Turning tips into memories

Distinctive jewellery brands

By Rebecca Gonsalves on 13/2/2020

Few purchases are more emotionally charged than jewellery, either as a gift to yourself or for someone else.
An engagement ring symbolises love, desire and hope, but even a frivolous pair of fashion earrings has a certain talismanic charm. Jewellery is purely decorative, an impractical indulgence designed to make life more beautiful.
Today, designers and artisans focus on sustainable and ethically sourced raw materials, obscure techniques and experimental design.
Are cultured diamonds 'real' diamonds? Synthetic diamonds are created in a lab by replicating the conditions that carbon undergoes over millions of years, bypassing the dangerous mining process and ethically murky supply chains. They aren't always cheaper than their mined counterparts, as quality varies across both products.
Read on for the best under-the-radar jewellery brands.

Hannah Bedford

As well as the creator of beautiful bespoke commissions, Hannah Bedford is a fine jewellery-maker who uses fair-trade and recycled gold and an ancient technique of granulation. These tiny beads of precious metal become a design feature that helps create warm, organic designs that beautifully showcase Bedford's craft.

Low tide diamond ring, £2,500; sea urchin drop earrings, £215; sea urchin earrings, £215

Poppy Finch

Proving that beautiful, investment pieces don't have to cost the earth is Poppy Finch, an accessibly priced trend-observant brand designed and handmade in Vancouver. With a commitment to using 75% refined recycled gold, and maintaining high ethical standards of traceability of farmed pearls, gemstones and diamonds.

Gold pearl earrings, £260; 14-carat gold pearl ring, £230; gold pearl earrings, £310; Double Baby 14-carat gold pearl ring, £240

Meadowlark

Sustainability might be at the forefront of fashion like never before, but Meadowlark has been committed to its values since it was founded in 2006 by artist couple Claire Hammon and Greg Fromont. With a preference for recycled and reclaimed gold and conflict-free diamonds, there's a sense of the mystic to the designs, that span a wide range of budgets.

Inez gold-plated sapphire necklace, £239; Inez gold-plated diamond ring, £369; Amulet-strength gold-plated sapphire earrings, £240; Inez gold-plated sapphire ring, £255

Kimaï

Antwerp has a centuries-long history as a diamond centre, so to found a brand built on cultured diamonds in the city makes quite the statement. But it's precisely that link to the establishment that inspired Kimaï founders Jessica Warch and Sidney Neuhaus to do things differently and commit to using recycled gold and lab-grown diamonds (which are structurally and visibly identical to mined diamonds) and focus on an accessible price point and modern aesthetic.

Ally 18-carat yellow gold diamond ring, £525; Felicity 18-carat rose gold diamond drop earrings, £445; Perla 18-carat yellow gold diamond hoop earrings, £325; Wave 18-carat gold diamond ring, £625

Lark & Berry

There's a serious sparkle to Lark & Berry's offering, which celebrates cultured diamonds for the lighter environmental and ethical impact of the stones. Expect a diverse range of designs that tap into key trends but have a perfectly timeless appeal too. Founded in 2018, the disruptive brand has quickly become established, with a strong red-carpet presence and a Marylebone boutique with its own piercing parlour.

Blue spinel charm 14-carat gold pendant, £850; Veto open stackable 14-carat gold and emerald ring, £385; Alicia diamond leaf piercing hoop in 14-carat gold, £175

Jade Trau

When it comes to experience Jade Trau has it by the bucketload: before founding her eponymous New York label in 2011 she had been trading in precious stones for 20 years, the fifth generation to do so. Today, as well as transforming heritage stones into modern heirlooms, she has built a covetable brand of ready-to-wear fine jewellery that is refined yet relaxed.

Rae diamond and 18-carat gold earrings, £1,560; Pavé-diamond 18-carat gold signet ring, £2,560; Penelope diamond and 18-carat gold floating bracelet, £3,160

Jessica McCormack

There's something truly special about the approach of fine jewellery designer Jessica McCormack. It's not just the bold designs or clever way she incorporates precious stones into her work, but she truly understands the magic of her materials too. Take her 'party jacket' concept: a sort-of amplification device that can turn a regular (although even her most classic cuts have nothing prosaic about them) into a cocktail party-worthy piece.

If money is no object, for a truly magical gift, visit McCormack's boutique-cum-design house in Mayfair and commission a one-of-a-kind hand-crafted and embroidered jewellery box replete with £8,000 worth of jewels inside.

Superdelic Cloud pavé diamond ring, £9,000; Gypset conch pearl and diamond earrings, £22,000; Strike diamond and ruby pendant, £7,500

William & Son

Tucked away in the heart of Mayfair, William & Son is renowned for its exacting clientele who appreciate the boutique's attention to craftsmanship and provenance. Jewellery pieces are designed in-house by head of jewellery design Nicola Sanderson and expert gemologist Clemence Devaux. There are distinct aesthetics to sub-collections, albeit linked by a celebratory attitude towards the gems. The brand's earring-bar concept comes with two parts to each piece, which can be mixed and matched across the collection, providing a useful versatility to such special designs.

Earring Bar lolite, diamond and yellow beryl earrings, £15,385; Ballet collection 18-carat rose gold orange sapphire and diamond ring, £6,350; Earring Bar tourmaline, rare morganite and diamond earrings, £23,610; Beneath the Rose pink sapphire and diamond ring, £4,880