GoldDust Podcast

Building a successful demi-fine jewellery brand is one of the hardest challenges in the jewellery industry. Margins are tight, competition is fierce, and success depends on selling significant volume without losing the creativity and identity that made your brand special in the first place.

Laura Vann has done exactly that.

Over the past decade, Laura has built one of Britain's most successful independent demi-fine jewellery brands, with stockists including Fortnum & Mason, Liberty, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. Rather than competing through ever-increasing advertising budgets, she has grown her business by thinking differently: creating jewellery that's difficult to copy, presenting every collection in a fresh contemporary context, and replacing paid advertising with collaborations, events and genuine relationships that continue to fuel the brand today.

In this conversation, we explore how Laura transformed a family wholesale jewellery business into a distinctive consumer brand, why she believes signature design is your greatest competitive advantage, and how she successfully expanded into bespoke engagement rings and fine jewellery without losing the identity that made her brand so recognisable.

Topics include:

• why building a profitable demi-fine jewellery brand is so challenging
• creating jewellery that's difficult to copy
• developing a distinctive signature style that customers recognise instantly
• why Laura turned her back on Meta and Google advertising
• replacing paid ads with events, collaborations and meaningful relationships
• growing from wholesale into luxury retailers including Fortnum & Mason, Liberty and Selfridges
• expanding from demi-fine into bespoke engagement rings and fine jewellery
• why the best opportunities come from putting yourself in the right rooms

A relaxed, candid conversation about building a jewellery brand for the long term, proving that thoughtful design, commercial thinking and genuine relationships can be far more powerful than following the traditional marketing playbook.

Susannah King has built one of the UK's most recognisable independent jewellery brands by doing almost everything differently. Without a traditional marketing plan, she grew a global audience through TikTok by sharing her creative process, personality and the realities of running a jewellery business.

In this conversation, we explore the unexpected path behind her success, from an unconventional childhood and making silver spoons at university to building a brand known for its bold, colourful and highly personal designs that defy the expected norms of traditional fine jewellery, whilst remaining wildly desirable. Susannah shares how viral content transformed her business, why authenticity has become her greatest marketing tool, and how trusting her instincts has helped her stand out in an increasingly crowded industry.

We also discuss the importance of developing a recognisable creative voice, embracing opportunities as they come, and why building a successful jewellery business doesn't have to mean following the traditional route.

Topics include:

• growing an international jewellery business almost entirely through TikTok
• turning millions of video views into paying customers and bespoke commissions
• why authenticity consistently outperforms polished marketing
• finding your signature style without copying what's already selling
• how childhood creativity shaped an unconventional career in jewellery
• the realities of building a successful brand without following the traditional jewellery industry path
• what independent jewellers can learn about content creation without becoming "content creators"

An inspiring conversation about creativity, originality and building a jewellery business by staying true to yourself.

Rachel Boston has become one of the most sought-after engagement ring designers in London by striking a balance that many jewellers aim for but few achieve: work that feels timeless and familiar, yet still distinctive and recognisably her own.

In this conversation, we explore how Rachel grew her business organically (with no investment!) over more than a decade, evolving from early designer-maker beginnings and trade shows to a refined East London showroom with a strong waiting list for bespoke commissions.

We discuss the turning points that shaped her brand, including the decision to focus on bridal, the importance of carrying a clear signature style through every collection, and the realities of opening and sustaining a physical retail space in one of the most competitive luxury markets in the world.

Topics include:

• defining a recognisable design handwriting that evolves over time
• building a bridal and bespoke business without outside investment
• the role of physical retail in a digital-first world
• how customer expectations around engagement rings have changed
• balancing creative development with commercial consistency
• navigating rising material costs and long-term brand growth

A thoughtful conversation about ambition, risk-taking, and the long-term value of developing a clear point of view in a crowded market.

Polly Wales is a true pioneer in contemporary fine jewellery, having built her career by challenging many of the traditional rules of the craft.

Known for her cast-in-place gemstone technique, Polly creates pieces that are intentionally organic, unpredictable and completely unique. In this conversation, we explore how this unconventional approach first developed, why she never felt entirely at home within the traditional fine jewellery world, and how embracing imperfection became the foundation of her work.

We also discuss the pivotal moment when Polly moved her entire business from the UK countryside to Los Angeles, a decision that transformed the trajectory of her brand and helped her find an audience that truly connected with her work.

Topics include:

• developing the cast-in-place gemstone technique
• building a signature style around imperfection and organic form
• working outside the conventions of traditional fine jewellery
• relocating a jewellery business from the UK countryside to Los Angeles
• finding the audience that truly connects with your work
• taking creative risks as an independent jeweller

An honest conversation about creative risk, originality, and what can happen when you build a jewellery career by doing things differently.

What really happens when you're the name behind the brand?

Jewellery designer Hannah Martin joins the GoldDust Podcast to discuss the realities of building a career in fine jewellery with her bold, sexy, sculptural designs.

In this conversation, we explore how she grew her one-woman brand from Central Saint Martins graduate to a three-storey East London showroom over the last 20 years: the pressures of being the name behind the brand, trying things that don't work, designing jewellery that isn't for everyone, and the decisions that changed everything.

Hannah also shares insights on creative conviction, the power of building a community (if you haven't been to one of her legendary parties, you need to) and what it really takes to grow a jewellery business that stands the test of time.

Topics include:

• the pressures and rewards of a founder-led, name-led brand
• growing from graduate designer to a three-storey East London showroom
• designing jewellery that isn't for everyone
• learning from the things that don't work
• building community as a growth strategy
• holding on to creative conviction over 20 years

With clients ranging from Rihanna to Zaha Hadid, Hannah Martin is one of the rare fine jewellery success stories where the work remains truly unique, undiluted and uncompromised.