Introduction
At Jacqueline & Edward we use recycled precious metals and diamonds, lab grown diamonds and natural sustainably panned river gold from around the UK to create ethical handmade wedding and engagement rings. Our environmental standpoint is core to our business and as well as using ethical materials we plant a native tree in the Caledonian Forest with every order to help restore natural biodiversity whilst sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. All our pieces are 100% handmade from beginning to end. Even the most complex of our engagement rings are toiled over for countless hours from melting the initial alloy, drawing the wire used for the prongs and rolling the sheet to create the galleries, to shaping the ring, setting the stones and the final polish. Nothing is created using computer aided design (CAD), then cast as a single finished piece. Each step of the process, from the liquid alloy rolling around in the crucible to the final ring, is done with meticulous care and pride from our home workshop in Yorkshire using age old traditions and skills. We enhance all our rings with natural river gold from different regions of the UK and beyond to add provenance to our rings, often connecting with a couple’s past. If our couples are looking for a unique story to wear on their finger, they can even join us in the wild of Scotland panning for gold which we can add into their wedding rings. Our Story
Our Story began over 30 years ago I was driving over the Kildonan Bridge at “Baile an Or” with my father Edward. We were in the middle of nowhere, literally. A bearded man was hunched over the river with a cowboy hat on. we thought. One small conversation later about the days gone by of old timers finding gold in the hills and a demonstration of the art of gold panning and our clapped-out old campervan was thrown in park for two weeks. We had found gold….. and gold had found us. Little did we know, both of our lives were changed forever. From that day, gold panning became central to our lives whilst I grew up and brings back all my favorite memories. Spending time with family and friends, paddling around in rivers, falling in love with geology, fires in the wild, camping in the hills and finding some of that illusive metal. After studying geology and then environmental geochemistry whilst continuing to nurture my passion for art, my wife and I built Jacqueline & Edward, initially in our spare time whilst I was working in the environmental sector. It was an outlet for all the things which we love….. precious metals, art, creation, geology, people, teaching, learning, business and adventure. Sometime past, it took over both our lives and the day jobs were gone. Now we live and breathe Jacqueline & Edward almost every waking hour. We have so many plans for it, from expanding our offering to take Clients looking for gold in the wilderness by including a miner’s cottage accommodation option to creating a pendant range specifically intended to focus on generating money to assist with cleaning up plastic from the oceans. Our Vision
Our overall vision is to bring the beauty and provenance of natural river gold, gifted from our family collection, into the world of ethical jewellery. Recycled metals and gemstones are central to our sustainable outlook, as is our eco packaging. We want to leave a legacy of trees, positive actions and good memories behind us, show people how to look for gold in an ecofriendly way and create beautiful high quality jewellery by hand within our own workshop.
