The Little Wedding Company Customisable Jewellery Range’

The idea for a customisable jewellery range with meaning came about because I was looking to add something with more longevity to my range of customisable wedding products.

After meeting with the Worth panel and explaining the idea and with a subsequent chat with Wolfgang Kathan head of innovation for Swarovski, the idea for encapsulating crystals into glass representing loved ones, came to me. Many years earlier, I had seen a huge cabochon cut natural Star Sapphire ring and it was this image in my mind that gave me the idea of what the range would be about. I decided to call it the ‘Stars Collection’ and the idea was born.

Weddings are such a special day that it is depressing to see the low end, mass market infiltrating this and providing a throw away culture to what should be treasured and kept. This market is wasteful at the best of times but add it to an industry where the products are only needed for one day and therein lies the problem. With all The Little Wedding Company products and the subsequent jewellery range, we wanted to bring the meaning back to the industry and produce quality items that are long-lasting and can be handed down for generations.

I’d met my project partner previously and seen the skill in his craftmanship and I wanted to create something that captured this quality, that would have a meaning to the user and would be kept longer than just the wedding day, at the same time entering the gifting market which we did not previously cater for. We had not made jewellery before, so his knowledge and expertise of the processes and what would work or not work, were integral to us deciding which products to go forward with and develop.

My favourite part of the process was working with the glass to work out how to encapsulate the crystals. Then coming up with the concept for the advert for social media using the quote, ’friends are like stars, you do not always see them, but you know they’re always there’.

We have so far had a really positive reaction from the market via social media and have already sold co-designed items across the range of rings, earrings, cufflinks and necklaces which are available in 9 colours of Murano glass with cubic zirconia or diamond ‘Stars’ encapsulated inside to represent loved ones past and present. We are now looking forward to sharing the products on our website and marketing it to our wider audience.

As far as bringing products to market goes, this one has been relatively straight forward due to the expertise on both sides and the synergy this has created. I would recommend to others starting out on a collaboration to make sure that the team you work with are trustworthy, understand your business and have the skill and experience to achieve what you set out to do and this will stand you in the best stead for success.