The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2022 - Issue 31

Lucy Quartermaine bitejewellery Dream Come True Images courtesy of We Are PR L ucy Quartermaine’s advent into jewellery started when she was a young girl growing up in the ‘90s, in awe of her grandmother who used to create beautiful piec- es of jewellery by setting natural gemstones in silver. Realising her interest, Lucy’s grandmother gave her a vast col- lection of buttons to choose from and the young apprentice would while away the hours threading them onto string to cre- ate necklaces and bracelets that she wore with pride. From studying arts and crafts at school and discovering a book on silversmithing, Lucy handmade a jewellery collection in- spired by Celtic designs. Her skills and enthusiasm earned her a place at Sheffield Hallam University where she embarked on an honour’s degree course in metalwork and jewellery. She was then headhunted to work at a silversmith, which should have been a dream come true, but turned into a nightmare that steered her away from jewellery-making temporarily. Working in banking did not wholly satisfy her and becoming pregnant at a young age encouraged Lucy to return to her true calling, more so for her daughter than herself. How else would she teach her child to follow her dreams and that passion was the most important thing? Using a small makeshift workshop and a jeweller’s bench in her bedroom, the soon-to-be suc- cessful jewellery designer worked hard on her creations while her daughter slept and leaned on the support of her husband’s wages. It was after presenting her work at the UK’s largest jewellery event in London in 2013 that Lucy earned the prestigious award for Design & Originality. Suddenly, everyone knew her name and was wearing her jewellery. Doors opened and she accumulated over a hundred retailers to sell her beautiful de- signs. Since then, she has collected over 30 coveted awards, in- cluding UK Jewellery Designer of the Year twice in a row and Top Woman in Business for the North West. Thanks to her introduction to designing jewellery at the age of 10, Lucy launched her namesake brand 15 years ago. Hav- ing always known she wanted to be a jewellery designer, the creative ensured she followed the correct path to become one. Studying art and design at school and then gaining a degree in metalwork and jewellery design has been vital to her ca- reer and helped her to understand how fashion worked and to think outside the box. Her love of fashion and design also inspired her into design- ing jewellery. “We are surrounded by countless things, objects, shapes and colours that we encounter every day and that in- spire us. The major design sources are in abundance, and we can all get inspiration from them; for example, I take a lot from nature, rhythms and sounds,” she explained. “Designing jew- ellery is so rewarding; transforming my creative vision into a piece of wearable art is both exciting and satisfying.” Lucy Quartermaine’s extensive jewellery collections include Art Deco, Waterfall, Splash, Elements, Diamond Drop and Melody in 925 sterling silver with rhodium overlay. Art Deco is inspired by the art movement of the ‘20s and ‘30s that embrac- es crisp clean styling and extravagant design patterns. One of Designer Profile