jewellery

I don’t like lots of jewellery, but i love delicate and unusual pieces.  my favourite jeweller is Peppi Taylor, but unfortunately, she is one of those types who is incredibly arty, but totally non techno, so has no website.   her pieces can be something simple and inexpensive such as a silver charm on a thread, or  you can commission a ring in gold and precious stones.  i personally love her rows of semi precious stones, such as rose quartz, amethyst, all delicately threaded with a gold charm.  most of my jewellery has been made by peppi, and when it was Alice’s and Maude’s 21st, i commissioned a small piece for her.   you can contact Peppi on peppitaylor2@gmail.com or 07952 864357

i passed by laura lee’s shop in covent garden,   there are some beautiful pieces there too.

another reader recommended rust  – again interesting and more aimed for the younger girls.

pearl and queenie have fun necklaces, i love the cameo on a chain.

sweet pea is also another lovely shop, stocking not only their own designs but a few other designers too..

in Paris 5 Octobre have some lovely pieces, and some very affordable.

another place to find interesting jewellery is at Dover Street Market. always inspiring clothes too, including Simone Rocha, Cecille Bahnsen as well as the Comme des Garcons collections.

my top ten gifts

what to buy each year becomes a dilemma – here is my list of what usually works for most of the family.

1. everyman  cinema vouchers,  2. tate or v & a membership or any gallery subscription – older kids seem to have preferred the Barbican, 3. ticket to the theatre, maybe somewhere unusual like Wiltons or Sam Wanamaker theatre, 4. daunts book voucher, 5. anything from aesop, 6.  anything from the wonderful art shop cornelissen 7.  food gifts from la fromagerie, 8.  jewellery from sweet pea or Peppi Taylor, 9. ceramics from the new craftsmen, 10. candles from cire trudon and one extra a course in ceramics or mandarin or watercolour – there are so many courses on offer at city lit and the neighbouring adult colleges.

Robert and Alfie’s favourite shop for classic  men’s clothes with style,  visit  J.Simons  shop on chiltern street –  it brings together a handpicked selection of American, Continental and British brands, classic loafers, harrington jackets, jeans and even includes a few vintage pieces – perfect if you want to find your male partner or friend a gift.  i love the pendleton shirts!  you go in there wishing that they did the same things in womens sizes.

struggling to find presents for men, go along to the aesop shop in soho – their products are all plant based, high quality and specially made to benefit the skin and absolutely smell beautiful. last year i bought a foaming shaving balm for my husband with a steel dish for him to whip up the foam with his brush – he is very old fashioned and still likes to wet shave.  a lot of men hate bits and pieces, collective memoirs, so finding something to buy them  can become a bit of a challenge.  a guess this means that you have a limited list;   here are a few places that i know robert will always be pleased to receive from  -any products from  kiehls,  scarves and silk handkerchieves frompeckham rye, vintage books and out of print books  from the numerous antiquarian book shops on cecil court, poetry books from  daunts, I still think that they have the best choice of books, and the re issues of classics such as Agatha Christie and Dickens are so beautifully presented that they can be the start of a collection, travel notebooks from smythsons – you can even have your own initials embossed on the beautiful leather covers, margaret howell for vases and tops, rapha for absolutely anything cycling, brooks for classic cycling bags,chapmans for classic bags.

alfie has now gone from the great basic uniqulo boxers to the supremely quality cotton boxers from sunspel – their cotton is just lovely.

cheapside hoard

if you love jewellery, history and a mystery, then the exhibition at the museum of london, cheapside hoard is perfect.  there are paintings to illustrate the costume and dress style of the era and the amazing hoard of jewels that were found in the early 20C are a beautiful historical story of Elizabethan and Jacobean times.   you really need to look carefully with the given magnifiers to see the beautiful stones and intricate craftsmanship.  to this day, nobody knows how the jewels were left buried for many years in the east of london.

as you are all aware,  Peppi makes my jewellery – simply because she uses beautiful stones and tailor makes things to suit your personality.  she recently made me this beautiful rose gold necklace with our initials engraved on each side within a simple clover.  the tiny stone is a black diamond and the pearl drop is a vintage find.

loquet

i love this idea of creating your own personal lockets and keepsakes from loquet, but its an expensive way to do it;  with a bit of clever hunting at portobello or kempton market, you can of course put this together yourself.

i dont like lots of jewellery, but i love delicate and unusual pieces.  my favourite jeweller is Peppi Taylor, (see her pieces below) but unfortunately, she is one of those types who is incredibly arty, but totally non techno, so has no website.   her pieces can be something simple and inexpensive such as a silver charm on a thread, or  you can commission a ring in gold and precious stones.  i personally love her rows of semi precious stones, such as rose quartz, amethyst, all delicately threaded with a gold charm.  most of my jewellery has been made by peppi, and when it was alice’s 21st, i commissioned a small piece for her with individual charms that i knew that she would like.   you can contact Peppi or 07952 864357

i passed by laura lee’s shop in covent garden,   there are some beautiful pieces there too.

another reader recommended rust  – again interesting and more aimed for the younger girls.

pearl and queenie have fun necklaces, i love the cameo on a chain.

sweet pea is also another lovely shop, stocking not only their own designs but a few other designers too..

i also popped into liberty’s and they have a good selection of jewellery, from inexpensive to more individual pieces.  i particularly liked the pieces by annina vogel