I’m a huge fan of accessories, so I’m always on the lookout for new designers. I like quite delicate bracelets, usually in Silver and I have a passion for cocktail rings. I have so many statement rings; they can really make an outfit! So, I was really excited when I happened to come across the brand, Ruby & Rose Jewellery which is a Scottish based Jewellery design company created by mother and daughter team Marion Paterson and Emily McIntyre.
I went to look on their website, www.rubyandrosejewellery.com and some of their designs really caught my eye, particularly the Cora Bracelet, Carey earrings and the Scarlett ring ( pictured below.)
I managed to track down Marion and her daughter Emily and when they had a spare minute, I had a quick chat with them about their gorgeous Jewellery collection.
1.Tell us about yourselves, where you’re from, where you’re based?
We are a mother (Marion Paterson) & daughter (Emily McIntyre) duo based in North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
2. What is your background and how did you get into making jewellery?
After being diagnosed in 2006 with a rare neurological condition, Dystonia, Marion started attending jewellery classes as a therapeutic way of coping with her illness. She continued over the next few years learning new techniques and experimenting with different materials. I then came on board, to deal with the promotion of the business. I started up our social media; Twitter, Blog and Facebook pages.
3. What materials and processes do you use in your collections?
We like to keep up to date with the colour trends of the season/year, we are ‘classic meets on trend’. Marion loves pearls and all the fashion that comes from that era, I love sparkle and colour so we aim to merge the 2.
4. Each piece makes a great statement – what kind of women wear Ruby and Rose jewellery?
We like to think of R&R Jewellery as accessible glamour and we hope it comes across that way. We are from 2 different generations and we both bring something to each design. We do find that the majority of our sales come from women buying for themselves. They work hard and like to treat themselves. We appreciate that and take time and effort hand making each piece they are not mass produced, each piece is a limited edition.
5.Which other Jewellery lines do you admire?
We admire anyone who is busy trying to build a brand. It is difficult to pick another jewellery brand as they are all doing their own thing while we do ours.
6. What’s it like to work as a Mother and Daughter team?
It seems to work! We both have different strengths so we have different roles to play in the day to day running of R&R. Marion deals with the suppliers and the actual making of the pieces. I deal with our social media, our website and I am forever getting roped into modeling the jewellery for the website! People seem genuinely interested in our story and the fact we are a mother & daughter.
7. What do you get up to when you’re not thinking about or experimenting with jewellery?
I have 4 children (7, 5, 3 and 21 months) so I tend to be juggling work with home life most of the day so when not working you will find me doing the nursery run! I am also a slight shopaholic, but that could be classed as research right?
Marion is also a shopaholic, maybe it’s in the genes!
8. Do you each have a favourite piece from the collection?
‘My favourite piece from this collection is our Annie bracelet. I love the sparkle and the warmth of the colour’ Emily
‘My favourite piece is our Constance bracelet, it is timeless and very easy to wear. It can be dressed up or down, so versatile! I love that!’ Marion
9. What would be one piece of advice you would give to jewellery designers working to get their name out there?
Don’t give up, find your niche and target it!
10. Finally, what are your plans for your jewellery in 2012/2013?
To continue to grow our brand, if we can get out of 2012/2013 what we got out of the last year then we will be delighted.
