching lives and the company’s mission statement, the ‘Beaverbrooks Way’, which Adlestone and Blackburn says dictates “how we treat each other.”

Adlestone notes that he was inspired to create a stronger company ethos from a book he read by James O’toole called Leading Change. He explains how the book was an argument for “values-based leadership” and about the importance of having a mission statement. “We had some sort of mission statement at the time,” he adds, “but it was a corporate mission statement that was created by consultants because we felt we needed one. But it didn’t resonate with us and we only had it for a couple of years.”

He says he ripped the old statement apart and started again, this time bringing people together within the business from its stores and in its head office to sit down and define what the company was. “It was a fantastic exercise,” says Adlestone, “and we created our first mission statement which has evolved over time. Additionally, around three years Blackburn got to grips with the mission statement and relaunched it completely – further strengthening it.

Adlestone emphasises how the ethos is the “DNA that runs through the business”, and while the company has kept its consistency through the product that it sells and the brands it stocks, he notes in terms of the “heart of who we are, it is the ‘Beaverbrooks way’ that has kept us together”.

CHARITABLE GIVING 

Charity has also been another major focus of the company, and Adlestone says previously he had felt for some time there was more it could do in terms of formalising philanthropic giving and actually enabling its colleagues to get more involved. With this in mind, there are two major events that Beaverbrooks sponsors. One is the Beaverbrooks 10K fun run in Blackpool and the other is the Beaverbrooks 45 mile bike ride. The run was started over 37 years ago by Andrew Brown, but the bike ride was started by the company’s colleagues – inspired by the original event.

The company also gives 20% of its retained profit each year to charity through the Beaverbrooks charitable trust. “This is something that I instigated with Andrew on the back of a Jewish ethic which is that we are obligated to give 10% of one’s net income to charity up to a maximum of 20%”, Adlestone explains, “We decided to go for the 20% and that is what we have been doing ever since, which is why we are now at £13.5m given since the year 2000, donated to over 750 charities.”

LOOKING FORWARD

Adlestone says the company is looking very “carefully and protectively” at the business and what it might look like in the future. His middle daughter Chloe recently joined the business in October last year, which he says has been “very well received” by the retailer’s colleagues. “I’m really pleased by that. Our people seem to get some sort of confidence or security from the knowledge that we are still a family business and that there are commitments to that business going forward, evidenced by the fact that my daughter has come into the business,” he adds.

It is that sense of family that also appears to be one of the core values at Beaverbrooks, as Blackburn explains how the colleagues have said how much the company feels like a family to them as well. “There are very clear expectations and very clear lines of accountability, but there is a lot of fun doing it and there is that real balance,” she adds, “That’s really important because I want people to want to come to work and feel happy and engaged, because then they give even more of themselves and the business thrives as a result.”

Adlestone concludes by saying he wants the business to be remembered from a legacy perspective, because he feels the company has created something “very special here”. “They may not remember the figures we produced, although they are extremely good, but may very well remember the amount of money we have given to charity and the good we have done and how our people felt when they were working within the business. That is the legacy I want to protect and cherish, and when we talk about the future it has to be very much around that.”

Mark Adlestone’s appointment as High Sheriff

 

Adlestone was appointed by her Majesty the Queen to become the High Sheriff in March of this year, and was officially installed in April. He will now take on the role for 12 months as an unpaid ‘Keeper of The Queen’s Peace’ in Greater Manchester, and here we hear more about what that will entail

The role is based on people’s involvement in community and the voluntary sector, and originally dates back over 1,000 years. It was originally mentioned in as many 27 of the 63 clauses within the Magna Carta in 1215, and the sheriff used to be the most important person in the county. He would collect the taxes for the reigning monarch and dispense law and order and be responsible for that.

However, now that is dealt with by the judiciary and the local authorities, but these are the areas I am now notionally involved with. I am the ceremonial head of the judiciary in the county of greater Manchester, in reality what that means is I entertain high court judges when they come to do their very high profile crown court cases from London.

I am also very close to the police, and very involved with the voluntary sector. But I was recently advised to try and make a difference in my year, and the theme I chose was one of diversity and integration. Greater Manchester is extraordinarily diverse, and there are over 200 different languages spoken there. So for me this is a huge strength, that can equally be a huge weakness if we don’t get it right and don’t talk to each other or understand each other.

I am very big into interfaith work. Personally I am Jewish and I accepted the role of High Sheriff as, quote, “a proud British Jew”. For me it is those British values that should bring us all together and that is my challenge to all the different communities that I speak to, to just check and see if they see feel the same way.

I want to use this year to build the bricks to allow me to continue with this theme beyond my year as High Sheriff, where I will continue as a Deputy Lieutenant in Greater Manchester – which I will continue for the next 15 years and thereafter.

