Ask a jeweller what today’s brides want and the same phrase keeps coming up: a future heirloom. Going bespoke is the surest way to make a piece last, both in the story it holds and in the ways it can be worn. Think earrings that break down into studs, or a necklace with a removable pendant: bespoke wedding jewellery, designed to your personality and palette, to see you through the rest of your life. Few houses do it better than Blackacre, named the UK’s Bespoke Jewellery Retailer of the Year in 2025 and 2026.
At the studio a short walk from Hatton Garden, you find Founder Sam Stirrat, who has been collecting gemstones since he was nine. The house style is classic but never boring, open to subtle, in-the-know personalisation, with the provenance of the stones kept to the fore. Blackacre works by appointment, and brides arrive to spend an afternoon collaborating on design, storytelling and the choice of stones themselves.
Here, bride-to-be Yasmin Salmon takes us behind the scenes of the commissioning process for bespoke wedding jewellery, from first brief to finished design.
Of all the wedding jewellery you could have commissioned, why earrings?
It came down to my mum, really. Her wedding earrings were elegant crystal pendants with pearl drops, which she designed herself. She had pearls sewn into her dress too, which brought the look together. For my own wedding day, I want to replicate my mum’s earrings as closely as possible, carrying that same style and symbolism with me as I walk down the aisle. Pearl earrings are classic, timeless and meaningful – something that reminds me of her.
How did you find Blackacre, and why a small studio over a bigger name?
I heard about Blackacre through a friend, and from the moment I walked in, I felt completely at ease. The creative surroundings, eclectic art and Sam’s drawings, gave me the freedom to let my imagination run wild. It’s a small team, and they design for their own clients rather than steering you towards a case of finished pieces. So it felt personal from the beginning. The team were genuinely open to hearing my ideas and took the time to understand what I wanted, so I was confident that they would create something truly unique to me.
What did the first consultation involve?
More than I expected. Prior to the consultation we first spoke on the phone for about 30 minutes. It was a friendly conversation where I felt totally at ease but also able to communicate much of what mattered to me. It was clear that Sam and the team were taking a genuine interest in my story and our wedding.
On arriving for the first in person consultation what struck me was the atmosphere – personal and unintimidating but clearly very special.
Sam showed me a curated selection of diamonds and talked me through them. My engagement ring is a yellow diamond, and I wanted to honour that in the earrings somehow – Sam suggested adding small yellow diamonds to the sides of the earrings, to add a flash of colour when you turn your head, a design signature for Blackacre.
Sam was brilliant at guiding me through the practical details. He showed me how to hold the loupe, the French magnifying glass jewellers use, steadied with your thumb, and to hold the stone up near my ear so I could see how it would actually sit. He also helped me think about how the proportions would work when worn, rather than just how they looked as a design on paper. He explained the practical side too: that whiter diamonds look best set in platinum, and mixing metals is harder to work with than you’d think.
How did you land on the final design?
We started from the shape. A cushion cut diamond as a nod to my engagement ring, and a droplet that would move the way my mum’s pearl earrings did. We settled on a pear-shaped teardrop that runs down the ear creating an elegant transition just like my mum’s crystal pendants. Sam suggested setting small yellow diamonds into the sides, a little secret only I know about. The final design honours my mum’s earrings whilst also tying into my own pieces and story. A perfect blend of something old and something new.
How did the process compare with what you expected?
I thought I’d pick a design and that would be that. For bespoke wedding jewellery, it is much more of a back and forth. The team listened to me, but they brought their own eye, and that balance is what made it work. They spent about two weeks designing it, and when I came back there was a sketchbook waiting for me, handmade by a bookbinder in Wales, with Sam’s hand-painted sketch of the earrings inside. He gave it to me to keep – I’m going to frame it.
How will the earrings sit with the rest of your wedding look, and what happens to them afterwards?
I haven’t chosen my dress yet as I’m waiting for next year’s collections. But I know these earrings will work with whatever I pick, because they are designed in my style and so not tied to one look. I would wear these earrings long after the wedding, to a dinner party as easily as anything. And in the end I’d love to pass them on to my children one day, maybe my grandchildren.
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