Ever since Bec Astley Clarke launched her eponymous e-jewellery boutique in 2006, her passion for fine jewels and keen sense of fashion has informed the stylish portfolio of guest designers available at astleyclarke.com. Bec has long supported homegrown talent, and the online fine jeweller already stocks British designers Shaun Leane, Pippa Small, Katie Hillier and Solange Azagury-Partridge. And recently, she signed up her latest recruit: designer Hattie Rickards, who founded her ethical luxury jewellery label Hattie Rickards Jewellery in 2010.
Hattie's capsule collection for Astley Clarke is a select edit of pieces taken from her 'Revealed' and 'Geo' collections. Bold, bright and playful, the jewels are described as kinetic because most of them can be rotated or flipped. My favourite piece, the Rubix cocktail ring, consists of rows of baguette-cut rubies, sapphires, garnets, amethysts and topaz, which you can spin round independently to create an almost infinite number of colour combinations. The concept of movement is interpreted as a spinning tube set with rubies, sapphires and onyx in the Revolver ring, which can be turned at your whim.
All of Hattie's jewels are underpinned by her commitment to using only ethically sourced materials in her jewels. She sources only certified Fairtrade gold for her designs, which are stamped with the Fairtrade mark (read more about the arrival of Fairtrade gold in the UK here), and all of her gemstones come from a supplier with strong ethical and environmental policies.
'We are thrilled to have Hattie on board and can't wait to see our customer's reaction to her striking collection of interactive fine jewellery,' says Bec Astley Clarke, Founder and Executive Chairman of Astley Clarke.