UK independent jewellery retailer Alexis Dove is seeing growing demand for her handcrafted precious jewellery set with coloured gemstones, most of which were manufactured in India.
Alexis, whose shop is located on the High Street in Lewes near the southern English coast, has seen rising enquiries for fancy coloured sapphires, notably teal sapphires, as well as for a variety of other coloured gemstones, including tourmalines and morganites, as people hope to raise their spirits after the lockdowns.
“Many people had saved money during the pandemic and are now treating themselves to a special piece of jewellery to cheer themselves up,” Alexis said.
Alexis sources many of her gemstones from India via a network of dealers whom she had met at the Munich trade fair INHORGENTA before the crisis.
She admires the high quality of Indian cutting and polishing of gemstones in centres such as Jaipur and hopes to travel to trade fairs in India next year to source coloured gemstones.
Alexis sources at least 50% of her gemstones from India and Sri Lanka.
She also buys salt and pepper diamonds, featuring black and white inclusions giving a grey tone, manufactured in India, which are popular with her customers.
Salt and pepper diamonds are becoming very popular as part of a celebration of “Imperfection” seen across jewellery and fashion design trends.
“I had been all set to visit the planned coloured gemstones jewellery trade show in Jaipur in 2020, but the pandemic kicked in and the show had to be cancelled,” Alexis said. “I hope to go to the next in-person show.”
Alexis Dove jewellery combines Fairtrade gold or recycled silver with coloured gemstones whose journey from mine-to-finger has been tracked as far as possible.
“My company policy is to do everything I can to stock gemstones from a responsibly managed supply chain,” Alexis said.
“I believe in an ethical approach to jewellery making, and so we use Fairtrade gold in all of our gold jewellery in order to ensure a fair return to supplying communities.”
Bespoke work
Alexis has seen a rise in bespoke orders during the pandemic, notably for engagement rings set with coloured gemstones, reflecting a rising consumer trend, and for precious rings to mark special occasions.
She works with a small team of highly skilled craftspeople in Lewes to fill bespoke commissions from the affluent local community, who include financial and legal professionals with jobs in London and creative people such as film makers and media specialists.
“During the lockdowns many of the London commuters who live nearby started to rediscover their local shops, and buy locally, such as handcrafted jewellery in my shop,” she said.
“I didn’t sell a lot of precious jewellery during the lockdowns, but after the lockdowns earlier this year sales shot up, both online and in-person at the shop.”
Diamond rings, and rings set with larger indicolites and green sapphires, have sold well at Alexis Dove in recent months.
Alexis spoke of very strong demand for teal sapphires, which combine blue and green colours, adding that people’s closer connection to nature during the pandemic, may have increased the appeal of such gemstones.
“Teal is a very fashionable sapphire right now,” Alexis said.
Sapphires and fancy coloured sapphires are becoming increasingly popular in engagement rings, benefiting from their hardness, which makes them an ideal gemstone to feature in jewellery designs.
Alexis said the current appetite for a blaze of colour in jewellery creations was set to continue, in her view, as an antidote to the pandemic.