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studiolafford

@studiolafford

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Fine Jewellery Storyteller and Maker
Jewellery Conservation and Restoration
Suite 8, Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street Dublin, Ireland

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October often arrives without a grand announcement, you just see the colours around deepen, day by day, as if a skilled artist is laying a faint wash of pearl grey watercolour over the world.

I certainly find myself drawn to berry tones. Ochre and carmine leaves on the ground, a cashmere sweater back out of the wardrobe, plum cake on the weekend list, a pot of freshly brewed pu-erh.

In jewellery, too, I notice myself reaching more often for red stones. This rhodolite garnet, glossy and warm, with something gourmand about it, is a favourite for the season.

The Grace ring, set with a 5.28 ct rhodolite garnet in 18k rose gold
Studio visit by appointment taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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10 days ago

Our Grace ring, in 18ct rose gold with a rhodolite garnet, appears in @susanzelouf Moodboard in the September issue of @theglossmag

This month the mood is flattering, and on the hand the ring lives up to it: the elongated setting lengthens the fingers, and the garnet glows warm against the skin.

The Grace ring is available by appointment in our studio, DM us to arrange a visit. taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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12 days ago

A pendant is the piece you notice most throughout the day.

The bathroom mirror at seven in the morning, half-dressed, still deciding what your day will look like.

The lift on the way up, six floors of nothing to look at but yourself in the brushed steel, catching a small movement of light at your collarbone.

The train window going home in the dark, your own face laid over the passing houses, and the diamond sparkling bright in the glass.

Small moments like that turn you back towards yourself in the middle of a day that asks your attention to be somewhere else. And the Quattro, with its four cardinal points, sits there like a compass — something to check yourself against, without even meaning to.

Pictured: 1.09ct, 0.62ct and 0.51ct in platinum. taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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a month ago

Diamond studs are the white shirt of a jewellery wardrobe. You put them on without thinking and your look is finished: five minutes, no decisions, whatever the day turns out to be.

You’ll know from the search for the perfect shirt that it took a few before you found the right one. At the start they seemed interchangeable, rail after rail of the same collars and cuffs, then one sat properly on the shoulders and it became The One.

Studs work the same way - there is no shortage of four-claw versions, and most of them are indistinguishable at arm’s length. Quattro was created for a wardrobe that has been thought about, with the stone set in our signature north star motif, the metal around the diamond shaped to catch the light as well.

Pictured: 0.5ct in 18k yellow gold, 0.3ct and 0.8ct in platinum. Made to any carat, in platinum or gold. taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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a month ago

Technical specifics of the gemstones are a frequent conversation topic during our private appointments, and we rarely discuss them here, but this one is worth a moment.

As you know, diamonds are evaluated on four things: cut, colour, clarity, and carat weight. Colour runs from D to Z, with D, E and F sitting at the top, graded colourless before the scale drifts toward warmer tones. It’s a conversation usually reserved for a solitaire’s centre stone, seldom for a bracelet.

Five diamonds here, 0.30ct each, E colour, VS2, GIA certified, set along a chain of warm 18k gold - a quality calibre rarely used at this scale. Turn the wrist and each one catches the light differently. taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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a month ago

Last week of summer inevitably makes you think of autumn coming soon. Dublin’s light thins out through late August, the lamps come on before you’re ready for them, blazers and coats come back to our wardrobes.

Summer asks you to enjoy the light and the warmth while it lasts. Autumn asks you to show up ready, with sharper tailoring, straighter shoulders, the sense of returning to a different expression of yourself after a season of ease.

Cool platinum, eight French cut diamonds in each lantern catching autumnal light. Ready for the new season. taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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2 months ago

Have you ever caught yourself watching rain lit up by a streetlamp with the drops falling in every direction, or in a quiet evening hour, with shadows shifting angle by angle, while the lamp itself never moves at all? The stillness is what makes the motion around it so visible.

That duality is what these earrings are set out to capture. Two lanterns, eight French cut diamonds set in each, in platinum - one stays still and close to the ear, while the other is suspended on a chain, catching every step, every turn of the head.

Made for a woman who can hold a room without moving, and everything else moves around her. taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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2 months ago

Late August in Dublin: grey clouds that don’t quite commit yet, followed by a glimpse of warm light that changes everything… for a moment.

That’s this earring - charcoal grey Tahitian pearl in 18k yellow gold, cool and warm at once. The contrast feels like the end of summer itself - still bright, but with something deeper settling in underneath.

There’s a sophistication in not choosing one or the other, in letting both be seen together, the way this season does, before autumn makes up its mind. taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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2 months ago

Put on your best emeralds, come to a castle (ideally, after a horseback ride), and let the Irish wolfhounds greet you at the entrance.

Sometimes, you get to experience the most perfect atmosphere, especially when there’s a dog roughly the size of a small pony leaning into your hand like it’s known you for years ❤️ by @studiolafford

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2 months ago

Most emerald settings expose only the face of the stone, and a large part of its body is hidden in a structure of precious metal. This particular emerald went against the standard and has shown us, through numerous fittings, that an upside down setting suits its character far better. The point faces up, and for once, nothing is concealed.

What that gives you is a full 360° view of the gemstone - you can look at the emerald from every angle, the way you’d look at a small sculpture. And thanks to a small flat spot at its base, it can actually stand on its own being your personal objet d’art even when you’re not wearing it. taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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2 months ago

Every August, the RDS grounds turn into a mix of hunting jackets and creative hats, majestic thoroughbreds and cute Shetland ponies, serious showjumping and the easy flow of conversation at the champagne bar.

For us, like so many families across Ireland, this has become tradition. Some travelled down from outside the city, some have been coming to the horse show since childhood, but everyone ends up back at the same grounds, watching the same arena, year after year.

And it is always a considered choice what to wear, when visiting this beautiful place built on legacy. Irene is wearing a Shamwari ring with brown diamonds and a Munsteiner-cut amethyst, and Sam’s Aegis brooch features an antique 1860s diamond star he set into a hand-engraved comet shield - a story from a different century, worn into this one. Some things are made to be handed down and we enjoy making those things. taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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2 months ago

The skies are going grey this week - the shade Dublin does so well you both think it’s going back to normal and wishing sunshine could have stayed with us for a few more weeks.

These pendants are for days like that: small reminders of streets lit gold in the evening and of skies going pink-orange somewhere around an August sunset.

Brown diamonds set in 18k rose gold and worn as a pocket of warmth on days that don’t offer much of their own. taken in Sam Lafford Jewellers by @studiolafford

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2 months ago