The inspiration behind Emma Walton’s jewellery? Puddings. “My camera roll has so many pictures of desserts,” she says with a laugh. The day after indulging in a sweet treat, she’ll go in search of gems that remind her of what she’s eaten. (Her favourite dessert is gelato, by the way.)
Hatton Garden is her failsafe destination for all things jewellery-related: she regularly visits in search of gemstones, polishing services, emergency repairs—you name it. Her mother, who was a jeweller by trade for more than two decades, sourced her own materials there and taught Emma her craft when she was young.
Unsure of “what to do with her life”, Emma studied textiles at Chelsea College of Art & Design. Throughout university, she had a bench in Hatton Garden, where she was mentored by her friend Matt Foster—whom she met on a night out—and made her first jewellery pieces. “I was just experimenting and having fun,” she remembers. “I don’t have any traditional training whatsoever; I just learn as I go along.”
Emma has since graduated and relocated to Southbank, where she works on her eponymous jewellery business full-time, still on a bench alongside Matt. Rings are her signature, but she makes custom necklaces and earrings on occasion. Every ring starts out as a wax cast, which she sculpts in the studio. “Sometimes, it takes an entire day to do one cast,” she notes. The finished products are weighty—often 25 grams or so. Pieces in the lower price bracket are made from silver, but she offers rings in gold plate and solid gold, too.
In true Gen-Z fashion, 25-year-old Emma has built her client base on Instagram—her account has 27.9k followers and counting—and TikTok. She prefers email requests and orders through her website, but customers will often get in touch via DM on both platforms. Dua Lipa is one such client. The singer saw Emma’s rings on Instagram and requested three gold customs, with the pair exchanging messages back and forth about gems.
As a fledgling business, Emma orchestrates hype with “one-of-one” pieces that she shares with her followers. “I love testing them and seeing what happens,” she says. Bestsellers include her trademark chunky two-stone rings, “drippy” hearts and “twiglet” rings scattered with multicoloured stones. A tip she learnt from Dua? “Opals are bad energy.” Noted.
