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Tim Alban
29th June 2011 10:25

Latest article on Business Matters

 

Dear All

Harriet's latest article can now be seen on the Business Matters website www.bmmagazine.co.uk

The article is entitled 'Wanted: alternatives to sport and challenge based charity sponsorship' and Harriet talks about raising money for charity which she has done a fair amount of with her kid's jewellery making competitions.

Enjoy reading it!

Tim

Tim Alban
 
Harriet Kelsall
25th June 2011 16:56

Children's jewellery making competition - prize giving

 

Hi

Emma Counsell (age 6) and Olivia Cleobury (age 7) came in to collect their prizes this morning as they are the first and second prize winners from our recent kids jewellery making competition. Both did brilliantly showing real flare and skill.

Harriet with Emma and Olivia

The prizes included lots of jewellery designing and making supplies. They were delighted with these both began planning what they will make with it all right away. I very much look forward to seeing what they create with it all!

The competition was part of our summer charity day earlier this month which was a brilliant family day with workbench demonstrations, designers on hand to chat with, a classic car rally outside, charity raffle and all sorts of other things to enjoy. For a small donation to the NSPCC, the children can make hair combs, alice bands, bracelets, necklaces and much more and get to keep their pieces. Then Harriet judges the pieces afterwards to select the winner.

The childrens jewellery making alone raised more than £130 for the NSPCC and in total we raised about £250 on the day which is brilliant – many thanks to all who took part.

Our next children’s jewellery making event will be in Halls Green in late November.

Harriet

Harriet Kelsall
 
Leanne Sheaver
21st June 2011 14:20

Inspired engagement rings

 

Hi

I have noticed an increase in interest for our more unusual and inspired designs. These can be extra special rings to propose to your loved ones with as they can symbolize meaningful things throughout your relationship or represent the place in which you met or where you plan to propose. We have had quite a few rings inspired by water recently and a few rings from our ready to wear collection have also been popular.

Here are some of our other 'inspired by' rings from our ready to wear collection

yellow and white gold engagement ring
Yellow gold and mandarin garnet

This ring is inspired by the colour of burning flames

diamond and sapphire engagment ring
Platinum, diamond and sapphire engagement ring

This beautiful ring is inspired by butterflies

sapphire engagement ring
white gold, diamond and sapphire engagement ring

And this magnificent ring is, of course, inspired by flower shapes! It is also very loosely inspired by Kate Middleton's ring. Harriet incorporated the white and blue colours form Kates ring in this design.

These are just a few of my favourites from our Hertfordshire collection.

we also have more unique designs in our Cambridge showroom

have a look and see if any represent an important milestone in your relationship. If you feel some of these designs are lovely but are missing something then go for a commission, we have lots of ideas here in our Inspired Designs Gallery from previous commission gallery.

Hope to see you soon!

Leanne

Leanne Sheaver
 
Harriet Kelsall
15th June 2011 12:24

Kids Jewellery Making Competition Winners

 

I am delighted to announce the winners of Saturday's Kid's Jewellery Making Competition. I would like to say that the standard overall was excellent and its been a very tough job to single out an overall winner.

First prize is awarded to Emma Counsell who showed exceptional skill and a natural awareness of how the finished piece was going to look before and during the making of it with great attention to detail. She was very dexterous and listened very carefully to instructions and tightened the wire between each twist like a professional. I felt this was particularly remarkable as she was only 6 and has never done anything like this before

Second price will go to Olivia Cleobury who had a good design idea and followed it through with good care and indepenence.

Special mention should also go to Hattie, Chloe, Naya, Sammy Stanley and Kira all of whom did very well in various ways.

Harriet

Emma - winner of the kids jewellery making competition 2011
Olivia - 2nd place in the kids jewellery making competition 2011
Harriet Kelsall
 
Simon Gibbons
14th June 2011 15:44

The Real Price of Gold

 

The Channel four Dispatches programme The Real Price of Gold is a very interesting and timely reminder of the importance of ethical gold.

Ethics in the gold supply chain is very complex for a number of reasons, for example, a surprisingly large proportion of gold supplied in the UK is recycled, which whilst brilliant for the environment remains a little more problematical when it comes to the provenance of this metal, by that I mean, if an item of jewellery was created in an era when ethical awareness was not what it is today, the metal may well have come from a source that had little regard for human rights at the time.

Additionally, gold when it is refined can come from a variety sources, such as banks and again its provenance 'could' be questionable and of course there is nothing to stop the metal being melted into any shape prior to it being introduced into the supply chain, making identifying its history very difficult; if not impossible.

