Solstice began with a sketch, as most of our pieces do. One winter morning Eleanor was sitting at the bench while the low sun came across the window and fell in long rays over the work surface. She drew the light as it lay there, a sunburst spreading out from a single point, and the first Solstice piece grew from that drawing. The collection has carried that morning with it ever since, and it is the most personal collection we have made.
Cut by hand
Every Solstice piece carries rays engraved by hand with a graver. No two are quite the same, because the line is cut by eye and by touch rather than by machine, and the depth of the cut changes as the graver moves. The engraver works slowly, following the pencil sketch, and the finished surface catches the light exactly as the morning light did on the day it was drawn. It is the part of the making that cannot be rushed.
Engraving is one of the oldest skills at the bench, and one of the quietest. A graver is a small steel tool, held in the palm and pushed by hand, and it takes years to cut a line that curves cleanly from one end to the other. Every ray on a Solstice piece is cut that way, one pass at a time, and the pattern is measured by the eye rather than drawn over with a machine. It is a slow way to work, and the only way we would want.
Recycled gold, and one diamond
The collection is made in recycled 18ct yellow gold, warm and deep in colour. Some pieces hold a single diamond at the heart of the sunburst, a small point of light at the centre of the rays, and others let the engraved gold speak on its own. Both readings of the design belong to the same idea, that a quiet surface can hold a great deal of light. There is a quietness to the pieces that we did not plan. The rays are fine enough to read as light rather than pattern, so they sit easily beside other jewellery and beside plain gold.
The pieces
The collection runs across the house: the Solstice Signet Ring with its engraved face, the Solstice Diamond Ring with a diamond set at the heart of the sunburst, the Solstice Sunburst Pendant, the Solstice Hoop Earrings and the hand-engraved Solstice Cuff. Each is made to be worn every day rather than kept for an occasion, and each shares the same line and the same warmth of gold.
Solstice launched in 2026 and is the first signature collection in the history of the house. It is a small body of work, drawn, engraved and finished by hand in the Jewellery Quarter, and every piece is made to order at the bench. We hope it will be worn long after the winter light that inspired it has come and gone. If you would like to see the collection in person, the pieces are in both salons, and we are always glad to talk through a commission of your own.
