For nearly three hundred years, jewellery house Garrard has epitomised British craftsmanship and regal elegance, shaping the world of luxury jewellery with its timeless designs and storied heritage.
As the oldest jewellery house in the world, Garrard celebrates its 290th anniversary this year, with many exciting happenings to come. The year kicks off with an exciting new collection that captures the essence of renewal and beauty. The Lotus collection debuted in Dubai this February with an exclusive pop-up boutique in Bloomingdale’s Dubai at Dubai Mall. This new collection is a radiant tribute to the delicate yet resilient flower, reimagined through exquisite diamonds and colored gemstones. Ahead of the launch, A&E sat down with Garrard’s Creative Director Sara Prentice to discuss the brand’s success in the Middle East, the new Lotus collection and the exciting plans for this milestone year.
Tell us about the decision to introduce the new Lotus collection.
All of our collections at Garrard are inspired by a moment in our past, whether it’s a muse, or something we have designed previously for the British Royal family. We are never stuck for inspiration – we have 290 years of it!
For this collection, we looked through the archives and came across a beautiful picture of Queen Elizabeth I. In the early 1900s, she commissioned Garrard to design a tiara called the Lotus Tiara, and we found this beautiful image of her wearing it. It’s such a great image because she’s wearing it in the style of the 1920s, and it looks really modern despite the time. It really stood out because of its styling. That was our starting point, and when we looked further into the tiara, we found that the lotus flower has such a great sentimental meaning. It’s a really mysterious flower; it floats in water, it submerges itself in the evening, and then comes into full bloom in the day. We felt that this represented new beginnings, or being reborn, and we found this to be really nice messaging to accompany this collection. With that and the fact it was such a strong silhouette, we knew it was the way we wanted to go with this new collection.
Can you share more on the pieces in this collection and some details?
We wanted to concentrate on a slightly different setting technique from what we have done previously, so we settled on the castle setting, which has a superfine claw on the tips of the stones to give the illusion that the stones are floating. It’s an invisible setting that gives a 360-degree view of the stones. The light shines through from that back, and it looks really beautiful. We have done all of the pieces in various colours of sapphire, except for the green, which we decided to use tsavorite as it’s more of a brighter green, and we also have the all-diamonds version. They are really strong and quite vibrant colours.
We have a few iterations of the earrings as everyone has different shaped ears, so we wanted to make sure we cater to everyone. The necklaces feature a slider mechanism, which allows it to be worn at any length. This is particularly successful in this region, especially with ladies wearing longer necklaces over their abayas. There is also some flexibility in the design so that as you wear it shorter, it can change shape slightly to sit better on the neck.
People don’t realise the detail that goes into the design process, but we try to consider everything. I have an all-female design team, and we are all trained in making jewellery as well as product development, so I think we really understand the importance of the details that go into each piece. Comfort is something we always consider in addition to how the pieces look.
Have you launched any new pieces in the existing collections this year?
Fanfare and Wings are our two core collections, and they are both collections that women in this region love. We introduced three new colours into the Fanfare collection last year, and we will continue to expand them over the years. They are both very successful for us.
Tell us about this pop-up in Dubai – why did you decide to do it now, and what do you expect to achieve with it?
I think now is a good time. We had an exposure just before Christmas at Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, and it’s a nice continuity from that. Of course, we celebrate our 290th year this year, so I think it’s perfect timing. We’re going to be here until mid-April.
Garrard’s messaging this year will be about who Garrard is, our wonderful heritage, our craftsmanship, the details behind what goes into a Garrard piece, and the design. So I think it’s great timing.
We know you have a great connection with your clients in the region – tell us about that and how you connect with them.
We have a fantastic customer base here, and our Fanfare and Wings collections perfectly resonate with our Middle Eastern clients. They know them well, and they understand who we are. There are so many beautiful sentiments with Garrard, and our jewellery empowers women. I think women can gain real confidence from wearing Garrard pieces. Our clients in the Middle East love the history behind the brand, and I think the fact that our heritage is true and we don’t need to create storytelling around the brand is particularly attractive. One of the hardest things for me and my design team is choosing what that story will be because there are so many to choose from.
How do you filter through the stories and brand archives to find those that are relevant today?
We are constantly looking through the archives and discovering new stories about the brand. For example, a member of the British Royal family may suddenly be wearing a piece of jewellery in public, and we have to search through our ledgers to find out if certain pieces are Garrard pieces. We don’t have images of everything, but we have wonderful detailed descriptions of all of our pieces. The ledgers are beautiful; they are handwritten and document everything we have ever done. Not all of the pieces we made for the Royal family are worn publicly, so there are occasions when someone will be wearing a piece that we don’t know about. The tiara that Meghan Markle worn on her wedding day for example, was one of these pieces that had not previously been in the public domain as it was commissioned privately. It’s very special to have this history and heritage. What’s interesting is that Queen Camilla has been wearing pieces that were only worn by the late Queen Elizabeth II. It’s really special to see how the pieces travel through the generations.
What will you be doing to celebrate the 290th anniversary?
We will focus on Garrard’s history, the story behind the brand, and how we will continue for another 290 years. Watch this space!
What else would you still like to do that you haven’t done yet?
I have designed many incredible things over the years – not just jewellery. I love creating bespoke items. It’s a great way to connect with clients and create pieces that are really personal to them but also have a piece of Garrard in them. I love to see the final pieces and how the client reacts.
What’s the biggest challenge in your role?
The biggest challenge is working out what our new collections will be, as we have so many ideas to choose from and so much inspiration. We want all of our jewellery to be timeless, so we have to consider this in every collection we design.
What’s your favourite jewellery piece to wear?
It changes all the time! Every time I have a new collection I wear the pieces. If I had to choose, my go-to piece would be a pair of earrings.
What message would you send to readers to visit the pop-up?
It’s the first-ever pop-up for Garrard in Dubai, so it’s great to visit and actually try the pieces on. And of course you can discover the new Lotus collection, and its global debut. We’re here for a limited time only, so please come and visit.
The Garrard pop-up at Bloomingdale’s Dubai Mall is open until mid-April 2025.
