I’m a 1980s kid, an art historian through training, and an antique jewellery dealer by trade. I’ve loved beautiful things since I could walk and talk. I think the fascination with beautiful objects stems from when I was little and being transfixed by finding and collecting interesting things as I played. A gorgeously shaped seed pod here, an interestingly twisted twig there. Needless to say, the riches of my hunting and playing proved fruitful one day when I found a piece of raw rose quartz, laying still on the rich red soil. Treasure. Real, beautiful, natural treasure. Holding it in my hand, twisting it in the light, admiring it’s simple, slightly rough beauty and gorgeous peony pink hue had me in awe.

Fast forward a few years and my family and I move to Scotland, where I spent the rest of my childhood enjoying the gorgeous freedom of roaming the Scottish countryside. Enjoying textures, colour, silhouettes and simple beauties. During this time my parents started collecting antiques, which soon led them to becoming antique dealers. They were drawn to slightly different, quirky and unusual antique and vintage pieces. As a teen, I therefore spent a lot of time going to auctions, antiques fairs and visually fascinating secondhand markets, learning how to date items based on style, design, materials used and craftsmanship.

When it came to university, I was delighted to go to the University of Edinburgh to read the History of Art. I originally thought I’d end up going down an auctioneering route and wanted to continue and build on my fascination with the history of finely made objects. I’ll never forget the first day I went to The Scottish National Gallery on the Mound, to explore the collection and see paintings firsthand. I came into a red painted room, turned a corner, and my eyes were met with a pivotal painting. Instantly recognisable as being by the hand of Claude Monet. It was very simple. One of his haystack paintings. But it had a profound and lasting impact. My heart literally fluttered. Actually, I think I gasped out loud. The colours, the vibrancy, the way the brushstrokes marked the canvas, the subtle details and the overall effect. They just captured me, wholeheartedly. And it’s that special feeling I go by and I work by. If I find a piece of jewellery that makes me feel like that, then I know it is the right piece to bring into my collection.

Using the knowledge I had built, I started buying and selling vintage items as a way to support myself financially through uni. Items included; art deco tea sets, 1970s lamps, pictures, visually striking Scandinavian glassware that had a really good look, Victorian sewing sets, to name just a few. I loved the buying, the research, the process of finding new homes for these carefully selected pieces, and making lasting connections with fellow collectors.

Vintique Jewellery .co.uk is based in the UK. My registered office address is in London and I sell online only, which has been amazing for making connections with jewellery collectors around the world.

A question I’m often asked is ‘what’s my favourite era of jewellery?’ In short, I don’t have one specific favourite era. I adore 18^th century Georgian pieces, through to modernist British jewellery design of the 1960s and 1970s and contemporary jewellery that playfully showcase colour. Each piece stands alone for what it is. Fundamentally, I have a deep appreciation of classics. Classical art, architecture and jewellery design due to the sense of timeless beauty and arching back to ancient times. I find it inspiring that these remarkable works of art, so utterly captivating, were created all that time ago, with fairly basic tools, and it was the foresight and clever ingenuity of their maker’s that brought them into being. 

Moreover, a concept that burns a little fire for me is that of pushing boundaries. Innovative thinking, experimentalism, and pushing boundaries to create something that is beautifully different, perhaps a little playful, something that no one else has done before. If you find a piece of jewellery that brings these concepts together – experimentally building on classic aesthetics – then oh my, now we are talking. For me, it is a really fascinating idea, and I suppose that’s why the pieces I choose have this remarkable dynamic of being classical with a twist, beautifully different and unique.