My Story

From a young age, I was passionate about design, colour, fashion and style, but it wasn’t until 2012 – after I’d studied Fashion Design at university, won the British Fashion Council’s Young Fashion Photographer of the Year award, and worked in the fashion industry – that I finally made the move into fine jewellery.

For six years I worked for one of London’s leading independent jewellers, where I worked my way up to become the manager of their fine jewellery production. During that time, I also became a qualified gemologist at the prestigious Gemmological Association of Great Britain.

My experience shapes the work I do. The jewellery I make is bold, colourful, and full of personality – it’s sophisticated but never stuffy, playful without ever being frivolous.

I’m passionate about exceptional materials and use only the most beautiful, unusual and special gemstones, often sourced directly from the countries in which they were mined.

I’m a stone collector myself, too. Wherever I go, I make it my mission to seek out wherever the indigenous stones are being mined and to bring home the most extraordinary specimens that I can.

Every piece is designed by me in my Battersea studio, and handmade in the UK by the best craftsmen, goldsmiths, setters and polishers. Most importantly, everything is bespoke.

I’m inspired by the idea of creating jewellery that captures the essence and personality of the person who’ll be wearing it, so each piece starts with a discussion about the story it should tell.

From initial sketches to finished product, my creative process is a collaboration, and I specialise in transforming old jewellery – inherited heirlooms, lost treasures recently-rediscovered – into something new and extraordinary. I’m inspired by design that combines the contemporary and the timeless.

After all, how something is crafted, where it comes from, and what it represents can be as important as the way it looks. The story behind a piece of jewellery is part of what gives it value.

That’s what I hope you’ll discover about the jewellery inside: that beyond the elegance, playfulness, beauty and craftsmanship, it’s the intimate stories that have inspired it that makes Emily Smeaton Jewellery so cherishable.