Story Pieces

Capturing Memories, Celebrating Milestones

My story pieces are bespoke jewellery designs that take your story as inspiration.

To the outside eye, your new jewellery will be beautiful, unusual and unique.

Only you will know why it looks the way it does, what each element of the design means.

Each story piece is unique – because your story is unique.

These are creative, collaborative pieces, that are designed exclusively for you and where you are central to the design process.

  Meticulously captured in responsibly sourced precious metals and gemstones.

Have a look at the examples below, then get in touch and ask for my “Story Pieces” brochure.

 Matthew and Gemma

Matthew got in touch as he wanted to create a bespoke engagement ring, with a moss agate centre stone, for Gemma.

The ring needed to be vegan and sustainable, minimising negative impact on the environment and reflecting Gemma’s personal ethos.  We chatted about the things that were most important to Gemma, how they’d met, their interests and where they liked to spend their time, as well as discussing more practical questions such as preferences for metal (100% recycled white gold), gemstones (artisanal and traceable white sapphires over diamonds) and style.

I then drew a number of sketches for Matthew, which we refined, before I arranged for a moss agate from Balmerino in Scotland to be custom cut (echoing the shape of their kitten, Bru’s, nose).  Once everything was ready for making to start, Matthew visited the workshop to see the metal being melted down and even tried his hand at rolling it down into sheet form.

During the making process I sent him regular updates and photographs.  Once finished the ring was hallmarked at the Edinburgh Assay Office before being presented in a hand made wooden box, along with a booklet documenting the whole process and a certificate of authenticity.

“I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect engagement ring. Somehow Lisa and Matthew managed to not only imagine, design and create a ring that I felt proud to wear from an ethical and environmental standpoint, but one that felt so perfect for me. So many thoughtful touches and details are entwined in this little treasure. The fact that it looks like it has been forged in a forest is just perfect. And almost as wonderful as the ring is the book alongside it; beautifully capturing the details and story of its creation.

I love it all more every day. Thank you! “

Gemma

“I knew it had to be Lisa making the ring. I immediately felt at ease talking to her and her attitudes and ethos aligned so closely to Gemma’s own, it was as close to having Gemma design the ring herself! Lisa kept me involved in every step of the process. She sent sketches and photos throughout and I even got the opportunity to go to her workshop to see the metal being melted down and to help make part of it. I’ve loved working with Lisa and really found it to be an amazing experience! So much more personal than a high street jeweller. She thought of every detail and the book we received at the end containing all her notes, sketches and picture is absolutely lovely and something we will keep forever.
Lisa managed to take my jumble of ideas and create the most beautiful ring that is so personal to me and my fiancé! I would absolutely recommend her to anyone and I can’t thank her enough.”

Matthew

Susan’s Bespoke Pendant

Susan and I chatted about her life, her childhood growing up by the sea, her family and their history.  I listened as she told me about the places she and her family had lived, worked and visited and what mattered most.

The thing that came through loud and clear during our conversation was the theme of family and the wonderful strong women in her life. We decided that the theme would be family, the roots, ties that bind and lives woven together.  Then it was for me to translate those stories into a concept for her pendant.

I spent time researching, allowing ideas to percolate and distill and eventually decided that I would map, using string lines, all of the places Susan had ties to.  The central sapphire represents her childhood home on the beach in Scotland each strand coming off the pendant represents the relative distances to other places in the world that have meaning for her.  The single sapphire on the long strand is Thailand, a place that her mum visited and bought the earrings from which that oval sapphire came.  There’s a whole other side story to those earrings, personal to Susan and her mum.  Each stone and strand on this beautiful, handmade, articulated pendant represents a place and a story and tie that binds.

Susan reused both the precious metal and stones from a number of rings and a watch belonging to her family, plus her mum’s earrings.  She even came to the studio to watch her metal being melted down and helped to mill the gold sheet.

The finished jewel is a beautiful, contemporary pendant, imbued with much meaning, life and family history.

