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Stoners’ £25k Marie Curie Pledge
At our Stoners’ Harrogate launch earlier this year, we launched our pledge to raise £25,000 to fund a Marie Curie nurse for a year. Attached is a video shot at the launch event showing interviews with a number of key attendees at the event.
Stoners of Harrogate launch with a Marie Curie pledge
To support our team of runners at this year’s Great North Run and help us towards our target then please go to www.justgiving.com/stoners. Your support is much appreciated!
We will also be putting a team in to the Walk Ten at Bolton Abbey on the 28th August and there are still places available. So, if you’d like to join us for our twilight walk, then please contact Rachel McTigue and she’ll put your name down for a team place.
Diamonds, Celebrities and a good cause
Well, after several weeks of hard work we did it! The official launch of our fabulous new Harrogate store went without a hitch and we were delighted to be able to welcome some special guests.
We were joined on the day by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Harrogate and Yorkshire and ex-England cricketer Ryan Sidebottom and his lovely wife Kate also joined us for a glass of bubbles.
Andrew Jones MP even managed to spare half an hour out of his extremely busy schedule to pop by and offer his support. It was greatly appreciated.
We also took the opportunity to announce our support in 2011 for Marie Curie and our pledge to raise £25,000, which equates to a Marie Curie nurse for a year. We have been regular supporters of the hospice in Bradford and after meeting some wonderfully inspirational people involved with the charity decided to really set ourselves a stretch target for fundraising this year.
Brian Curran, the regional corporate development manager at Marie Curie Cancer Care joined us, as did Helen, a nurse who currently works in and around the Harrogate community supporting people and their families through extremely difficult times.
The launch was spread over two days and we were also pleased to welcome a number of Shipley customers and local Harrogate business people through our doors. Drinks were supplied by Hotel du Vin, Harrogate and we had delicious but naughty, themed cupcakes by Charley.
I look forward to be able to share some more of our launch photos on the blog over the coming weeks.
Sarah
Harrogate’s Official Launch
Our fabulous new boutique in Harrogate will be officially opening at the end of this month. Invites are currently being created, celebrities are checking their diaries, the MP and the Mayor have been contacted and booked to attend, the cupcakes have been ordered and Chris’ best suit is as the dry cleaners!
As well as inviting a number of our existing customers who have expressed an interest in joining us for the official launch, we will be inviting a select number of local business people to come and meet the team.
If you’re interested in joining us at our Harrogate launch and haven’t yet contacted me, then please email me at sarah@stonergroup.co.uk.
An Engagement Ring Fit For a Princess
In February 1981, Lady Diana Spencer was thrust into the spotlight after Prince Charles’ proposal. The fairytale that captured the people’s imagination had begun and the ring was a constant focal point throughout the couple’s engagement.
Prince Charles initially proposed without an engagement ring. He wanted Diana to fully consider the implications of becoming a princess before he made it official. Diana chose the now famous oval blue sapphire engagement ring from a selection presented to her by Garrard Jewellers. The sapphire weighs a whopping 18 carats and is surrounded by 14 small diamonds in a beautiful cluster setting.
What was unusual was that, unlike most celebrity engagement rings, the public knew the cost of the ring as it was a piece in the regular Garrard’s catalogue and therefore could be bought by anyone for a princely sum of £28,000.
We speculated last week about Kate Middleton’s ring, with many of our customers suggesting it may bear a resemblance to Diana’s engagement ring. The fact William presented his late mother’s ring to Kate seemed perfectly fitting and a beautiful gesture laden with emotion.
It will be interesting to see if Kate’s new ring will boost the trend for coloured gemstones and cluster set engagement rings, which have waned in popularity over recent years.
At Stoners, our designers are able to work with all kinds of gemstones and all styles of design and they’re already anticipating an increase in the demand for blue sapphires and stylish cluster rings this year. To speak to one of our designers, just contact us and we’ll happily discuss your individual requirements.
Kate Middleton and Prince William
What fabulous news about the beautiful Kate Middleton and her Prince Charming - we are already looking forward to a fairtytale wedding next Spring/Summer 2011.
As jewellers who specialise in designing and creating stunning handmade engagement and wedding rings, we can’t wait to see what her ring is like. If she turns into a style icon like her late mother-in-law Diana, then we’ll all be keeping an eye on her to ensure we remain bang on trend. This will also apply to her choice in jewellery.
I’ve been scouring the papers and the online news to see if there’s been a sighting of the ring, but so far I haven’t found anything. So, to quench our thirst for news on “the rock”, we’ve been asking our customers throughout this afternoon what they think of the news and what they imagine her engagement ring will be like. The results were interesting:
The vast majority of customers we asked believe it’ll be a large (and we mean enormous!) diamond.
The second most popular response was a coloured diamond – so either a fancy yellow or pink.
And, the third most popular choice was a coloured gem stone, with most people who chose this option mentioning that they would not be surprised if it bears a resemblance to the fabulous sapphire and diamond ring that was Diana’s engagement ring.
It would be nice for a young and beautiful lady like Kate Middleton to boost the popularity of coloured gemstones again as they have wained in popularity in recent years. It may mean we see an increase in the demand for engagement ring designs using bright and bold coloured gems, as was the trend in years gone by.
Whichever ring the delectable Miss Middleton is now adorning, we’re pretty sure it’ll be a dazzlingly fabulous piece and we can’t wait to catch a glimpse of it.
I Don’t Like Mondays!
I think of myself as extremely fortunate. Doing this wonderfully creative and inspiring job for a living, I have been lucky enough to have designed jewellery for a number of celebrated sports stars and stars of television and film. Due to some of the charity functions and events I have been to over the years, I have also met a number of very famous people. However, this summer, I was lucky enough to meet a man who is a true inspiration to me.
For a day in July I was fortunate enough to spend time in the company of Sir Bob Geldof. I expected a very driven and inspirational man and he didn’t disappoint.
Amongst other hugely interesting things, Sir Bob talked about the challenges he faced when putting together Live Aid, which made most day-to-day problems I face seem fairly trivial.
I don’t know about you but the 13th July 1985 is one of the days that I will always remember. I was 10 years old and I remember it was a really hot day. My mum and dad had lots of friends round at our house for a bbq which turned into a party as the day went on. Even as a 10 year old I knew that something very special was happening that day.
The actions and sheer determination of Bob Geldof went on to change the course of history and save literally millions of lives. It was an honour and a pleasure to meet Sir Bob this year, exactly 25 years after the Live Aid event.
Chris