JQ jewellers to shine in new John Lewis store
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The Jewellery Quarter Development Trust (JQDT) has been working in partnership with John Lewis to devise a community initiative that will see a ‘Made in the Jewellery Quarter’ area in the Birmingham flagship store.
The first six JQ designers representing the Quarter are James Newman, Kate Smith, Becca Williams, Rhiannon Lewis, Collette Waudby and Fei Liu who will supply more than 500 pieces of jewellery to the store.
The group will rotate every six months with new designers, giving John Lewis shoppers the chance to be wowed by a range of stunning creations from the Jewellery Quarter. The programme will demonstrate the wide range of talent, creativity and diversity in the JQ.
Jilly Cosgrove, board member of the Jewellery Quarter Development Trust, is excited that this unique initiative, which began more than three years ago, is now about to become reality.
James Newman, who perfected his craft at Birmingham School of Jewellery 18 years ago, has designed an exclusive collection of 180 limited edition pieces for the John Lewis Birmingham launch.
He has taken inspiration from the exterior design of the new John Lewis store as well as the Staffordshire Hoard and The Big Peg offices when creating his unique range.
The featured designer-makers range from established businesses to small start-ups and getting their collections in the new Birmingham flagship store is an incredible opportunity.
Lisa Williams, head of branch at John Lewis Birmingham, added: “The Jewellery Quarter is such an iconic and important part of Birmingham and we were keen to reflect its significance within the new shop in some way. Our buyers were extremely impressed with the designs that they received and it was a very difficult job to whittle it down to just six jewellers. I’m really impressed with the pieces we will be stocking in the shop and look forward to hearing customers’ thoughts come opening day.
“Supporting the local community is extremely important to us and we hope that our partnership with the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter is the start of a long and fruitful relationship with a variety of businesses in and around the city.”
The store opens it’s doors to the public on Thursday 24th September, so please make sure you go and see how our designers look in the jewellery quarter department.
In the meantime it’s on with finding the next designers who will take over for Spring/Summer.
For more information, please visit http://www.johnlewis.com/our-shops/birmingham