If it’s the first weekend of September, then it’s time to head to London’s glittering Earls Court for the jewellery fest that is International Jewellery London (IJL). This event has something of a legendary status: have a conversation with anyone who works in jewellery in the months leading up to it will feature IJL in some way: “are you going to IJL?” “are you ready for IJL?” “are you bringing any new pieces to IJL?” “Oh God, it’s only two weeks/three days/10hours to IJL?” “can I pick that up from you at IJL?”. It’s all jewellery, jewellery, jewellery at IJL and it’s timing forces those of us who seek to fulfil your every jewellery need to realise that, yes indeed, like it or not, Christmas is on its way.
Your two intrepid Plushers have been attending IJL for, oh, too many years than we care to recall really. We should know by now that there’s never enough time to see everything, no matter how hard you try.
It’s also a great opportunity to catch up with old friends.
Juli Miller of Jules Jules was showing at IJL for the first time and her Zebra stripped, fused glass jewellery had been picked by Daily Telegraph fashion director Hilary Alexander to feature in her ‘Trends by Hilary Alexander’ catwalk show (if you’ve popped in to Plush Jewellery in Chichester in the past couple of weeks, you’ll have seen a sneak peak of Juli’s new Stardust range of fused glass pendants).
Hazel Atkinson was showing her fabulous, colourful anodised aluminium jewellery.
The always brilliant Emma Turpin was featuring as part of the IJL Kickstart area for new designers. Plush Jewellery fans have known about Emma for a few years now and it’s great to see the industry is recognising just how much of a talent she is. Oh and we got to see some new one-off pieces Emma has created – we’ll try and get one or two of them in for you before Christmas.
Sonya Bennett was showing more of her nature inspired jewellery, she’s proved to be a huge hit with you all in the few months she’s been with us, so watch out for new pieces from her at Plush in the next few weeks.
Collette Waudby was looking fabulous as was her stand. Working with independent jewellers like Collette is so much more fun than working with those big brands out there, where your only contact is with a sales rep or a contact at head office. We had a phone call on Saturday afternoon asking about a piece of Collette Waudby jewellery that we didn’t have in stock at the time, as we caught up with the gossip on Sunday at IJL, we asked Collette if it would be possible to get one of these items to us by the weekend, ‘No problem,’ was her reply and there it was in Tuesday mornings delivery.
Neil and Katie of Flash Jordan were showing their new Saigon collection, which is just gorgeous. We’re getting a parcel of their Signature collection in the very near future, if you missed this stunning jewellery last time it was with us at Plush, do pop in when we announce its arrival, it’ll blow your socks off.
It’s a great opportunity to talk to new friends:
Laura Gravestock is a name to remember. She’s just been announced as one of Professional Jewellers Hot 100 and when you see you her Promise collection, you’ll see why. Where can you see Laura’s jewellery? Well, we’re just awaiting a parcel; we’ll let you know as soon as it arrives 
Paula Bolton is a Cheshire based designer who has enthusiastically embraced the fair trade ethic before fair trade become popular. She has been working with the same Balinese family to create her gorgeous jewellery designs for over 18 years.
Jeremy Hoye was showcasing his new collections, if you’re a South Coast based jewellery fan; Jeremy Hoye needs absolutely no introduction. Our personal ‘want, want, want, need’ lists grew as we looked around (we can categorically state that it is impossible to have too big a personal jewellery collection) and having popped into the Brighton store every time either of us have been in the town, it was lovely to be able to put faces to names and chat with Jeremy and Mary.
A long day, great fun, lots of laughs and sore feet.
