Spotlight Series: Ferrier & Mansell

“I’m at this desk from nine every morning until about midnight,” Eliza laughs, “the course is nine to five and then there’s about two or three hours of homework every night, and then I make the jewellery after that.”

“Wow,” I respond, genuinely awestruck and internally reflecting on just how little I’ve achieved today.

I’m speaking to Eliza Thompson, founder of Ferrier & Mansell, a bespoke jewellery company that she created in lockdown. Next to her sits co-founder Hattie, in charge of the newly established brand’s social media and marketing and who incidentally is going out with Eliza’s brother and has spent lockdown with the family. “You’re on one screen,” Hattie gestures, “and the other is filled with a rainbow of code,” Eliza momentarily dips out of sight, returning to view to present me with her boxes of beads—the beginning of a collection to rival Elizabeth Taylor’s. “I’ve always collected charms when I go travelling,” Eliza explains, “and I often buy more than one…I’m one of those people that if I like it, I’ll buy it in every colour,” she grins.

Having completed her degree earlier this summer, Eliza embarked on a coding course and whilst learning to be a software developer founded Ferrier & Mansell, creating beautiful pieces from her lifelong collection of treasures. Making jewellery has been a hobby of Eliza’s since she was tiny, she tells me about the summer holidays she spent visiting her grandparents in America and the hours that she would spend with her grandmother in the bead shop near her house. Rainy afternoons passed Eliza by as she sat diligently beading in the store and learning from the assistants as her grandmother delighted in reading her book whilst she waited. Eliza’s passion for jewellery making continued at home and she began selling pieces ad hoc, at the school Christmas fête and as presents for her Mum’s friends. It was last summer that she had the idea to start something, creating charms to put on hoops which she wanted to sell as little one-of-a-kind pieces, but, she admits, “I never got round to doing all the social media and everything.”

Eliza and her brother on their summer holiday in Connecticut

This year when lockdown hit, Hattie who was on furlough from her job in advertising, encouraged Eliza to start, helping her with the launch. “The best bit of my job is defining the brand at the very beginning,” Hattie says, as we discuss the importance of brand identity. We agree that nailing the story from the start is crucial; establishing the right tone of voice and threading the theme throughout, “Hattie has been amazing,” Eliza enthuses, “the making of the jewellery is often the easy bit.” For the moment all of the marketing and sales are done via the Instagram, as Eliza plans to build her own website on finishing her course. The social side of things takes a lot of thought and preparation Hattie confirms, “it can be really hard to keep things consistent so it’s essential to plan and schedule ahead, spur of the moment is never good.” It’s clear that Hattie’s experience and attention to detail has been key in the implementation of the brand, she begins to explain their story, turning to Eliza as she says “you guys have such amazing childhood pictures and I really wanted to bring that sense of summer nostalgia and family to the brand.”

Shop the first collection #SummerHolidayStateOfMind @ferrierandmansell

Grandma Ferrier with Eliza on holiday in Scotland

Childhood photographs pepper the Ferrier & Mansell feed, alongside jewellery shot against backdrops of old postcards and pretty envelopes from an archive box of letters from Eliza’s grandmothers.

Was it easy to come up with the name?

“We spent so much time deliberating, the night we decided, it was a typical lockdown supper where everyone’s in the house and no one has anything to do.” Made up words were thrown into the melting pot alongside names of beaches near home or local to Eliza’s grandparents, until eventually they stumbled upon Ferrier and Mansell—her grandmothers’ maiden names. The name felt right immediately, fitting with the story Eliza and Hattie had started creating and in keeping with the family theme and strong women at the helm.

The creation of Ferrier & Mansell feels apt during a period where our nostalgia for bygone holidays is particularly potent. Similarly, as many begin to shop more consciously, Ferrier & Mansell are perfectly placed as a brand whose ethos is sustainable by nature. Urging friends and fans to reimagine old jewellery as new pieces, Eliza carefully considers the quality and source of any new materials that she uses alongside. Everything is made to order and made to last so nothing is wasted and even the packaging is recycled and biodegradable, with a reusable pouch to protect your jewels when they are not being worn.

Ferrier & Mansell ticks all the boxes; beautiful from the inside out—a jewellery brand championing family, summer holidays and sustainability—what more could you want?