Women in Business: Stephanie Grace Jewellery

Stephanie Hyams is the founder of jewellery brand ‘Stephanie Grace Jewellery’. As a lover of her pieces I was fascinated to learn more about her jewellery brand. I personally needed to go to ‘gold school’. Stephanie is an advocate for making sure money spent on jewellery is done so wisely. It is key to support the correct businesses that are ethical all the way along their chains of produce. It turns out that gold is extremely sustainable – who knew. Having spoken to Stephanie about this further, I now realise my previous ignorance of this industry and have been enlightened to learn more about how important it is to know where gold is sourced. 

What made you start Stephanie Grace Jewellery? Have you always been passionate about this? 

I have dreamt of starting a Jewellery company since my first Internship at a London Jewellery company when I was 17 years old. Growing up I was quite a 'tomboy' and when I turned 16, I got really into fashion and accessories. I always loved costume jewellery growing up as I always felt that adding a piece of jewellery to my look would make my outfit.

What is the USP of the business and your products?

All our jewellery is made from 100% solid recycled gold and Lab Sapphires and Diamonds made from wind and solar-panelled energy. We pride ourselves in honest, transparent and sustainable jewellery that will last forever. We are so proud to be one of the first UK companies that creates quality fine jewellery at an affordable price and that doesn't hurt our beautiful planet in the process.

What obstacles have you overcome during the initial growth and birth of the business?

Wow, where do I start? I would say my biggest obstacle from day one and until now is still myself. As a business owner I am striving for quality and there is a fine line between quality and perfection which as a founder and owner, the lines can get blurred. At times I have spent way too long focused on the detail of tasks I lose sight of the bigger picture - don't get me wrong detail is extremely important especially when building a brand and defining it, but recognising and running a business that strives for the best but doesn't obsess is the greatest obstacle. Lastly, self-ownership and responsibility is the key to freedom and success - without taking responsibility for your positive and limited (yes we all have them) qualities, you will never be able to grow a as a person let alone a business especially when you are working with so many different stakeholders, across countries, cultures and backgrounds. I have learnt this the hard way, I have ruined relationships and lost money. Take responsibility for yourself and your actions, learn from your mistakes and the rest will fall into place.

If you could give 3 words to summarise the first stages of starting your business what would they be?

Optimistic

Exhilarating

Naive 

Who is your target customer?

Our target customer is two-fold:

1. Women aged between 25-60, especially mums. These women have moved a bit beyond only buying fast fashion and are now interested in more quality timeless pieces. They love their friends and family and they are interested in fashion and fitness. They are looking to treat themselves and those around them. They prefer quality over quantity and when it comes to jewellery, they want something they can wear every day that compliments their lifestyle and personal style. 

2. Men. A lot of companies don't talk about this but we have recognised almost 40% of our customers are men who are looking to treat and spoil the women in their life whether that's their mum, wife, girlfriend, partner or daughter.

How do you work ethically with your gold sourcing?

All of our gold is 100% recycled solid gold. This means none of our gold is newly mined and was already in circulation. The great thing about gold is that it is highly malleable, meaning it can easily be melted down and remade into something new without fracturing the material. When an item isn't selling or when we have damaged products, we simply take them back to be melted down and made again - what other mainstream consumer product can you do that with? It truly speaks to the sustainability of recycled solid gold jewellery. Lastly, all our gold is approved in accordance with the LMBA (London Bullion Market Association) which regulates against things like corruption and money laundering. 

The karat ranking and cost and quality of gold seems a rather undefined and a cloudy area. You have added a lot of clarity here to me previously – please can you explain this phenomenon further? What benefits to the industry does explaining the quality and prices of the gold?

This is a very important, if not the most important differentiation about our brand. Most affordable jewellery brands on the market nowadays are selling "Gold plated" or "Gold Vermail" jewellery- what this really is is silver covered in a thin layer of solid gold. The reason why this is so important to understand is because there is a HUGE value difference between the cost of silver and the cost of solid gold. By today’s market value a gram of gold costs £45.87 vs a gram of silver which is £0.46- this means silver is almost x 100 less in value! Not only is it less in value but it is also poor quality because the thin layer of solid gold over time wears away and the silver begins to show through. Depending on how frequently and where you wear your plated jewellery will depend on how quickly it will fade (for example wearing plated jewellery daily including in the shower will fade very quickly) which is a shame because the gold item you bought and loved is now gone. Lastly, in some circumstances where brass is plated with Gold this is where you see jewellery turning your skin green! The brass reacts with water and oils in your skin which causes the metal to react on our skin which I’m sure every woman reading this has experienced at some point in their life. If I could give one piece of advise it would be to understand what you are buying so you avoid being disappointed in the long term. 

Here is a chart with shows the difference between gold and gold plated:

When it comes to gold itself even this has different qualities known as karats. The karat of the gold defines how pure the gold is. Pure gold is 24 karats, this means anything less than 24 carats has gold + other metals (such as silver, platinum, copper etc). The reason gold is alloyed with other metals is to make it strong enough so that it can be worn daily as jewellery. Our gold is 14 karats which means it is 14 parts (58.8%) pure gold and 10 parts (41.2%) other metals. The more solid gold, the higher the carat the more expensive the jewellery- it is as simple as that. 

