Julie's Story – A Little Piece of the Norfolk Coast
Julie's Story – A Little Piece of the Norfolk Coast
Sometimes the jewellery we wear most often is the jewellery we barely think about. We put it on in the morning, wear it day after day, and it quietly becomes part of who we are.
Julie contacted me after losing a much-loved pair of gold cockle shell earrings that she'd bought from a jeweller in King's Lynn some 20–25 years earlier. They had been her go-to earrings for years, whilst all her other earrings, as she put it, 'languished unloved'.
She had been hoping they might turn up again, but finding a replacement was proving surprisingly difficult. Then she came across my Holkham Cockle Shell Stud Earrings in sterling silver and wondered whether I could make a pair for her in solid 9ct gold.
Although Julie now lives in London, she grew up in Littleport and had spent many years visiting Norfolk, including time living in King's Lynn. Brancaster is her favourite beach, and she loved the idea of having a little reminder of the Norfolk coast to wear every day.
I made Julie's new cockle shell studs in solid 9ct gold, using the same delicate shell design as my silver earrings. There's something rather lovely about making a piece of jewellery that you know someone is hoping to wear for years to come, particularly when it replaces something that was already so well loved.
When the earrings were ready, I packaged them up and sent them off to Julie in London. It was only then that I realised she lived just down the road from my sister's first flat! We have so many happy memories of visiting that flat, spending weekends with my sister and her partner, and exploring a new area together. It made me smile to think that these little Norfolk cockles were heading off to a place that held such lovely memories for me too.
I often talk about the stories that jewellery carries, but sometimes it's the unexpected connections along the way that make a commission particularly special.
Julie's new gold cockle shells are a little reminder of the Norfolk coast, a replacement for a much-loved pair of earrings, and perhaps the beginning of another 25 years of everyday wear.
