Crafting Brilliance: Harriet Kelsall's Bespoke Jewellery Journey

In today’s episode, explore the remarkable path of a multi-award-winning designer who ignited a revolution in bespoke jewellery from her kitchen table. Uncover how Harriet’s vision transformed the jewellery industry, making bespoke design accessible to all while championing ethical practices.

Harriet Bio

Harriet Kelsall is one of the most respected bespoke designers and business trailblazers working in the UK jewellery industry today.  She founded her multi-award-winning business from her kitchen table in 1998, with the ambition to inspire and celebrate individuality through creativity.  It is with these aspirations she started a wave to bring reachable bespoke jewellery design to the high street for the first time, whilst also pioneering ethics and sustainability within the industry too. Since then the business has become one of the UK’s leading bespoke jewellers, with a team of over 40 across four studios. 

Harriet has been the HSBC Forward Ladies “Retail Businesswoman of the year”, Everywoman’s “Retail Woman of the Year”, and one of The Institute of Directors magazine’s six “women who have most changed the business world”.  She is a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and of the City of London. 

She has sat on numerous boards as a non-executive director including the Responsible Jewellery Council, the British Hallmarking Council and she has been the chair of the National Association of Jewellers.  She currently sits on the Board for both the Intellectual Property Office and the British Allied Trades Federation.  

Harriet is passionate about helping creative businesses and individuals flourish, which motivated her to write her book “The Creative’s Guide to Starting a Business” which won an award at the2019 Business Book of the Year Awards.  She is a regular keynote speaker on starting and growing creative businesses and the benefits of dyslexia and she speaks nationally and internationally about responsible business.  Harriet lives in Cambridge in the UK and has 2 children.

● [02:09] – The Edge – up to date creative news and views

● [05:06] – Harriet describes her business and the many hats she wears

● [08:06] – Creativity as Harriet sees it – thinking in three dimensions.

● [10.26] – How pottery lessons help surgeons cut in straight lines

● [12:41] – The importance of considering who you are creating for

● [15:02] – Harriet’s book. What it’s about and why she wrote it.

● [17:15] – Dyslexia and everything else which lead to the kitchen table moment.

● [18:50] – The internet and Harriet’s jewellery website, a first in 1996!

● [21:41] – The moments which led to the ‘switch.’

● [23:04] – Non Executive directorships and giving back.

● [26:43] – Harriet explains the process of creating bespoke jewellery.

● [29:41] – Creative Adventures – tackling the fear of doing something new

Four Creative Nuggets

“When I'm thinking at my most creatively, I'm thinking like layers of an onion.”

“You can combine things that are preexisting but combined in a completely new way. And that's definitely creative, too.”

The right team makes the difference. “We can do this together because we can be better than the sum of our parts.”

“It's really important to let people stand on your shoulders and let people grow.”

Links

Harriet

https://www.hkjewellery.co.uk/