New Website, Book and Jewelry Line from Designer Turned Curator Elizabeth Galton

Elizabeth Galton

It’s been a very busy year for London-based jewelry designer Elizabeth Galton. The former creative director of Links of London quit her high-prestige job to start her own company where she serves as a curator, a champion if you will, for other contemporary and commercially viable designers. The result is the luxury jewelry and accessories website, ElizabethGaltonStudio.com.

The site features collections for women and men from more than 60 contemporary luxury designers. The website allows users to easily view and purchase luxury jewelry, gifts and accessories from a new generation of design talent. Prices for gift, bridal and bespoke items range from $64 for soft accessories to $56,000 for fine jewelry designs to more than $100,000 for bespoke pieces.

The thing that’s novel about this venture, is that this well-known jewelry designer is using her stature in the industry and with consumers to bring other designers onto an online medium. It’s Galton’s name and face that brings credibility to the website.

Many of these designers worked either for Links of London while Galton was leading the design department or worked as designers with similar companies. For example, the Duppoini printed silk scarves that are sold on the site were created by Kate Llamas, formerly from Harrods whose designer, Polina Gineva, created the celebrated Alexander McQueen skull scarf. Jenny Mercian, founder of the Sahani Brand of Swarovski encrusted pieces, previously designed for Victoria’s Secrets. Her celebrity followers include Miranda Kerr, Cheryl Cole and Mary J Blige. Then there’s jewelry designer, Claire English, described by Stephen Webster as “Britain’s next big thing.”

Galton says she knows all of the designers on her website and relishes the opportunity to curate and promote their work.

“EG Studio was borne out of a desire to champion such talent, Galton says. “Their designs speak for themselves and present you with the inside track on unique creations—they are my edit of the best that young “Cool Britannia’ has to offer.”

Galton’s editing doesn’t stop on the design floor. She is in the early stages of publishing her first book. Its object is to be a comprehensive guide on jewelry design from a commercial aspect. Her book will include designers from Elizabeth Galton Studio as well as other designers. So again, she will be serving a curator’s role.

EG Classics bracelet

Finally, Galton has returned to the design floor to create an affordable, colorful line of fashion bracelets that will of course be sold on her website. Galton said her EG Classics bracelets are versatile and will add life to any outfit. They will sell for about $89.

Read More

Amanda Li Hope, A Jewelry Designer with an Architect’s Mind

Mini XX earrings made with Fairtrade Fairmined 18k yellow gold and rubies.

LONDON — Everyone once in a while I’ll use this blog to introduce a new jewelry designer. Amanda Li Hope, a working architect who has been making jewelry as a business since 2009, creates petite, well crafted jewelry that she describes as “contemporary, geometric, (and) sleek,” made primarily with ethically sourced metals and gemstones.

The Boston native who now lives in London works with gold and silver and incorporates diamonds, sapphires, rubies and other gemstones into her works. After receiving her BA in architecture at Columbia in New York she moved to London to get her Masters’ degree in architecture. She said that her architectural training has a strong impact on her work.

Asteroid earrings made of Fairtrade Fairmined rose gold.

“My mind tends to lean towards architectural representation and logic,” she says. “Whether this was learned or instinctive, I am not sure, but my designs often have a crisp linear quality about them while at the same time have a strong three-dimensional geometries.”

Amanda Li Hope's display during the 14 Carat event at Craft Central.

She works three days a week as an architect and four days a week making jewelry in her workbench at Craft Central, a studio and training center for craftspersons and artists in the Clerkenwell neighborhood, known for attracting creative professionals. She is gradually working toward the day when she can be a full-time jewelry designer.

"I've always loved working and making with my hands—the more detailed and precise the project, the better," she says. "I’m obsessed with fine detail, craftsmanship, and working with beautiful materials. I love working with precious metals and fine gemstones, especially those with ethical provenance."

Amanda Li Hope promotes her use of Fairtrade & Fairminded Gold.

Li Hope is proud of holding one of the first 20 licenses to make and sell Fairtrade & Fairmined gold jewelry—a certification system for small-scale and artisanal mines that show a respect for the human rights of workers and communities where these mine operate and the environment around the mines.

“Let’s face it—the source of the precious elements used in jewelry comes from the Earth by cringe-worthy means and methods, a troubling irony when jewelry is worn as a reflection of one’s personal style and ethos, and frequently given as gifts of love and affection,” she says. “As soon as I learned of the Fairtrade Foundation’s initiative to sign up as a jeweler, I contacted them without hesitation. I haven’t looked back since as being able to work with materials that are certifiably traceable gives both me and the consumer both satisfaction and confidence behind the jewelry being made, given, and worn.”

Amanda Li Hope at her workbench in Craft central.

