INTERVIEW WITH EMMY SCARTERFIELD FROM EMMY LONDON JEWELLERY

After graduating from Cordwainers college Emmy went to Milan for 5 years where she designed shoes and bags for some of the biggest fashion houses in the world. She returned home to London and soon began to plan her business for bespoke bridal shoes. After advertising her brand in Bride magazine we fell in love with her beautifully delicate designs and collaborated with her to make an exclusive diamond jewellery collection for H.Samuel.

FOR THOSE NOT FAMILIAR WITH YOUR BRAND, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR EMMY LONDON JEWELLERY COLLECTION?

The Emmy London jewellery collection is exclusively available at H Samuel. It's really all about those delicate details...they are incredibly intricate, which ultimately makes them all really feminine and timeless.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU WHEN DESIGNING YOUR JEWELLERY AND RINGS?

I think what makes this collection exciting and different is that my jewellery designs are inspired by my shoes, particularly bridal shoes. It’s the crystals in my shoe range that really inspired the crystals in the jewellery. Pretty much every design starts out as a shoe, and then it goes into sketch form as a ring.

HOW WOULD I KNOW WHAT STYLE OF ENGAGEMENT RING WOULD SUIT ME?

There are some things to keep in mind when you’re trying on rings. Some of the more elongated stones in the collection are better suited to more shorter fingers because they create an elongating effect. However, the round ones are great if you have like long slender fingers. That aside, I think it's just important that whatever you choose makes you smile, because you're going to be wearing this ring forever. So, it really must reflect your personality. And as long as you love it, that's what will shine through. That's the most important part.

WHAT’S THE BEST JEWELLERY GIFT TO UNLOCKYOURLOVE, IF IT’S FOR SOMEONE ELSE OR A TREAT YOURSELF MOMENT?

We have a few necklaces which are gorgeous! UnlockYourLove is obviously a play on words about falling in love, but also being locked down. I think even if it's for yourself or for someone else, it's just really important that it represents your love. And if it's for yourself, maybe it's to remind you how strong and resilient you've been. Or just to remind yourself or that person how much you love them.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE PIECE OF JEWELLERY YOU’VE CREATED FOR H.SAMUEL?

That's like asking me to choose which of my twins I like best! There are so many designs I love, because they all come from me. But I do particularly love the cleaner cuts with sharper edges. The ones that are more ornate and quite different, but still timeless. I love the more art deco shapes and cut diamonds because I love that era, and I also think it lends itself to a more modern look as well.

WHAT FIRST LED YOU INTO THE DESIGN WORLD?

It was really a passion for shoes, and creating beautiful things that make people, not only look good but feel amazing too. And I think, designing pieces for bridal is just such a privilege and an honour because it's such a positive happy time in someone's life. To be able to create pieces that really represent their love is amazing. I love my job and I'm so lucky because I always knew it was what I wanted to do. Shoes were always my obsession when I was a child, I grew up in a household of four kids and there were a lot of shoes. And I would always create little play shoe shops in my bedroom. One of my first memories was putting wooden building blocks in my socks to create my own high heels.

My skill set is has always been on the more creative side of things but also I quickly learned that small scale attention-to-detail is my sweet spot, so I focused on that and have made a happy career for myself from those assets.

BEING IN LOCKDOWN I’M CERTAIN YOUR DAYS HAVE GOT EVEN BUSIER BUT WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU AS A JEWELLERY DESIGNER?

I think my day has changed but I've made sure that I maintained my inspiration, and not got bogged down in too much worry. I’ve been balancing work and exercise, also being outside has really helped me focus on maintaining my creativity. What I've learned is that being creative isn't always designing products - obviously that's a big part of it, but it's thinking creatively and coming up with solutions too. We've been faced with this huge problem, and I've really had to channel my creative thinking to come up with ways in which to reach customers digitally. I've really enjoyed that challenge.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO LOOK UP TO YOU AND ASPIRE TO FOLLOW IN YOUR DESIGN FOOTSTEPS?

You have to love it. My advice to anyone that wants to get into jewellery design is to really focus on your knowledge. There's so much knowledge to be had about jewellery, and especially diamonds...it's so interesting! It's also the technical drawings that are so intricate, so specific, and so tiny. They need to be ergonomic and easy to wear and last a lifetime.

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WISH YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND TELL YOURSELF?

I would tell my 20-year old self that there's no rush. I think there's such an anticipation that you have to achieve everything really quickly, and there's such hunger that you may miss some of the detail. But obviously in hindsight, that's an amazing thing say if you know it's all going to come good. You don't know that at that point, but I wish that I had known, not to rush and not worry.

And the other thing is to have value in your own creativity. That passion for what you do always wins.