Sophie Harley - charms, Loveknot and mythology

Sophie Harley (and her team) designs, makes and sells her jewellry from her bright studio in the design hub of Westbourne Studios, located along the Union Canal, a short walk from Portobello road in Notting Hill.

 She has been in her current studio for 5 years from a total of 10 years in Westbourne Studios after occupying a colourful list of squats (£15/month!), central London shared work spaces and exciting collaborations within the "New Renaissance Group".

Within "New Renaissance" she worked alongside Simon Costin (who later went on to become Alexander McQueen's art director) and theatre director/designer Simon Vincenzi. The type of big catwalk pieces that she designed at the time for designers such as Jean-Paul Gaultier and worn by Naomi Campbell or Saffron Aldridge share the themes she continues to explore in her jewellry and inform her current pieces.

 The pieces are now smaller but the mythological themes are still there.  I enjoyed leafing through her beautiful notebooks and tracing her inspiration back to her drawing sessions in museums.

She explains that, ultimately, all the jewellry she designs has an emotional connection and is steeped in a central theme of love. Worn on the body, jewellry is intensely personal and symbolic. Often offered, it carries the giver's intentions to its recipient: an engagement ring, an anniversary piece... She spoke with great warmth and sensitivity of the pieces commissioned by a gravely ill man as mementos of love for his family. Happier circumstances can also give rise to commissions as a wife offers her husband a unique silver box to contain the guitar picks that he leaves lying about the house.

Sophie enjoys the following of a loyal private clientele but also lends her skills to collaborations with other jewellry houses from Mappin &Webb, de Beers, Boodles or the World Gold Council. She has recently produced a line of ethical jewellry with CRED , using fairtrade gold and jems. She benefited from a surge in interest when she was selected to design the "Loveknot" worn by Eva Green in the Bond movies Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.

The Loveknot brought her to international attention and her web orders have been coming from all over the planet. In characteristically enthusiastic mode, she has designed a whole collection around the Loveknot, featuring the 4 interconnected rings that define the piece. Sophie's energy can sometimes confuse as the abundance of pieces shown on her website can be rather overwhelming.  I can understand the difficulty she faces in pruning her extensive production to its core pieces and deprive her fans of possible favourites. As a lot of pieces are variations on a theme, I think that she might benefit from stricter editing to highlight the truly new or unique. As Sophie makes her own molds and takes great care and pride in the quality of the finished product, the presentation of her collections might deserve to be pared down and streamlined to highlight its craftsmanship.

A lively, warm and friendly woman, Sophie Harley clearly enjoys contact with her clientele and encourages visits to her studio where clients can pick and choose at their hearts' content. She can also tweak and adapt existing jewellry to suit clients' tastes.  For the little ones in your life, her Little Treasures children's jewelry collection, inspired by her own daughter makes beautiful gifts.