Li Hope reminds me of what a small world we live in—figuratively and literally. I first “met” her on Twitter. During my recent visit to London to write about the exhibition, “Gold: Power and Allure, 4,500 Years of Gold Treasures from Across Britain,” at Goldsmiths’ Hall, I visited a restaurant in Clerkenwell. In this massive city, it turns out that Craft Central is directly across the street from the restaurant and that the design center was hosting an exhibition for London Jewellery Week, called 14 Carat.

Without social media and a little bit of geographical luck, our meeting would have never happened.

Below is a video of Li Hope created by supadupa.me, which hosts her website.

Read More

Centurion 2013 Emerging Jewelry Designer Winners

“Ivy” earrings by Alessio Boschi with a detachable drop. Left view is with the drop and right view is without the drop. The leaves are diamonds with shaded green tsavorites in dark rhodium. The berries are purple sapphires and the twisted trunks are inertwined diamond lines with dangling chrome diopside. Leaf backs are handmade and invisibly set. Suggested retail price: $16,500.

Three designers from different countries were selected from among a record number of entries as the winners of the Centurion 2013 Emerging Designer Competition. 

The winners—Alessio Boschi of Australia, Erika Bertin of the United States, and Shar-Linn Liew of Thailand—were announced prior to the 2013 Centurion luxury jewelry tradeshow held February 3-5 in Scottsdakes, Ariz. All three designers made their U.S. tradeshow debut at Centurion where they received free exhibition space as part of winning the annual competition, now in its fifth year.

The competition drew almost 70 entries from luxury jewelry designers around the world. More than 300 retailers voted to narrow the field down to 12 finalists; the Centurion Board of Retail Advisors voted again to select the three winners.

Boschi of Lux2Lux Jewels, is a native of Italy who has spent time designing in his home country, Greece and Thailand before moving to Australia to work with pearl jewelry manufacturer, Autore, where he created the popular and critically acclaimed “Oceania,” “Ice and Fire,” and “Venezia” jewelry collections.

Rose gold medallion and ring inspired by a medieval incense diffuser top, and come with handmade double gold chain and white diamonds. Retail prices: Medallion chain, $9,755 for 18k and $5,815 for 10k; Ring, $4,985 for 18k and $2.790 for 10k.

 
Bertin of Alasia (erikabertin@yahoo.com) previously worked as a luxury brand builder in London before becoming a full-time jewelry designer. She moved to New York in 2000 to set up Arte Italiana, the US branch of Favero, as a partner to the owner. Favero jewelry found a responsive audience in the Americas and saw healthy and successful growth, becoming a recognized brand. Many of the Favero pieces distributed in the USA were either designed or merchandised by Bertin.

Sharart Design’s Shinto blue sapphire earrings are fully articulated. Gem content: blue sapphire (8.15ct.) and white diamond (0.71 ct.). Suggest retail price, $9.800.

Jewelry designer Shar-Linn Liew of Sharart Design grew up in Singapore and was exposed to designing as a young girl by her mother, who was a clothes designer. But it was her husband who exposed her to the world of gemstones and fine jewelry. After a two-year stint as a jewelry merchandiser at a TV jewelry network, Liew decided to focus on her own collection. Her pieces are handcrafted by her husband's jewelry manufacturing house. Her inspirations are constantly evolving around the designer’s Asian heritage blended with old European allure. 

Please join me on the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet and on the Forbes Web site.

Read More

Centurion 2014 Call for Entries for Emerging Designer Competition

Blue sapphire and diamond earrings by Sharart Design, one of last year's winners.

Entries are now being accepted for the sixth annual Centurion Emerging Designer Competition. Two winners will receive a showcase and exhibit space at the next Centurion Show. The invitation-only luxury jewelry tradeshow will be held Feb. 1-5, 2014, in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The competition is open to any jewelry designer who has never before exhibited in a U.S. fine jewelry tradeshow. It’s open to all designers, regardless of experience, formal training, or background in jewelry design, but entrants must show lines or one-of-a-kind designs that are suitable for a luxury jewelry store environment and be capable of both exhibiting at a trade show and fulfilling any wholesale orders received at the show.

Deadline for entry is September 30. Entrants are required to submit up to three images of finished jewelry; no renderings or CAD drawings will be accepted. Images must be .jpg format, and each image must include a detailed description of the piece and the materials used (metals, gemstones, etc.). Entries will be judged by a special panel, as well as by Centurion’s Board of Retail Advisors.

For more information and to access the entry form, follow this link:

The competition is sponsored by Stuller, a Lafayette, La., jewelry manufacturing and distribution business and a domestic and international wholesale jewelry supplier.

Please join me on the Jewelry News Network Facebook Page, on Twitter @JewelryNewsNet and on the Forbes Website.

Read More