All of Monroe’s work is handmade in England from metals that are 60% recycled and 40% virgin, the virgin metals are all mined in Germany. All the stones are ethically sourced and the repairs and reconditioning service the company offers means the pieces it produces are sustainable.

Alex Monroe is known for its main collections that are all made in sterling silver which are also available in gold-plated finishes. Its fine jewellery range is made in solid 18ct gold, and includes wedding bands and engagement rings and even a collection ‘one of a kind’ pieces described as a “constantly growing collection of necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets of which only one is made”. However the company is best known for its signature bumblebee design, with a majority of its jewellery inspired by nature and the British countryside.

The company states it is “proud to have a long-term commitment to local manufacturing and ethical practises”, working with long standing partners based in the UK for the casting and plating of its jewellery, and sources all of its stones from trusted and ethical suppliers.

The company’s London Boutique opened in 2012 and was the first Alex Monroe store with full-time office space. The site for the flagship building in London Bridge was found by Monroe while cycling around the area. Alex Monroe has also recently revealed plans to open a second boutique in London this summer.

The new store, set to launch this July, will be located on Floral Street in Covent Garden and will be the brand’s first store in a “high street hot spot”.

Atelier VM is an Italian contemporary fine jewellery brand which we, Marta Caffarelli and Viola Naj-Oleari launched back in 1998. The Atelier VM story initially began in NYC where we were creating pieces exclusively for the Barney’s customers. From there, we launched our line in Milan, designing jewellery that is simple and delicate with a sophisticated discretion, a meeting of a certain Milanese aesthetic with a minimalism which is rooted in the signature New York style. We like to challenge the conceptions of fine jewellery; marrying hard stones with plastics, gold with glass and paper etc. 

2. What is your current e-commerce set-up?

We have an e-commerce site that is handled in-house, in addition to a presence on the Liberty e-commerce site.

3. Why do you feel your ecommerce business has been a success?

We are fortunate to have great support internationally both editorially and via social media influencers too. So our brand awareness reaches far and wide. We also have flagship boutiques in some key international markets that are frequented not only by local Londoners, Parisians and Milanese, but we receive many international visitors at our boutiques. Therefore the combination of both these factors has resulted in a strong e-commerce business for us.

4. What has been your ecommerce biggest accomplishment so far?

Perhaps the launch of the e-commerce site itself was one of the greatest accomplishments. As anyone who’s launched one will know, it takes a lot of time and effort on both the design side as well as the back end to ensure it runs smoothly whilst staying true to the brand ethos. Given we’re also selling fine jewellery, the quality of the imagery itself is paramount to properly convey the quality of the stones and craftsmanship behind each piece too.  

5. Tell me about the design of your website? 

Our backgrounds are in art and industrial design. Therefore we have an acute sense of attention to detail. Our website is reflective of Atelier VM; minimalist and functional with a Milanese twist.

6.     How do you engage with your customers?

 Members of our database receive regular newsletters with new product launches and other Atelier VM news. We also enjoy great support from social media influencers globally which then also helps to translate too in turn to web traffic as well.  

7.     What’s your plan for the next year? 

 We have plans for next year that include expanding to further territories. As the idea for Atelier VM was initially conceived in New York, we’d love to see a boutique there with a view to further opening up the US market which we feel would be very strong for us. Also, growing our existing but newest markets in which we’ve established solid bases too – London and Paris. It’s an exciting time for us as there are many plans in progress.

Yet with no formal jewellery training whatsoever Armand could see the potential of using his drawing skills in conjunction with his musical influences to develop what was soon to become ‘classic rock and roll jewellery’.

After years of designing rings, pendants and bracelets for rock lovers Serra and his wife Jeannette decided to set up Crazy Pig Designs in 1992 in Covent Garden where it still has its flagship store and workshop. Over the years the brand has grown and most notably opened a second store in Tokyo, which opened in November 2017. Self-described as being “well known worldwide” for their skull rings which have been worn by celebrities and musicians such as Keith Richards, Ozzy Osbourne and Iggy Pop to name but a few. The store has also made one-off pieces for films such as Harry Potter, Sweeney Todd, The Decent and the TV show Game of Thrones.

Crazy Pig now offers over 1000 designs ranging from rings, pendants, bracelets etc and made in either silver, gold or platinum. They also work with precious and semi-precious stones from diamonds rubies and emeralds.

The initial designs are hand carved by Serra himself to which a mold is made, Crazy pig then use the mold to produce waxes of said design which are cast by an in house caster. All of the company’s jewellery is sent the London Assay Office for hallmarking. Once returned, all pieces are hand finished by their in house jewellers.

