The opening of a fine jewellery shop in Dundee’s West Port is the culmination of a lifelong dream.
Since making her first piece of jewellery at school as a teenager in Argyll, Elizabeth Humble was determined it would be her career.
After studying at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art she landed a mentoring programme and launched her own collection with jewellery brand Astley Clarke.
She designed three exclusive collections for the brand, commuting between Dundee and London for three years.
Her jewellery is inspired by natural rock formations and she carefully solders thin silver or gold wires together to create her signature pieces.
For 11 years, she has developed her technique and sold fine jewellery on her website.
Now the jeweller decided it was time to take a risk and open her own shop.
Elizabeth Humble jewellery showroom
When she found the small space on West Port, she decided to throw everything at it.
Elizabeth says: “Over lockdown, people were being so vocal about supporting independent makers and stores.
“When things started to open again, I was meeting people who inquired about my jewellery in coffee shops.
“That was always fine, but in my eyes it wasn’t how selling fine jewellery should be.
“Jewellery is such a special thing to own, a lot of the time it’s super personal and so I wanted to create a better space for it.”
The former print shop proved perfect – as it was too small for other businesses – but the right size for Elizabeth’s fine jewellery.
With the help of her husband, friends and family, she transformed the shop in 10 weeks.
Bringing visibility to jewellery
Now Elizabeth has everything ready to welcome customers to her showroom and studio.
She says: “It made sense to create something concrete for my jewellery and have a proper base in Dundee.
“It’s weird, people ask where I’m from and I’ve always said the west coast, but I’m from Dundee now.
“There are so many independent makers in the city that have come through the art school and they’re all tucked away in tiny studios.
“Having something public facing will bring more visibility to jewellery, because I think many people still see it as crafty.
“But there’s a lot of amazing jewellers, so it’s important to create a space that can show off their work really well.”
As well as her own pieces, Elizabeth stocks jewellery from makers Alison Macleod, Rosalyn Faith and Dundee-based Holly McAfee.
Making sustainable choices
The jeweller describes her shop as a crossover between retail and gallery.
As well as selling pieces of jewellery, she wishes to educate people on ethical making and sustainability.
Elizabeth believes there is no reason for jewellery designers to not use ethically sourced materials in their work.
She says: “When I developed my collections, I started to go into fine jewellery because of sustainability.
“People were buying less, but buying better.
“As I design, make and sell my pieces, there’s only so much I can physically make and I don’t want to be a manufacturer who churns out masses of jewellery.
“I make beautiful pieces that people will want to wear and that are going to be their heirloom treasures.”
