The Jewellery Cut Live returned for its fourth season during London Fashion Week in February, and the jewellery event, which is open to all, was another resounding success.

There were 25 jewellery designers who took part in this edition of the boutique jewellery show, which took place on February 16^th & 17^th, 2020, at The Royal Institution in London’s Mayfair. Jewellery lovers could browse and buy jewellery direct from the makers, as well as strike up conversations about future bespoke commissions.

“For years, I have wanted a signet ring and I finally found one that I love,” said Sherrille Riley, founder of beauty business Nails & Brows Mayfair, of her experience shopping at The Jewellery Cut Live. Riley attended the invite-only VIP evening on the opening night of the show, during which she discovered Noor Shamma and purchased one of the designer’s yellow gold and diamond Luz rings.

Other high-profile shoppers included Carol Woolton of Vogue who bought two pairs of earrings at the event – gold vermeil Aphrodite statement earrings by Deborah Blyth and a pair of vintage gold earrings from Baroque Rocks.

JET-SET JEWELLERS

Though the show was made up of predominantly British jewellery brands, there was an increasing number of international jewellers, such as Noor Shamma, Neelu and Maison Coco from the US, and Belgian jewellers Laurence Vandenborre and Royal Asscher, and Italian jeweller Vic+Jo.

“Charming venue, impeccably organised, fabulous crowd — absolute perfection,” said New York-based jewellery designer Noor Shamma, who took part in the show for the first time and plans to return in September. “The Jewellery Cut Live has been, by far, one of the best, if not the best jewellery event I’ve been to. [The Jewellery Cut founders] Rachael and Andrew have outdone themselves by creating the ideal space for the jewellery community to interact with the press, buyers, VIPs, and people who simply love jewellery. I definitely look forward to coming back next season.”

As well as the exhibition of jewellery, The Jewellery Cut Live also offered visitors an ambitious talks programme over two days, with many guests using it as a conference, buying AAA Passes that allowed them to attend multiple talks. The move to new venue, The Royal Institution on Mayfair’s Albermarle Street, allowed for the use of a full-size theatre, and some talks attracted upwards of 100 people.

Speakers included Vogue jewellery editor Carol Woolton, renown British jewellery designer Alex Monroe, Topshop head of jewellery design Jo Grogan, and gem collector Tayma Page Allies, who travelled from Hong Kong to deliver a talk. Mike Asscher of the famous diamond-cutting family, who was exhibiting in the main room with his brand Royal Asscher, also gave a talk on diamonds, during which one member of the audience – Sean Jadoon, founder of global luxury-goods price comparison site Jet or Get – was surprised by winning a diamond and sapphire ring worth £3,000.

AN ECCLECTIC CROWD

The Jewellery Cut Live attracted a mixed crowd of store buyers, press, private clients and jewellery fans, and visitor numbers to the show this season were up 74%. Some guests travelled to London from as far as the US, Romania and Copenhagen just to attend The Jewellery Cut Live.

Jewellery lovers at The Jewellery Cut Live mixed with journalists from luxury titles including Vogue, Tatler, The Financial Times’ How To Spend It and Vanity Fair, as well as buyers from stores including Harrods, Liberty, Paul Smith, Beaverbrooks and Mayfair Jewellers. The Jewellery Cut also partnered with online magazine and major social influencer The Jewellery Editor on an exclusive readers’ event at the show.

“We are so delighted with how the latest season of The Jewellery Cut Live went,” said Rachael Taylor, who co-founded The Jewellery Cut with Andrew Martyniuk in 2018. “Andrew and I run this event independently and this seems to chime with the independent spirit of the jewellers who take part, and also the very real desire among both consumers and retail buyers to be taken on a journey of jewellery discovery.

“Many of the jewellers you will meet at our events don’t do other shows and aren’t found on the high street, and each is hand selected by us so we can guarantee quality and originality. Our visitor numbers keep rising, as do the calibre of our talks and we now have a waiting list of designers who want to take part in September’s show. It seems we’ve really hit on a winning formula. As such, we will continue to create tailored, exciting, hybrid jewellery events during London Fashion Week that truly are open to all jewellery fans.”

FIRM FAVOURITES

The event was a mix of first-time exhibitors and brands who have returned to The Jewellery Cut Live multiple times. Akansha Sethi has consistently exhibited at every season of the event since its launch in September 2018, while Julien Riad Sahyoun and MyriamSOS have now completed three consecutive seasons, and Alexandra Jacoumis, Mocielli, Manpriya B, Charlotte Cornelius and Baroque Rocks, among others, returned for a second time.

Each season, The Jewellery Cut founders select a jeweller to receive a bursary. This season, the winner was Aishleen Lester of Le Ster, who was given a free stand at the show as well as a package of benefits worth £7,000 from jewellery industry benefactors including De Beers, the NAJ and The Goldsmiths’ Company.

“It was an absolutely tremendous success – incredible location, magnificent talks and fabulous, fabulous, unique 24-carat talent,” said Emma de Sybel, founder of Baroque Rocks, which specialises in vintage gold jewellery.

The Jewellery Cut Live will return during London Fashion Week in September. The dates of the next show have now been released as September 20^th & 21^st, 2020 – register for tickets here