We make bespoke watches, around a couple of hundred a year, and I try to make each one slightly different from the next with most of them being based around a motorsport theme – although we also make dress watches as well. What makes us unique is that I create new designs for dials and cases every few weeks, with interchangeable bezels on some of the models.

Q2) What is your current e-commerce setup

We currently operate through a shopify website which allows for complete control over the site’s navigation, content pages and design.

Q3) How has your e-commerce business been a success

It is still young, only around a year old, and what we found is when we do exhibitions we tend to find that customers come to try on the watches and see how they fit, but then buy them online afterwards. We don’t sell anything in shops, so we do our own exhibiting at shows.

We also promote on Google Adwords, Facebook etc to drive people to our website and that goes hand in hand with handing out business cards at shows and directing people to our website. After events we always see more people visiting the site. It is sometimes difficult selling online, as people do like to try our watches on, so that’s why having the website with the exhibitions works so well for us.

Q4) Tell me a bit more about the design of your website

We have a watchbuilder feature where you choose and customise our synchro model, customising the dial, the bezel and the strap – you can easily change all the elements allowing the customer to design their own bespoke watch.

Q5) How did you design this aspect?

Our web designer, who is also a professional photographer, photographed the watches and then had the feature built into the website. This was one of my main desires for our e-commerce platform to have. In years to come we are hoping to build on that with options for more dials, straps and bezels, as we create new items.

Q6) Did you want this to reflect your physical showroom?

Our showroom is designed like a lounge with leather seating and glass cabinets and just like the website they can see the watch, see the dial, see the movements – This is one option we are also looking to add online.    

Q7) What is your biggest e-commerce accomplishment?

I think the drive to the website and building of the brand has been a big accomplishment. What will happen is that customers go to the website, but then they often meet me at the outdoor events, and while they may not buy then they will probably buy a watch on the website a week or two after.

This allows them to see the real thing and then go online and design their own. Without the website we wouldn’t be able to do that. The website gives the business stability and gives us provenance.

Q8) What is your plan for the website in the upcoming years?

We will be investing into the watchbuilder and adding new aspects and models. We are also planning to add ladies watches to our online offering as we are a bit behind on that at the moment.

We started Sepanta in 2014. Both my partner and I come from an architectural background but we always had a passion for creating jewellery pieces. It was a Christmas day that we sat down and decided we needed make a career out of this passion. It’s a totally different industry to the architectural sector, so we had a lot to learn about it and it wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be at the beginning. It took us much longer to get all the bits and pieces because at the beginning we were thinking about where this is going to be located. We both come from different countries, but we came to the conclusion that the UK and London is perhaps one of the best starting locations for us, as well as for us to be based. We then had to get to know the whole production line and everybody in the industry – who is who, who does what, who supplies what and just generally finding more about the production chain. That included sales and marketing as well so it took quite a while.

Tell us about the brand.

It was our hobby and passion so we was always looking at jewellery pieces from other designers, we tried to look at who is in the sector and what they were doing to learn how we could define ourselves in the market. It took us a while and we had a lot of back and forth but we finally came to the decision that we really liked Sepanta as a brand and fine jewellery in general. At the same time we very much like the qualities of other types of jewellery, which traditional and classic fine jewellery doesn’t have. We wanted to combine the aspects of different types of jewellery to create something that was our own, design-focused and luxurious. We used our skills as architects and product designers, and designing on a daily basis, to find partners who could help turn our jewellery pieces to reality.

What type of jewellery does Sepanta create?

Our jewellery is based on the patterns from Persian carpets. This is something we fell in love with when we visited the carpet museum in Istanbul. We bought as many books as we could about Persian carpets and since then we have created a lot of documents that we have at home which we look at all the time and try to educate ourselves about it. It’s a source of inspiration and we try to use those patterns and bring them to life through our jewellery.

How do you bring your architectural knowledge into that?

The metal of the jewellery is done in the same way we work in the architecture industry. We make sketches of every design, we visualise it and then we put that into the computer. We use certain softwares that are not the same as the software that jewellers use. The software that we use is used mostly in the movie-making industry. It’s for the animation industry so it’s more precise than software for jewellery, and at the same time there is much more flexibility for creating the fluid shapes and forms of Sepanta. Once we create the designs in a free-form way we then try to make them as precise as possible and up to the level they need to be for a fine jewellery piece.

You mention fluid designs, is that a big part of Sepanta?

Yes, because the pieces are always very different in the collections, as well as the different parts of the pieces. The lines constantly change so we need those special software to develop each piece of jewellery.

Your debut collection is Parria, could you tell us about that?

