HQ remodel start - finish
Our mission to turn an empty loft space into a luxury jewellery design studio has kept myself and Susi rather busy over the past few months. We’ve already hosted our first three events in the new HQ but could not have done any of this without the help of our friends, old and new.
Everyone jumped on board with the project and helped us to create exactly what we were hoping for. We want to give them all a big thank you and let you know who's helped us along the way. We couldn't recommend them highly enough, they were all an absolute pleasure to work with and even put up with our exacting ways.
When we first took on this task, we had a vision but were slightly overwhelmed by the blank canvas and didn’t quite know where to start - we are jewellers not interior designers after all. Cathy, with her paintbrushes at the ready, jumped straight in and led the way. Her mood boards, bags of goodies and technical drawings helped put all of our whirling ideas into an actual plan. The folks at The Colour Makes People Happy Shop mixed the most amazing paints for our feature wall. With names like Prawn Candy, Dog Biscuit, The Guy Behind The Colour and Strangely Brown, how could we not use them? From these alongside our brand colours, Cathy chose an incredible palette made up of pinks, neutral tones, aubergine and fluorescent orange! Trust me, it works.
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We wanted to create an area where our clients could relax and feel at home whilst pouring over our collections or going through gemstones for their bespoke commission. We decided to reupholster an antique chaise lounge using deep blue velvet and contrasting orange beading to compliment the wall. Cathy pointed us in the direction of a local Shoreditch workshop 7Upholstery who got rid of the chintz and breathed new life into what is now a focal point of our studio.
Lukasz Golec was recommended to us by a friend. He visited the site, worked with us to translate Cathy's drawings into the structures we needed and helped us build our new home. Lukasz is not only an outstanding carpenter but he is a rollerdex of information which made it really easy for us to source materials, get all the insider information we needed and more. No job was too difficult for Lukasz, he went above and beyond all of our expectations.
Website: Under construction
Email: glukas8210@gmail.com
Telephone: 07989 625987
Clive from Cannonbury Electrical and Lukasz have worked together previously on projects so we knew they would the perfect team. Clive had such great ideas from his first site visit, we couldn’t wait for the work to start. The gallery tracking went up in no time but converting our antique pendants and chandeliers to fit modern day wiring looked like it would be a little trickier...of course, it wasn’t a problem for Clive. We are going to miss the tea and biscuit breaks, but we certainly won’t miss the noise!
Website: cannonburyelectrical.co.uk
Email: cannonburyelectrical@gmail.com
Telephone: 0800 335 7818
We spent an afternoon with Horatio at the GMI Stone Works marble warehouse admiring their endless collection; choosing a marble counter top was quite possibly one of Susi's favourite task - always a Rock Hound. GMI were brilliant, we came away with lots of ideas, samples and all of the information we needed for installation.
Website: gmistonework.co.uk
Email: info@stonework.co.uk
Telephone: 0207 498 2742
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Always keen to hear about other ethical companies we were put in contact with Karma Cola. They are the UK's only Fairtrade organic cola company with a direct relationship with cola farmers in Sierra Leone. We have a similar work ethos to Karma Cola and are inspired by what they are achieving through their Drink No Evil campaign. Plum Savill is their Head of Marketing and Communications and kindly offered to sponsor our studio launch party; they donated bottles of their Karma Cola, Lemony Lemonade and Gingerella. We are proud to keep our fridge stocked with these delicious drinks, so pop on over and give them a try. Plum also dropped by the studio to donate a couple bottles of the most amazing Caribbean Rum, The Duppy Share so that we could treat our guests to cocktails!
Myself, Susi and Rusty often frequent the E5 Bakehouse at lunchtime. We love to support local businesses and thought who better to ask to cater our Gemstone Roundtable Events. Ruth's menu ideas were sublime, she was so easy and fun to work alongside. Ruth even made myself and Susi take away boxes at the end of each evening as she noticed we hadn’t had time to eat (not that there were many leftovers!). E5 Bakehouse host cookery classes at the bakery where Ruth teaches you how to make delicious menus of Middle Eastern, Indian or Spanish delights. If you haven’t tried their brownies, you should go do so straight away, they are out of this world.
Website: e5bakehouse.com
Email:info@e5bakehouse.com
Telephone: 020 8525 2890
Allegra McEvedy is a part of the family. When Susi let her know of our plans she automatically offered to create the most amazing canape menu for our launch party. Working from a tiny, shared kitchen, using a fold out trestle table didn’t stop Allegra from amazing our guests with her delicious food.
Website: allegramcevedy.com
Email: webwave@allegramcevedy.com
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In a first for The Rock Hound, I am proud to share that pieces from my HotRocks Collection hit the catwalk during last month’s London Fashion Week