Welcome to the new monthly newsletter from Jenny Gartside Jewellery!

This newsletter will be your regular update of what I’ve been up to as a jeweller, including details of new product ranges and designs I have been creating.

I will also include a small section on the birthstone/s for the coming months, as well as featuring my favourite customer commission I have been working on recently.

So a quick introduction if you are a new subscriber

I’m Jenny Gartside, a jeweller from Buxton in the Peak District, Derbyshire.I studied jewellery and silversmithing at college in Sheffield over 17 years ago and I now run my own jewellery business where I design and make everything from my own workshop in Buxton.

I work mainly in silver and often use gemstones in my work. I specialise in the art of traditional hand engraving which I use to decorate many of my jewellery items.

My inspiration comes from the natural world, as UK flora and fauna fascinate me and this is reflected in my work.

August Newsletter

Well, August has been no less busy than any other month, even though I have had to spend a little less time at the bench creating jewellery.

Like with all small businesses there is far more to do behind the scenes than on the front line. So August has mostly been about rebranding and tidying up my online presence.

You may actually be wondering who on earth Jenny Gartside Jewellery is…? Well, you may also be remembering visiting the website of ‘Spa Jewellery’ as a customer over the last year or so…? … well that’s where the rebrand comes in…

As part of growing and improving my business, I recently took the time to look around and see what others in the jewellery industry are up to in terms of marketing their products and getting noticed, and I soon realised the thing that many jewellers use is their own name for their business, – it’s unique and memorable just like their jewellery. I liked this idea and I felt that it would be a step in the right direction for my business.

So I boldly went through the upheaval and risk of losing a reputation and customer base that I had built up for several years as Spa Jewellery, to re-brand as Jenny Gartside Jewellery just a few months ago.

I’m pleased with the decision and instead of losing touch with customers, it has made it easier to reach out to them while also syncing my business across several platforms, making it easier for customers to identify my brand and interact with me as it has literally put a name to the face as it were.

To mark the change of name I’ve also created a new logo, basing it on one of my new product collections, the Celtic Birth Tree Collection.

To make it even more meaningful, the celtic birth tree cuff I based it on is the Ash tree (fraxinus excelsior), which according to Celtic tree astrology, represents me due to the time of year I was born in (between February 18th to March 17th).

(Celtic tree astrology was the inspiration for this new range of silver cuff bangles which I will be telling you a little more about in the next section of the newsletter: My favourite commission this month).

The new logo for Jenny Gartside Jewellery

Ash Tree Silver Cuff, the inspiration for my new logo.

Shop the Ash Tree Silver Cuff

My favourite commission this month, bridesmaids keepsake jewellery.

My favourite commission design this month was to design a set of bridesmaids keepsakes in sterling silver. The customers were my brother Auldan and his fiance Emily who were having a woodland wedding, with nature and valuing our friends and family as it’s theme.

The thing I really love about commissions is that a customer will have a rough idea of what they want, and will have some key elements that they want included in the design, but they do not have a strong preference or idea of how the finished item should look, and that’s where I come in!

For their wedding this summer, Emily and Auldan wanted a keepsake for each of their four bridesmaids, and one for Emily’s mother who made the wedding dress.

They wanted the keepsakes to be meaningful and to celebrate the recipient while also sharing their love of nature, so Emily’s idea was that they could use the theme of Celtic birth trees, as each person could have a keepsake representing them and their birth tree.

(Celtic tree astrology was developed by the Celts long ago. Based on their lunar calendar, which has thirteen lunar months rather than twelve, and they designated a tree to each of the thirteen moon phases and associated each tree with a type of personality).

So the Celtic Birth Tree Collection was created! And this is why I love commissions, I know that without the unique combination of Emily and Auldan’s idea and my jewellery making skills, these designs would never have been created.

These sterling silver hallmarked cuffs feature my characteristic rustic hammer texture along the main body of the cuff, and are decorated with a single engraved leaf on the front and a unique inscription engraved on the inside.I created five in all, based on the Alder, Holly, Oak, Reed, and Ash.

Emily and Auldan have kindly allowed me to carry on using the designs they had commissioned, and I will continue to grow the collection beyond these five designs until I have the full set of thirteen Celtic Birth Tree Cuffs, – watch this space!

The Celtic birth trees shown with the inscriptions that are engraved by hand on the inside.

Shop The Celtic Birth Tree Collection

New product collections

I’m also excited to share with you that I have been organising my jewellery designs into product collections, and I will be featuring them as new collection launches over the coming months. The product collection I’m featuring first is the Squares Collection.

Launched this week, the Squares Collection is made up of a design favourite of mine which has evolved over many years.

The distinctive rustic silver squares set with gemstones have become my signature style collection. As well as the use of the distinctive hammer texture to decorate the silver, the collection also features designs which use my traditional hand engraving techniques.

To celebrate the launch of this collection I am offering free shipping on orders of two or more items ordered from the squares collection for this week 01/09/21 to 07/09/21.

Use the code SQUARES at the checkout, and select the free shipping option.

Keep an eye out on my social media channels (facebook and instagram – links at the bottom of this page) for more updates, as I will be showcasing items from the squares collection there individually and will also be adding some brand new designs to the collection.

The full Squares Collection can be viewed on my website using the shop button below.

Shop The Squares Collection

So in the interests of keeping it brief and not tiring you out, I will wrap up my August newsletter here and give you a chance to check out my new look website at jennygartside.com, and of course see the Squares Collection!

Thanks for subscribing and I look forward to updating you with all things jewellery in my September newsletter.

All the best, Jenny

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