The Story of Creation - My first ring, my first design In my late teens, my father called a “Board Meeting” around our kitchen table at home, with We decided to go ahead, sue or be damned; the odds against us winning were 5 to 1. I didn’t want a car, I wanted a diamond. My reasoning to Dad was that a diamond would last longer and wouldn’t depreciate. My real reason was that it would be very pretty and would make all my friends with their costume jewellery jealous. Never let it be said I was a big head or a show-off; rather, even in those far off days, I had a business head on me, coupled with a love of bling! The fact I had failed my driving test four times and was waiting to take the fifth (I passed), had nothing to do with it… The court case took five weeks. In the final days, my mother and I went and sat at the back I replied, greedy as ever: “How many carats?” “½”. “No! One!” “OK”. “Sign this”. He signed. “Always get it on paper” had been one of his many lessons to me; I still have that torn-off envelope. My mother and sister also decided that diamond jewellery was the way to go and I came to design my first three rings, which were made by a firm of Northampton family jewellers who were friends of mine. The jewellery bug had bitten me badly. Nearly 40 years, and many pieces of jewellery later, my sister and I still wear our rings daily, and my mother wore hers until the day she died. The diamonds from her ring are now in my own version of “Sell your Soul” and together with Creation, as my first and very battered ring is now christened, I wear both every day. I continued with jewellery design and found my mentor in my very good friend Sally Milne of Nightingale Jewellers in Olney. Together, Sally and I collaborated to bring StrawberryWood’s first collection “Shameless” to the market. Sally has also created the “Poesy” collection of engagement rings and the “Life” collection and, from these beginnings, StrawberryWood has gone from strength to strength. StrawberryWood |
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