J'AIME August 2017

10
times they’re happy just to use the materials
and make something completely new; again,
it’s just listening to what the customer wants.
Often, people don’t appreciate that you can
take a pile of old bits of jewellery and turn it
into something really nice and contemporary; it
doesn’t have to look anything like the original.
“Remodelling is a great way to preserve
sentimental pieces which you won’t wear for
whatever reason because jewellery is for wearing;
there’s no point just having it in a box.”
As well as quality in design, ethical practice is
another key element of the job for Allen.
“We use fairtrade gold, same with diamonds,
and we guarantee that all of our diamond
sources are conflict-free,” he says. “A lot of the
stones we used are sourced by me personally
from source, or as close to source as you can get,
so we can guarantee that the people lower down
the food chain get a reasonable remuneration.
“I’ve used the same suppliers for 30 years so
I can guarantee my sources, which is really
important to me. We get approached by
people selling diamonds all the time, but the
diamoneers I deal with, I know where they get
their materials from, which means you can be
confident in the product.
“With coloured stones you can get much closer
to source, and with coloured stones it’s much
easier to say where they come from because
certain colours of stone only come from certain
places. Say, for example, sapphires, you can
say fairly accurately where in the world they’ve
come from by the colour.
“Pink diamonds, for instance, which are the
most expensive, only come from north Australia,
they don’t come from anywhere else which is
why they’re so expensive.”
Over 30 years in business, Allen has stayed true
to his belief in his designs, and his loyal and
growing customer base is testament to that faith.
“Branding has become quite big in jewellery,
and we’re sort of the anti-branding,” Allen says.
“There’s a segment of the market which doesn’t
want to be like everyone else, and that’s where
our appeal lies. We stick to our core values of
having faith in our own designs; you have to
have self-belief in this business, because if you
don’t believe in yourself, how are your customers
going to believe in you?
“I still love what I do; I’ve been doing it for 30
years and I’m still excited by it.”
18ct gold, cinnamon diamonds and
bi-colour quartz pendant.
Competition!
win a bespoke designed
piece worth up to £1,000
J’AIME has teamed up with Allen Brown to offer readers
the chance to win a bespoke, individually designed
jewellery piece worth up to the value of £1,000. Our
lucky winner will see their perfect jewellery piece
brought to life by Allen and his talented team.
For your chance to win, simply answer
the following question: Where is Allen
Brown Jewellery based?
Send your answer, along with your name, address
and telephone number, by email to competitions@
jaimemagazine.com with ‘Allen Brown Jewellery
competition’ as the email subject. Entries must be
received by 5pm on Friday, August 26, and our winner
will be notified by Wednesday, August 31. No cash
alternative is available. Should the winner wish to
choose a design worth more than £1,000, they will be
able to pay the difference.
For more details on Allen’s designs, pop into his
shop at the Heart of the Country Shopping Village,
Swinfen, near Lichfield, or visit his website at
www.allenbrownjewellery.co.uk.