The House of Garrard
Celebrating The Queen Jubilee with Garrard
We were invited for afternoon tea plus an exclusive tour of their Mayfair flagship store. Garrard are steeped in heritage and have a history of gorgeous, bespoke design. Plus, they’re commissioned by Royalty! So naturally we adore Garrard. So much so that Carly has a stunning ring from their Wings Embrace collection.
Garrard Design Considerations
Firstly, House of Garrard is the longest serving jeweller in the world. They can be traced back to 1735. Furthermore, HRH The Prince of Wales appointed Garrard a Royal Warrant as Goldsmiths and Silversmith. Today Garrard calls London’s Mayfair its home. Our visit to the plush 24 Albemarle Street flagship store brought us the opportunity to browse collections and experience history at first hand. Most importantly the building itself has witnessed many moments. Can you believe they created Queen Mary’s consort crown in 1911? Still today Garrard design and craft their jewellery on site.
Our Day With Garrard
In keeping with the times the store has recently undergone a refurbishment. So during our visit we saw the new layout. It’s stunning! There are new cabinets and displays. Even the walls are updated with soft padding. The window displays have laser cut patterns and the iconic red branding is throughout. After that everything has been carefully restored in keeping with it’s listed building status. While we were there we enjoyed Champagne, afternoon tea and even tried on some incredible jewellery! We were told that every Garrard design is handcrafted in the studio. So that includes jewellery suites to tiaras, headdresses to brooches. Design, craftsmanship and the most beautiful of natural materials combine to capture a spirit that is uniquely British.
Overall, we see many similarities with the way we do business. Firstly Garrard take time to consider how and when a piece will be worn. Just like we do with each piece of furtniture. Plus they also consider the ways in which it might adapt to different occasions. This process ensures that every piece of jewellery in a collection is both eye-catching. Also wearable. It is similar to how exquisite furniture and design is attractive and useable for our clients.
Creative Direction
At Garrard we met Sara Prentice. She has been the Creative Director at Garrard since 2012. Sara has spent over twenty years in the industry. She graduated with a degree in jewellery design from the University of Creative Arts. To date she has worked closely with clients to make one-off, bespoke creations. Plus she has developed ranges that have achieved great commercial success. Like us, she believes that luxury should be comfort and elegance. Finally, what we love most about Garrard is that many of the traditional skills, tools and techniques from the past are still in use. Recently they have launched an extension to our Albemarle collection and you can see it here on their website.
We love checking out the stunning collections. Have you visited Garrard? What do you think?
