Brighton Designer Jewellery

…right at the end of this great article by Patrick McMurray (from ArticleSlash.net):

It’s not easy for budding fashion designers to get a good start off the blocks. With so much talent around you have to run many laps, jump hurdles and take the odd tumble, hitting the finish line. Then you have to start the race all over again, every season. And just as you’ve made a little head way, someone wants to conscript your inspiration. It’s a bit like kick starting a Triumph Bonneville on a cold morning. Perhaps these old machines were not so functional but certainly poetry in motion, even at a stand still. Inspiration can come from anywhere at any time, be prepared.

All you budding designers get hold of a triumph photograph and pin it on your studio wall. It will be a constant source of inspiration as you delve deeper into its mechanics. This machine encapsulates all the elements of good design, in principle, proportionately perfect, mathematically correct. Shapes will emerge and you begin to hinge onto an almost forgotten era. Wretchedly poor workers stooped on cold factory floors. While the middle classes clung like barnacles to their own self importance as the light began to dwindle on class distinction.

Bowler hats, swank cufflinks, three piece suits, drab silk ties. Everything seemed to mirror the bleakness of an industrial revolution drawing to a close. When designer brands seemed as futuristic as putting a man on the moon and fashion accessories for men never heard of. And then came the Beatles and things were never the same.

Mimicking other designers will only weaken your own creativity. If all the trend setters go east, then you go west. It worked for Vivienne Westwood. There’s enough inspiration in a single triumph to create a whole wardrobe of styles, from working to upper class. And even the brand name is their, Bonneville or variations of, it sounds a little Scottish. So you could throw in some tartan. Bring back the flat cap and caw blimey trousers. All you have to do is delve deeply into its mechanics, which will reveal an era of unique styles

Here is an interesting anecdote from that era: 1969Nutters of Savile Row opens on Valentine’s Day and unleashes the Tommy Nutter/Edward Sexton style on swinging London. Backed by Cilla Black and The Beatles’ record company Apple’s executive Peter Brown, Nutters of Savile Row dresses the entire social spectrum from the Duke of Bedford and Lord Montagu to Mick and Bianca Jagger and The Beatles. Nutters is the first shop on Savile Row to pioneer ‘open windows’ and wild displays executed by Simon Doonan.
Mount Street bespoke tailor to the stars Douglas Hayward dresses Michael Caine in the infamous gangster caper The Italian Job. Caine’s skinny suits and tone-on-tone white shirt and tie combinations set a cocky, sharp tailored style that resonates today.

To dampen your enthusiasm: Fashion is business so if you don’t have business acumen amongst your skill set, then find someone who does. Otherwise you’ll jut be another little sapling struggling for light amongst all the tall trees

It’s easy for us to talk up these subjects, but we’re kind of talking from experience, because we’re at the front end of retail, online shopping, and provide an avenue for budding designers as well as a few big names like Westwood, Everest and Flaherty, Simon Carter

There is one name we recently that our radar system picked up. And I’ve seen some of his styles washed up by the tide. It’s easy to see where he gets his inspiration. His, name Chris Hawkins Jewellery.

If you want to be part of it you know where to find us.

Here at Patrick McMurray we do our best to bring out the best in fashion designers

Brighton-based designer Jeremy Hoye – who counts Katie Melua and Fearne Cotton among his fans – is putting a nouveau regal spin on this season’s trend for pearls. The dramatic, rosary-esque Sabre necklace is made from luxuriant 18ct gold and red pearls, and features a gold crown and saber, making it perfect for the queen inside all of us. Available at www.jeremy-hoye.com for £2,175.

Julia Neel

http://www.vogue.co.uk/jewellery/news/090107-jeremy-hoye-pearl-necklace.aspx

A walk through a Welsh pig farm inspires Frilldesign to mention Sarah Scarlett’s Flying Pig Charm:

Pippa Knowles of Baroque Jewellery fame gets bookmarked on Friendfeed:

Contemporary jeweller Jeremy Hoye on Ship Street, Brighton, was upbeat. “We did see a slow down. But people are coming back. People are feeling more positive,” he says

His hand-made pieces range in price from £25 to £15,000 and they are still selling well, he says. His theory is that people want security in troubled times and this translates into more engagements, helping to maintain his volume of sales even if they overall value has dropped a little. Although the official marriage statistics run contrary to this theory – ‘I dos’ fell by 3.3pc in 2007 and were down a third on 1981 – Hoye is bucking the trend. “The gay and lesbian market is up for us. Our commitment rings are very popular with lesbians,” he says.

Hoye, 44, says he has sharpened his focus on the business, which is open seven days a week: “We have upped the ante, work harder. You can’t wait for the customers to walk through the door. We could do with a few more staff but we are not employing more people. And we are bringing out new ranges all the time and doing more online. Amazon have just approached us about opening a store.”

He does not think that all businesses in the area are adopting this proactive approach. “The shops that are closing down are the ones that we thought would go under anyway,” he says.

The Start Up

James Adams and his two business partners have set the challenges of their existing property ventures to one side and three weeks ago launched a sweet shop called Fizziwigg’s in the heart of Brighton’s tourist district.

“I thought there must be something that would work in the climate like this. I thought what sort of thing was going to be viable. It’s got to be something that’s small money; that gives a happy feeling. I saw there were several chocolate shops near here and they seemed to be doing well,” he says. Fizziwigg’s toffee crumble, bourbons and the Cornish fudge have proved early favourites with locals and tourists alike.

