I ENDED UP AS A JEWELLER ALMOST BY ACCIDENT... Birmingham’s famous Jewellery School. My jewellery is largely inspired by the natural world and the Welsh coastline that I visited every holiday as a child. It’s kind of ironic for a completely landlocked jeweller to be so captivated by the sea but I suppose that it’s my distance from it that makes it so alluring. The water is full of great textures that inspired the etching on my Estuary series and the hammering on my Flotsam silver and pearl range. I love to make work that’s simple, graceful and wearable so that people can dress it up for a night out or leave it on all week at work. Running your own business can be incredibly challenging, especially in the creative sector but it’s also ever so rewarding. Finding out that I’d been given the opportunity to stock the new John Lewis, during its first Christmas at Grand Central, was an unbeatable moment which left me grinning for days. John Lewis’ partnership with the Jewellery Quarter is such a vote of confidence in the area and the talent present in the Quarter today. I’d advise anyone interested in starting up to do their research thoroughly but, ultimately, to take the leap and have faith that, if you’re doing what you love, it will work out in the end. Head to John Lewis at Grand Central to see over 500 unique pieces of jewellery created by local Birmingham based jewellers; James Newman, Kate Smith, Becca Williams, Rhiannon Lewis, Collette Waudby and Fei Liu. ARTICLE BY BECCA WILLIAMS beccawilliams.co.uk 12
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