Taken when I had first started buying in Kathmandu, where I was buying crystal for setting into pendants & dowsers. They had just tipped about 10 kilos of crystal from a sack for me to sort through.

Many years ago when I was a young girl I was fascinated by making jewellery. I would cycle 7 miles to Arundel to a tiny Bead shop which sold ear wires and sparkly sequins. I would then spend many happy hours putting all these tiny pieces together until I was satisfied with my little creations which I wore with great delight.

Later in life I had the opportunity to attend Art college for 1 year where I studied General Art & Design. At this time I thought my future lay in prop design or ceramics but some time later after studying English Literature at university I was very lucky to have the chance to travel to Thailand. During my time in Chang Mai there were, at that time short courses, available to travellers. I was torn between Thai massage, cookery or Silver -smithing but in the end I could not resist the latter as it would be so interesting to try. The course lasted for 5 days and after that I was smitten.

After Thailand I travelled to India, where I was able to purchase many beautiful stones, and so my vocation in jewellery began. For several years I made all my own jewellery and had a permanent stand in Tavistock Pannier market in Devon. I also exhibited at Craft fairs and gained extensive retail experience over the next few years.

I was often approached by independent retailers who were interested in stocking my designs but as a craft worker I could not sustain myself on the margins so I soon realised it would be necessary to contract out the manufacture of my designs but very important that I continued designing all the pieces myself. All of the pieces are now handcrafted in India, China and Thailand, the beautiful gemstones come from all over the world and I very much enjoy the creative challenge of bringing you lovely jewellery in both new and classic designs using the colourful gemstones that all bring their own style and character.

Some of our jewellery at a recent exhibition.

My aim, or theme has always been to design beautiful, good quality jewellery that can be worn every day or for a special occasion that is not too costly but is of a beautiful quality. Over the years we have gradually expanded in size. As well as our website we now have a beautiful showroom near Chester which you can visit by appointment. We now also have a team of very helpful assistants would be delighted to help you with any further enquiries. Thank you so much for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you.

Lucille Brain
Director
Gem Jewellery Ltd