Turnbull & Friends: Alice Made This
This Christmas, we’ve partnered with a host of brands to turn Davies Street into a festive destination. In addition to offering a selection of products perfect for gifting, we’ve teamed up with six British brands and craftspeople to provide unique experiences, live making, offers and events in the run up to Christmas. 10% of gross profits made during the Gift Shop will be donated to the Crisis charity for homeless people.
The collaborations have formed as part of a wider celebration of creating in England, working with brands that share the same values, craftsmanship and pride in British manufacturing. One of the brands we’ve teamed up with is London-based jeweller, Alice Made This.
Precision jewellery for men and women, Alice Made This work with engineers and artisans to layer the precision of engineering with the beauty of craftsmanship, creating unique accessories and jewellery for you to own and enjoy for years to come. Every element of their process is considered to create timeless and beautifully simple products, with stories of past, present and future. We caught up with Alice to talk about the festive season, gift wrapping and gift giving.
Turnbull & Asser: What’s your favourite thing about the festive season?
Alice Made This: Crunching through the untouched frost crossing Peckham Rye on a December morning.
TA: How far in advance do you buy your presents?
AMT: Every year I have great intentions of sorting it in early Autumn and every year I fail and panic buy in mid-December.
TA: How do you approach gift wrapping?
AMT: After panic buying, I panic wrap on the day we are heading to see the family! I always do brown parcel paper or white tissue paper, plus ribbon. I have a big roll at home that gets used for everything. Sometimes I draw or scribble on it, sometimes the kids draw and paint it before wrapping. I never use tape and I wrap the presents like we wrap our jewellery: roll, wrap left, wrap right, roll, roll, roll, tie! It’s neat and pragmatic, but I’m sure I would never win prizes for elegance! The ribbons and paper can then be used again for flowers or gifts, so it sort of justifies the lack of elegance (to me, anyway)!
TA: What product of yours would you recommend for gifting?
AMT: Alice Made This is as much about gifting as it is about jewellery, I think. The collection is beautifully simple and very inclusive. The pieces work for the traditionalist as much as the minimalist; for the person that has everything, or the one you don’t know that well but want to make a good impression, as much as that special something for a loved one!
My current favourite for women is the Dot necklace. It is so simple but the short chain and the ability to engrave them through our shopping experience makes it a really contemporary and personal piece of jewellery. For men, I love our latest series of cufflinks in collaboration with Jessica Rose Bird. Using British flowers as inspiration, we have decorated our dot cufflinks using patina colours and diamond drag engraving. It give the cufflinks a warm and luxurious twist with each piece being completely unique.
AMT: I would get the Silk Jagger Print Shirt for Ed and then steal it and wear oversized with all sorts of things in my wardrobe… and pair them with my two suggestions above!
Visit the Davies Street Christmas Gift Shop between 8th November and 24th December, where Alice Made This jewellery will be available to purchase in-store. Alice will be doing live engraving in-store on Thursday 21st November and Thursday 12th December. For more about our Turnbull & Friends Christmas Gift Shop, click here.