Here is another chart which explains this clearly:

What do you think the jewellery industry needs to wake up to?

I personally think the jewellery industry needs to wake up to unethical gold mining practises in developing countries. Gold mining and trading in small scale mines in South America and Asia are the single largest man-made reason for mercury pollution in our planet. Further these mines and communities are often run with the purpose of supporting crime and violence - I think many people are awake to this but not enough has been done to fix the issues in these communities.

Are your customers receptive to ethically sourced products more so than those which aren't?

Yes and no. I don’t think many people in the UK understand the difference between solid gold and gold plated- people just see something that looks like gold and assume it all to be the same, especially when the price is similar. Our customers that understand solid gold really value the fact that they are buying jewellery that will last forever as well as our ethical and sustainable approach. 

You have previously had pop-up space for the brand. Was this a beneficial experience for the customers to be able to engage physically with the products and to give the brand a tangible presence/existence?Yes! We held our first pop up from October-December 2019 and what an experience it was. Our company was only 3 months old and we were offered a life changing opportunity to sell our products and meet our customers. Although our mission and business is to sell predominantly online there is unequivocal value in starting a company and getting your products physically in front of customers to see, touch and try on. The feedback and support was beyond anything I expected. We sold out of 80% of our inventory in 8 weeks and waking up on Christmas Day the first thing I thought was how many people were going to receive Stephanie Grace gifts this year and it made me so happy. 

You’ve mentioned with me before about the pros of spending more on good pieces of jewellery, why do you think this? Are people becoming more aware of spending more and getting better quality products?I can talk about this topic all day! Yes more and more consumers in the UK are opening their eyes to the benefits of quality over quantity. The best comparison I could give would be shoes because you wear them everyday, so if you have an option of buying a £70 pair of shoes that would only last 2 years or there were a pair of £100 shoes that were guaranteed to last a lifetime it kind of seems like a no brainer- the difference is our jewellery actually does last forever. You can wear it everyday and everywhere and one day you can pass it onto your children if you wish. Just to give examples I wear my jewellery in the shower, swimming and at the beach and it doesn’t react with oils or creams. I love that my jewellery compliments not just my lifestyle but my personal style and that’s why I never take it off. I always get stopped in the airports because it would just take too long for me to take all my jewellery off and on again! 

What has been your greatest success or career highlight to date?

I struggled to answer this question on first glance, because I tend to be super hard on myself and not give myself credit where it’s due when actually quitting my stable job of 5 years, moving back home with my parents and launching my company is my greatest achievement because even though it’s early days and I still don’t know where this path will take me I have already learnt so much about myself and business and I am so glad I have had all these experiences even though 80% of them have been hard I have come out so much wiser and stronger.

How do you see the jewellery (and gold) industry evolving over the next 5 years?

I am already starting to see more solid gold jewellery brands in the UK. This isn’t something new in America and I think after Brexit and once we have a new trade agreement with the US we will see more competition on quality and price to the current major players in the UK which will force brands to start evolving their ways to more ethical, sustainable and transparent practises. 

Do you have any tips for other women out there who are eager to make their passion their career and income?

Just go for it. Don’t waste one more second delaying, procrastinating or doubting. Believe in your product AND yourself. Don’t ask too many people their opinions. Surround yourself with like-minded people that will support you and keep you accountable to your goals! This leads me into my final tip which is to get comfortable and confident saying No and walking away from friendships that are no longer serving you and where you are going. The last one is often something many founders don't speak about often but as you change your friendships and those closest to you will start to change as well and if you embrace this you will only grow and move faster.

What words of wisdom would you like to leave us with?

“Life will only change when you become more committed to your dreams than you are to your comfort zone” Billy Cox 

Stephanie’s answer about her ‘greatest achievement’ is really fascinating. Sometimes we need to realise that having “succeeded” doesn’t necessarily mean being given a trophy. It is about acknowledging that you have done something to be proud of, and the greatness of that is not conditional upon being praised or awarded. In Stephanie’s case, moving home with her parents to take the first step in starting this business was her achievement – which I applaud. Congratulating yourself is the best encouragement you could receive and by rooting for your own efforts you continue to grow in confidence and will remain robust in your endeavours to continue to thrive. 

A favourite quote from our conversation: “…without taking responsibility for your positive and limited (yes we all have them) qualities you will never be able to grow as a person, let alone a business.”

As ever, at The C Word we love to speak to passionate female entrepreneurs. Stephanie’s brand goes in tandem with working to educate their customers and inform the consumer about the industry. She is striving to ensure the product is understood and also encourages their customer to prioritise the ethical side of how the product is sourced. 

The products are all very unique, the beauty and quality of the pieces go without saying. We must work to support small businesses that are contributing in great ways to make big changes. 

As consumers, we must do our research in the businesses we support ensuring we are focused and selective in our spending because where our money goes matters. The moral of Stephanie’s message is that if you dig deeper (please excuse the pun) to seek out the right product, you reap better rewards for you and your world.