Jewellery remodelling gold pendant square | Lisa Rothwell-Young
Ruby Diamond Platinum Story Ring | Lisa Rothwell-Young
A Ruby Wedding Present

My client came to see me to discuss a very special Ruby wedding present for his partner.  We talked at length about what he wanted to create and I asked him to tell me about her, what her interests were, their lives together, family and what was most important.

My client’s partner is a Reiki Master, interested in natural healing and yoga, walking and reading.  Family is very important, they have both children and grandchildren and had spent time in the Far East/Orient, including Singapore and Japan.  A favourite place was the beautiful West Coast of Scotland.

As is my process, I went away and researched the things and places my client had told me about.  I learned about the harmonisation of mind, body and soul through Reiki practice.  I found that the national flower of Singapore symbolised harmony.  I also looked at the Scottish symbol for harmony  and the four elements, which is a four loop knot, similar to Pictish symbols found on the Island of Raasay in the Western Isles of Scotland.

I also looked at Japanese family crests and found one with a trifolia plant.  The triquetra is also known to symbolise land, sea and sky or mind body and soul, tying this symbol to her Reiki and Yoga practices.  It is from these symbols that the design took shape.

The central stone was to be a Ruby, and my client came to the studio to choose from a selection, settling on a very beautiful cushion cut, ethically sourced from Sri Lanka.  This ruby was to be surrounded by a bead set halo of traceable Canadian diamonds and was to be handmade in recycled platinum.  I designed the basket of the ring in the shape of the 4 loop knot, to signify harmony and as a nod to the West Coast of Scotland and Singapore.  I added triquetra shaped shoulders and each would be set with 3 diamonds, symbolising their children and grandchildren.   Then, because each part of the piece deserves the same amount of thought and attention, I added an elegant knife edge shaped band which tapered towards the shoulders.  It is a beautiful ethical bespoke ring, symbolising lives lived and the things that matter most.

Story

We always start with your story.  I get to know you through an appointment where I find out what you want to create.  This is where I understand the bigger picture behind the piece.

Inspiration

Next up comes the creative part.  Here I transform your story into a concept, capturing the emotion of your piece and carefully considering each element of the design.  I include everything you’ve shared with me, all pulled together into a mood board, so you can see how I’ve interpreted your tale.

Sourcing

When sourcing stones I consider different shapes and sizes, cut and clarity – looking for gemstones that embody the design.  Once I’ve created a shortlist of stones I present them so you can choose the piece you love the most.

Specifics

I provide a quote and we discuss timescales and tiny details.
Then I get to work on your piece and you’ll be invited to visit and see your metal being melted.  I’ll keep in touch throughout.

Finally comes the day to collect your new jewellery – your personal piece presented in a beautiful handmade wooden box.  You’ll also receive a copy of my sketches and a photobook with images taken during the making process.

I’d love to hear your story

Alex’s family had clubbed together to buy her a piece of jewellery for her 21st birthday.  Alex was still travelling at the time and having chatted, we decided that it would be lovely to have a piece to remind her about her “around the world” adventures.  Alex had mentioned to me about her time volunteering with turtles in Hawaii and the result was this bespoke pendant.  Handmade in recycled sterling silver, the detail was drawn on by hand and acid etched.  It was set with an ethically sourced green agate from Brazil.

Andy came to see me as he was looking for a special gift for his wife.  The design is based on the home they lived in for many years and all the memories that it held.  The tree is the one they could see from their window along with the wildlife that visited their garden.  This bespoke necklace was created in sterling silver, each bird and animal is acid etched onto the silver in relief, before being oxidised to give contrast.  The reverse is stamped with locations close to where they live.

Liz came to see me with her Mum’s engagement ring.  We sat and talked about her memories of her Mum and finally settled on a design that reminded Liz of her Mum’s favourite flower, the peony.  This bespoke ring was created in platinum and each of the flowers is set with one of the stones from the original engagement ring.

Francis and Elise wanted to create an engagement ring that held memories of Francis proposal with a ring made from rush.  Elise also wanted to honour the memory of her Grandmother by using details of her Grandmothers ring.  We worked together to design a bespoke ring that has elements of both, that is delicate, clean, modern and sustainable.