Jewellery Focus April 2018 | Page 33

FEATURE What are your 2018 business goals? In 2018 I will continue to grow my business and my bench skills alongside my full time job as a university lecturer at the School of Jewellery. Over summer I will be focusing on my own solo show, which I am currently putting plans down for and hopefully will be touring my work around the UK and hopefully further afield. SARA PRENTICE Creative director, House of Garrard Can you give me a description of job title and what you do? I handle the look of the brand, the design and make sure that the tone of voice is correct. It’s the point of who the brand is and that all comes from me, although I am still very muc h involved in designing the collections. What drew you to the industry in the first place? Initially I wanted to do fashion, and I 2005 - 2007: went along to an art college with my Graffs portfolio in hand to go to my interview 2007: for a fashion course. I walked past Fabergé the jewellery design section, and at 2012 - Present: the time I didn’t even realise it was House of Garrard something you could do. I had a look at the course and I really loved the idea that it was not only design but there was a practical element to it as well. that carried down through the years, and if you go to a lot of the workshops around Hatton Garden there generally do tend to be men running them. In that regard there aren’t a lot women in the workshop environment in the industry. What advice would you give to women who want to get into the industry? Don’t give up. You do have to work at it and I think that for any opportunity you are given you need to maximise that to the limit. You have to get your name out there, knock on the doors. Like most industries you also have to hound people and that’s not easy. Also, enter competitions, since you get your name out there by doing that. What are your 2018 business goals? We have just launched our new collection called Fanfare, which has gone down a storm. So we will be looking to add new and exciting pieces to this collection. HARRIET KELSALL Founder and chair of Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design 1993 - 2005: Cartier Tell me about some of the awards you have won? In 1994 I won my first proper prize for the Goldsmith’s Craft and Design Council. I won a lot first and second commendations and ended up being a judge for the competition for about 16 years. Tell me a bit about how you design your jewellery? Everyday is unique, there are so many things going on. I like to be very inclusive in the way I work, it’s very important to get all the teams input into what we are doing. For Garrard it’s very much about the heritage, so I would find a moment in our history which I think is relevant and we will use that as a starting point for the inspiration. We then have an offsite brainstorming session for a couple of days were we just sit and design. What challenges do women face in the industry? You’re not taken quite as seriously being both a woman and being younger. Also I think in the jewellery industry (and most other industries), there is a very old school network. There are traditions April 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk 1998 - Present: Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design (Founder & Chair) 2016 - Present: National Association of Jewellers (Vice Chair and soon to be Chair) 2016 - Present: Responsible Jewellery Council (NED) British Hallmarking Council (NED) 2018 - Author: ‘The Creative’s Guide to Starting a Business’ will be published in September Can you give me a description of job title and what you do? I am the founder and chair of Harriet Kelsall Bespoke Jewellery- that’s my main job. I am still in some way involved in running the business, but not the operational side of things, which is handled by the managing director and the management team. What drew you to the industry in the first place? My father was a doctor for the NHS, but he was also a really talented jeweller. He used to make jewellery to help pay the school fees. So I grew up watching him make jewellery, and when I was four I made my first ring with him - I got the jewellery making bug at an early age. Tell me about some of the awards you have won? We are very lucky to have won lots of awards, particularly for design, business, ethics and innovation. I wanted to design things on individual bases - unique jewellery made for each customer, JEWELLERY FOCUS 33