INTERV I EW
JEWELLERY SHOP OWNER AND AUTHOR HARRIET KELSALL TELLS EDITION ABOUT THE KEYS TO HER SUCCESS
WORDS BY CHARLOTTE GRIFFITHS
“We’re creating very traditional symbols for people, and sometimes people choose traditional designs for their jewellery. But we also very much embrace modern technology – where we make our jewellery, in our workshop just down the road in North Hertfordshire, we have video links between stores, special microscopes so our designers can see what’s going on in the workshops. We use a lot of technology that our clients may not be aware of, but it’s what makes our approach work,” she says. Harriet started her jewellery business back in 1998, from her kitchen table. Like most people going it alone, she had to turn her own hand to all the tasks required to build her company. “It was a juggle, but a different kind of juggle: I was doing everything,” she says. “I was making the jewellery by myself, setting the stones myself a lot of the time, polishing the jewellery myself – having design consultations by myself, writing the website myself and trying to do desktop publishing myself.” One of the contributing factors to Harriet’s rise to success was her background in the computer industry and her insistence on having a digital presence for the brand from the off. “Even though I’d been making jewellery as well, I was quite aware of technology and quite ‘techy’ – so when I set out, even back in 1996, I had a website,” she said. “It was very basic, you know, just a couple of pictures. And it said ‘I can make jewellery, especially for you, to order’ – because that was my
f you’ve strolled down Green Street at any point in the last 15 years, chances are that your eyes will have been caught by the sparkling jewellery proudly displayed by Harriet Kelsall and her team of jewellers who have called this street home since 2005. Specialising in the creation of bespoke rings and jewellery from
three stores – one in Cambridge, one near Hitchin and one in London’s Primrose Hill, as well as a well-maintained online shop – Harriet’s a big fan of her Cambridge branch. “We love it here,” she smiles. “I’ve always loved Cambridge – I’ve got a real soft spot for the whole city. I really like the fact that you’ve got the traditional aspects of the university and the history, and yet there’s all this cutting-edge technology, and what’s going on with science and education – it’s so exciting.” Harriet herself grew up in St Albans and has spent most of her life living in the countryside, which worked well while her children were little. But now they’re older – 14 and 10 – a recent full-time move into Cambridge has seen the whole family enthusiastically embracing city living. She sees strong parallels between the unique pieces created by her team of jewellers and that blend of the historical and the contemporary that she loves about our city.
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