There is no doubt the industry is aware of these challenges with organisations doing much to change the ethics of the jewellery industry and this year saw the launch of Certificated Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold through the Fairtrade Foundation; not only can the source of the metal be traced, but the artisanal miners get a decent reward, aimed not only as payment for the metal but to help develop their communities.

We are one of the first companies to be able to offer this option and whilst we have had teething problems; availability is now improving, it means we can help you make that ethical choice when you come to choose your bespoke engagement ring or wedding ring and our designers are able to offer you, with no obligation, advice on matters regarding the ethical choices you may wish to make.

Prior to the launch of Certificated Fairtrade and Fairmined gold; we were using and continue to use 'Fairly Traded' metal to help customer make that ethical choice and we also have some rings in our ready to wear collection made from this metal.

Please do contact us for no obligation advice or an appointment; as we would be delighted to help you make your ethical choices, whether you are considering where the metal comes from or wishing to recycle a ring you no longer use in its current form.

Simon

Simon Gibbons
 
Tim Alban
13th June 2011 12:26

Jewellery Charity Event and Family Fun Day

 

Hi

Our Jewellery Charity Event and Family Fun Day was a great success. A record number of children attended the kid's jewellery making workshops run by Harriet and the team - double last year's number, raising 252 pounds for the NSPCC.

Jewellery Family Day
Jewellery Family Day
Jewellery Family Day
Jewellery Family Day
Jewellery Family Day

The weather held out for us so the addition of the outdoor kids activities (including a couple of bouncy castles) was well recieved.

Look out for our next event in November

Tim

Tim Alban
 
Harriet Kelsall
13th June 2011 09:19

Fairtrade Day at London Jewellery Week

 

On Friday Alice and I went up to be a part of Fairtrade day during London Jewellery Week.

We went to a production called 'Gilt' at the Cockpit Theatre which was aimed at trying to make people think about what they were buying with respect to gold. There was some good singing from an excellent choir and one rather good dance between a smarmy shop assistant and a customer.

Fairtrade Day during London Jewellery Week

Then we went to the Fairtrade event at Treasure in Holburn. The exhibition there was great and we saw some wonderful work and met some great people.

But the real highlight for Alice and I was when we met Americo from Ore Verde. This is where the Fairtrade gold that we work with comes from. It was a great opportunity for us to meet him and thank him personally for the amaizing journey that he has been such a big part of.

Fairtrade Day during London Jewellery Week
Fairtrade Day during London Jewellery Week

Harriet

Harriet Kelsall
 
Harriet Kelsall
11th June 2011 10:32

Jewellery Event

 

Really looking forward to an exciting day today with our Classic car and jewellery event here at Halls Green. If it is your first time coming to us and you aren't sure exactly where we are, today there are little orange flags to follow which will giude you to us from the main road!

More information can be found on our Hertfordshire Events page on our website.

Harriet

Harriet Kelsall
 
Tim Alban
9th June 2011 13:24

Jewellery Event on Saturday

 

Just a quick reminder that our Jewellery Charity Event and Family Fun Day is on Saturday at 9.45.

The weather is looking promising so we hope to see you there.

More information can be found on our Hertfordshire Events page on our website.

Tim

Tim Alban
 
Harriet Kelsall
8th June 2011 13:19

First Certified Fairtrade Gold Ring

 

I am delighted to tell you that I have just held our very first certified Fairtrade gold ring in my hand complete with its Fairtrade stamp as this has just been struck by the hallmark office. Very exciting!

Once the first few Fairtrade rings are finished, I'll upload some pictures for you.

Thanks

Harriet

Harriet Kelsall
 
Tim Alban
6th June 2011 09:48

Entrance to Hertfordshire Jewellery Studio

 

Those of your that are familiar with our Hertfordshire Jewellery Studio should be aware that the main entrance is now towards the Weston side of Halls Green (rather than the old farm house entrance). The signage has been moved so it should be clear for the next time you visit.

Tim

Tim Alban
 

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  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, North Barn, Fairclough Hall Farm, Halls Green, Weston, Hertfordshire, SG4 7DP, England
    Phone: +44 (0)1462 790565 Fax: +44 (0)1462 790140 enquiries@hkjewellery.co.uk
  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, 6/7 Green Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 3JU, England.
    Phone: +44 (0)1223 461333 Fax: +44 (0)1223 365269 cambridge@hkjewellery.co.uk

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