Parria is our first collection and it took us a year and a half to create – part of that was because we are perfectionists and we wanted to make the design perfect, and the other part was that we had to learn the whole process while we were doing it. The design and making process was very experimental in a way, we were trying to avoid doing it in the established methods and instead create our own unique way of doing things. We had a lot of tests, we made around 60 to 70 test pieces of the Parria collection before we got exactly what we wanted.

Are you working on any new collections?

We have two new collections that we are working on for IJL, and that was of course a much smoother process. We had already done it once before so the chain of the production ran much smoother. They are coming along well, they are almost finished but we are still working on a few little bits and pieces. The pieces have been liked by the people we have sent it to, so we are really looking forward to the launch. One of the collections is Zinat and the other is Mouj, which resembles the waves of a stormy sea.

Have you been affected by the rising price of gold at all?

Not really. The value of the piece is based on the time, energy and effort that we put into it. We spend at least three months just to design one piece, and that’s what really establishes the price of the piece rather than the price of gold.

What type of materials do you use?

18-carat gold has been the stand out material that we have used so far, and they have different colour finishes; yellow gold, rose gold, white gold and black rhodium garmental finishes. We also use a combination of different colour sapphires and diamonds. We have a necklace in one of the new collections, which is my new favourite piece, and the necklace is in silver and the pendant is in gold. That stops it being too heavy around the neck.

How many retailers do you deal with in the UK?

It hasn’t been very straightforward so far because the typology of the pieces are difficult to tag. When we talk to the classic jewellers, it’s not something they have ever stocked and they are a little sceptical at first because they are not sure if they will have a customer for it. When we go to the more artistic and fashion-led boutiques that stock designer pieces, but those pieces are normally silver and fabric rather than gold and diamonds. We are still trying to find our place at the moment but our plan is to expand out of the UK if everything goes to plan. If we are going to be in five British shops then I think that is enough for us to start thinking about expanding out of the UK.

Which countries would you expand into?

We very much like the idea of moving into the United States because we think the design and look that our jewellery has would be very well received there. The galleries that we have seen in New York and Miami have designer pieces with fine materials, which is not as common in the UK. That’s something we’d like to do but it’s not in the near future.

How big is the company?

At the beginning it was just Yevgeniya and myself. We now have three other designers who work with us, not as full-time but they have helped us with the design of the two new collections. That’s just the design aspect – the production stages all happen in collaboration with other companies.

What does the future hold for Sepanta?

In five years time we want to achieve our ambitions in the UK market, and then we are hoping we can move into the US and at least two other countries in Europe – ideally Italy and either France or Spain.

This feature first appeared in the September 2016 issue of Jewellery Focus.

Yes, absolutely. Fashion can liberate us from the daily routine of our lives; lift our spirits and make us smile. My personal view is that jewellery is a part of fashion, not something different or separate from fashion.

It’s all about body adornment a simple desire to signal something about who we are by what we wear. A well-chosen piece of jewellery can show personality. It can suggest ‘you can talk to me, and by the way, I might be interesting’.

Can you tell me how fashion influences your own jewellery collection?

If you take fashion as your focus it connects you better with the customer. It aligns your outlook with the wearer’s true aspirations and motivations for buying jewellery. Our aim is to offer our customers colour, form and a sense of fun. Craftsmanship is really important to us, but we try not to overwhelm our customers with complex technical detail. Our customers tend to connect with their jewellery on an intuitive, emotional, level.

You use the word fashion in an interesting way. Does that inspire your jewellery?

Fashion is a part of culture like music or literature. I believe that all culture needs narrative or lyrical content to connect it to the human imagination. Stories help us to connect to other people.  Giving a gifts often involves telling a story. Stories are what gives nostalgic value to jewellery. Designers are often asked what inspires their work, because people simply want to connect to the story behind the product. I am mainly inspired by stories. Storytelling is part of our everyday lives. Stories form the basis of most conversations, getting passed from person to person. They are the building blocks of communication and relationships.

What does fashion have to offer the jewellery retailer?

Fashion gives us something to talk about. Like football, it’s not too personal or invasive.   When a new customer walks into a jewellery store, there is a lot of subtle nuance involved in when to start a conversation and how to engage a person’s interest. A compelling sales story can act as an ice-breaker and help to get a customer talking. Jewellery with good fashion content is easy to talk about.

As conversations around fashion stories grow they help the retailer to build relationships with their customers, leading to regular repeat sales. It’s normal within the world of fashion for customers to return several times a season to update their personal collections. When I talk to my customers I find that they already have in mind what piece of jewellery they want to buy next, because it connects the story. Our customers love the comments they receive when wearing the jewellery and we’ve discovered that this is why we have such a high number of returning customers. Jewellers that embrace a fashion conscious outlook simply drive more repeat business.