From 8 to 14 June 2009, London literally sparkled as the city came out in force to celebrate its second Coutts London Jewellery Week. Over 100 events, involving some 750 jewellers created a world class showcase of the capital’s jewellery industry - spanning from Barnes in the south across the City and Belgravia to Islington in the north.
The event was launched from heady heights with an elegant party at Altitude - a venue with 360 degree bird’s eye views over London from The Millbank Tower by the Thames.
Four hundred guests, including some of London’s jewellery industry’s finest jewellers - Stephen Webster and Theo Fennell - toasted the Week and watched at dusk as the London Eye lit up and sparkled like a huge diamond ring.
The following night, string quartet Escala surprised guests with a live performance at the Coutts client party at their HQ on The Strand. Throughout the evening gold participants and the winners of the Coutts New Jewellers Awards - the crème of London’s new jewellery talent - were given the opportunity to meet a whole new range of potential customers.
Unfazed by a tube strike mid-week, London jewellers and the public enjoyed daytime and evening events across London. On the Wednesday, Liberty department store shone with work from the Rising Gems collaborative, while Erickson Beamon, Carolina Bucci, Kim Poor and De Vroomen opened their doors late into the evening in the heart of Belgravia for Grosvenor’s Elizabeth Street Carnival. Families enjoyed the treasure hunt, food stalls and even a free jewellery cleaning service.
Thursday saw the launch of Treasure, a display of 70 of the UK’s most visionary designers hosted at The Flower Cellars in Covent Garden where . guests were given the chance to buy the work on show.
On Friday, Cockpit Arts launched their open studios at their Holborn ‘incubator’. Their exciting and innovative event included a star buys jewellery sale, screenings and trails.
On Saturday 13 June, the sun was out for the Hatton Garden Festival with the streets buzzing with jewellery-themed demonstrations and workshops, open studios, seminars and collection launches. Holts Lapidary demonstrated how jewellery is made with the latest 3D technology while Langdales, Nicholas James and Davril Jewels - to name a few - opened their studios and revealed their hidden gems to the public on the Hatton Garden Trail.
Other highlights of the Week included The Goldsmiths’ Company salon privé, where catwalk models displayed fine jewellery and couture dresses with the backdrop of the great hall in the City’s historic Foster Lane. In west London, Burlington Arcade and Swarovski collaborated to create a unique ‘crystallised’ red carpet. At almost 20 metres long, the bejewelled carpet covered with 96,000 glittering CRYSTALLIZEDtm - Swarovski Elements gems, lined Britain’s first shopping arcade during Coutts London Jewellery Week.
For more information: www.londonjewelleryweek.co.uk