The partners have invested in the location, paying a higher rent than they could have secured if they had compromised with a secondary location. But Mr Adams is adamant they have made the right decision.

“It’s very, very reliant on footfall. At the weekends we are absolutely flat out. During the week it’s steady to quiet,” he says.

The elegant middle-aged man who strolled into the jewellery store stood out because he was wearing a suit and fedora on the hottest day of the year.

Not to mention the fact that he was carrying a gun.

He politely asked staff to fill a bag with items including precious gems and designer watches, worth an estimated £10million. 

Two minutes later, he strolled out of the Chopard store in Paris, doffed his hat and disappeared into the crowds.

‘He was dressed extremely smartly in a suit and hat, just like Humphrey Bogart,’ said a police spokesman. ‘He was in his 50s, and looked pretty distinguished, with a cultured voice.’ 

Saturday’s raid on Chopard – a favourite of Hollywood stars including Kate Winslet and Penelope Cruz – was the latest in a long line of audacious jewellery robberies.

In December an armed gang dressed as pantomime dames got away with £80million worth of jewels from the nearby Harry Winston store. 

The culprits have never been caught, but suspicion fell on a gang known as the Pink Panthers, who have stolen up to £200million worth of goods in raids on some 120 jewellers around the world since their first in Mayfair in 2003. 

On May 13 two alleged members of the gang were arrested in Paris on suspicion of carrying out armed smash-and-grab raids on stores in Monaco,  Switzerland and Germany. 

Last Thursday Dusko Martinovic – a Montenegrin former soldier who is believed to be a member of the gang – was sentenced to 15 years in jail  for a Saint Tropez heist.

French police have described the group’s crimes as ‘lightning fast hold-ups: daring, but carefully planned down to smallest detail’. 

Humphrey Bogart, star of the classic film Casablanca, wore a trademark fedora hat along with a bespoke suit in most of his films.

Jewellery made by Chopard, a Swiss firm, is worn by stars at high-profile events like the Oscars and  Cannes film festival.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1189884/Humphrey-Bogart-gunman-strolls-10m-jewellery-Paris-Chopard-heist.html

Mumbai-based diamond and jewelry manufacturer Flawless Diamonds India has notified that it has received two new orders worth Rs 33.60 crore for designer jewellery.

The company secured first order, worth Rs 24 crore from Japan’s Tsutsumi Jewellery Co Ltd, while the second order, valued at Rs 9.60 crore has been bagged from Brilliant Gems Inc USA.

The orders are scheduled to be completed in 4 months.

Apart from the latest development, the company is planning to raise Rs 100 crore by way of equity and debt to fund its expansion plans.

In addition, the firm also intends to spin off its retail business into a separate fully-owned unit, which will later be listed on the stock exchanges.

http://www.topnews.in/flawless-diamonds-gets-order-worth-rs-3360-crore-2174137

Two serial thieves threatened Nicole Farhi, the fashion designer, with a knife and throttled her until she passed out, a court was told yesterday.

Ms Farhi, the French-born co-founder of French Connection and the designer behind the eponymous international label, was assaulted in the driveway of her home in Hampstead, northwest London, in April last year. She was among 18 victims of a “strangler-robber” team that targeted wealthy areas of North and West London, including St John’s Wood, Ladbroke Grove and Chelsea, between March and June.

Wood Green Crown Court was told that Matthew Mykoo, 27, and his brother Daniel, 28, followed their victims home. Daniel would throttle them from behind while Matthew robbed them. During the attack on Ms Farhi, 62, Matthew wielded a knife while Daniel forced his arm around her throat, the court was told.

John Carmichael, for the prosecution, said: “She drove into the garage, closed the garage door and went from the garage to the front door. As she approached she heard running footsteps on the driveway. She was just about to turn round when she was attacked from behind. Daniel put his arm around her throat and they fell backwards and then a second male came with a knife. We say that is Matthew.”

Ms Farhi, 62, lost consciousness for a few minutes while the pair robbed her of her ring, Rolex watch and money, Mr Carmichael said. Her husband, the playwright Sir David Hare, chased after the men as they fled and recorded the registration number of their car. The court was told that they would sometimes use stolen cars for the robberies and change the number plates between each attack.

The brothers’ other victims were 16 women, including a BBC reporter, and a 60-year-old man. Some of these said that they were told that their necks would be broken if they put up a struggle. During one robbery, the pair allegedly took jewellery worth £30,000. On other occasions, they took costume jewellery from people who simply looked wealthy.

Mr Carmichael said: “The Crown says they preyed upon almost always women alone, most of whom were wealthy or at least had the appearance of some wealth. Having been targeted or followed they were attacked in a manner which has such a coincidence of method to mark them out as a team — a strangler-robber team.”

Sangeeta Mhaiskar, a BBC television news reporter, was attacked outside her home in Belsize Park, northwest London, in March last year. The court was told that Daniel grabbed her neck and twisted her head while Matthew tried to take the rings off her fingers. Mr Carmichael said: “She thought she was going to be sexually assaulted. Matthew was saying that they were not coming off and Daniel said, ‘Take the finger off then’. She was terrified.”

Daniel Mykoo has pleaded guilty to 18 charges of robbery. Matthew Mykoo denies the charges. He has also denied one count of taking a car without permission. The trial continues.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6381041.ece

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