Harriet Kelsall

Infobox Person


image_size = 150px
name = Harriet Kelsall
birth_date = birth date and age|1971|15|5
birth_place = St Albans, Hertfordshire, England
occupation = Jewellery Designer
spouse = Tim Alban (1964 - present)
parents = Dr David Kelsall and Mrs Jane Kelsall
children = Thomas Alban

Harriet Kelsall is a leading English jewellery designer who specialises in one-off bespoke engagement rings, wedding rings and eternity rings.cite news |first=Annie |last=Counsell |title=Jewellery maker crafts a niche with technique and tradition
url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/36eb20d6-02ab-11dd-9388-000077b07658.html |work=Financial Times - "Money" |publisher=Financial Times |date=2008-04-05 |accessdate=2008-09-02 Harriet is a registered Gold and Silversmith and is one of the United Kingdom's new breed of jewellery designers. cite news |first=Michael |last=Hoare |title=Ask the Experts
url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/89f21174-0263-11dd-9388-000077b07658.html |work=Financial Times - "Money" |publisher=Financial Times |date=2008-04-04 |accessdate=2008-09-02

History

Harriet was born in St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. Her father is also a jeweller and her passion for the craft began at 4 years old when she made her first silver ring under his supervision.

Coming from a long family line of architects and well known artists was obviously very influential on Harriet who, having achieved excellent grades in school, went on to take a B.Sc (Hons) in Industrial Design at Brunel University. The course was very demanding and varied, grounding her in many practical and theoretical disciplines including, on the one hand, metalworking and silversmithing and on the other, design history and physics. She achieved a first class degree and the prestigious University Prize for the highest marks that year. She was later to find out that she had achieved the highest marks that the University had ever seen.

Career

Computers had played a large part in her choice of major project at University and she went on to join Logica and then to use her creative design skills in user-interface design at Lightworks Film Editing Systems where she finished up as an Engineering Manager. Throughout this period Harriet was still developing her jewellery skills, taking on commissions from friends and then friends of friends, until she was able to make jewellery design her full-time career. So in 1998, she left Lightworks and founded her company in a spare room in the house.

Harriet started Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design 1998, and by early 2000 business was flourishing so she expanded into her first studio in the North Hertfordshire village of Weston. The Countess of Verulam conducted the opening ceremony.

Harriet was awarded the North Hertfordshire New Business Enterprise Award in early 1999 and soon afterwards the 1999 North Hertfordshire New Business of the Year (a prestigious local award for new businesses); Jonathan Ross presented the award.

As Harriet's client list increased, Harriet began recruiting as the business expanded into a new appointment room and workshop.

The team was awarded the North Hertfordshire Website Award and found themselves at the 2002 National Jewellery Awards where they received a commendation from the judges. 2002 saw the arrival of a second designer - Antoinette Corbishley - to work alongside Harriet and at present the company now has a total of 6 designers including Rebecca Howarth, Alice Rochester, Kerrie McNaughton and Tracy Furlong.

The company received a finalist placement in the "Alternative Retail Jeweller of the Year" category at the "2003 National Jewellery Awards", and in November 2003 they were awarded the "Most successful Business (1-30 employees)" at the North Hertfordshire Business Awards 2003.

In 2004 as the company moved into its new premises Halls Green in a converted Tudor barn - this was opened by Charlie Higson, better known as Swiss Tony from BBC's "The Fast Show".

September 2004 saw Harriet and the team being shortlisted in the Department of Trade and Industry's e-commerce awards 2004 competition and their announcement of a new branch of Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design to open in Green Street in Cambridge. The new shop was opened in May 2005.

In June 2007 Harriet launched [http://www.purple-label.com Purple Label] as a ready to wear jewellery range. The collection is intended to represent the best in UK fashion jewellery available today and is described as being "built on a foundation of imaginative contemporary design, excellence in craftsmanship and sound ethical principles".

Harriet's work is characterised by her own combination of "classic and contemporary", being particularly interested in reworking traditional ideas in new and interesting ways. The popularity of invisibly set small stones - in eternity ring and wedding ring shoulders - owes much to her as does the more interesting engagement ring styles seen in the UK today.

External links

* [http://www.hkjewellery.co.uk/ Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design - engagement rings, wedding rings and eternity rings]
* [http://www.purple-label.com/ Purple Label - dress jewellery]