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We're going to try not to make a big deal of this. Lucy Lee, our founder, creative director, and the person responsible for every piece of jewellery that leaves this studio, has been shortlisted for Commercial Jewellery Designer of the Year at the UK Jewellery Awards 2026. For the second year running. We know. We know. Being shortlisted once felt like a moment. Being shortlisted twice, in consecutive years, in the same category, by the same independent panel of industry judges, starts to feel like something you can actually say out loud without immediately touching wood. So we're saying it out loud. |
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About the awardsThe UK Jewellery Awards, now in their 34th year, are organised by Retail Jeweller and are widely regarded as the most credible industry recognition in British jewellery. Around 600 designers, retailers, brands, and suppliers gather each year for the ceremony, and being shortlisted, in any category, means something. The judging is independent, rigorous, and based on genuine commercial and creative achievement. The Commercial Jewellery Designer of the Year category is for designers working within jewellery brands, people whose work has to function in the real world: sell well, connect with customers, stand up to production, and still mean something. It is not a category for beautiful objects that never leave a gallery. It is a category for design that works. This year's shortlist includes designers from some of the largest names in UK and international jewellery. Lucy, running an independent studio without outside investment, is among them. |
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Lucy's talent lies not only in her creative vision but also in her ability to bring together exceptional talent. She works alongside CAD experts and skilled hand wax carvers who help transform her imaginative designs into tangible pieces of wearable art.
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A Bit About LUCYBefore founding Lily Charmed in 2011, Lucy spent years in television production, including work on Strictly Come Dancing, which, it turns out, is surprisingly good training for jewellery design. Both involve understanding what people are watching for, what makes something feel special, and what an audience actually responds to versus what you think they should respond to. She launched Lily Charmed because she couldn't find charm jewellery that felt genuinely personal, pieces that told a real story rather than a generic one. Fifteen years later, with over 350 charms in the collection, that remains the brief. In 2016 she launched Scream Pretty, a sister brand with a completely different design identity, focused on ear styling and bold jewellery. Two brands, two distinct voices, one designer holding the creative thread across both. She also designs for other jewellery brands, clients she doesn't name, but whose pieces you've probably come across. (If you've bought British jewellery in the last few years and liked it, there's a reasonable chance Lucy had something to do with it. We'll leave it there.) Some of Lily Charmed's most beloved collections are born from Lucy's collaboration with her sister, talented artist Jessica Pearce. Together, they've created the Manifest, Zodiac, and Goddess Collections. The Goddess Collection stands as a testament to their combined artistic prowess – a masterpiece of research and symbolism that makes each Goddess charm uniquely memorable. Design that tells a real story rather than a generic one. Fifteen years later, that's still the brief. |
What She's Been Up ToIn case a double shortlisting in the industry's most prestigious design category felt insufficiently busy, here's what else has been going on:
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How She Actually DesignsIt starts with listening Lucy's process is genuinely collaborative, not as a stated value, but as a working method. She talks to customers, stockists, friends, colleagues. She listens for the things people wish existed. A charm gets made when multiple people, in separate conversations, describe the same feeling or moment or object that they'd want to carry with them. That filter, does this mean enough to enough people? is what keeps the collection from becoming self, indulgent.
The result is jewellery made to last decades, manufactured ethically. Bought once. Worn forever. Handed down, if you're lucky. Different brands, same rigour Designing two distinct brands simultaneously , Lily Charmed's warm, narrative, led charm world and Scream Pretty's bolder, fashion, forward aesthetic , requires a kind of creative code, switching that most designers don't have to do. Add the confidential commercial client work, and it becomes clear that Lucy's range as a designer is considerably broader than any single brand suggests. |
If You're Here for a Different ReasonSome people find their way to this blog because they're looking for a jewellery designer for their brand, or a speaker for an event, or they want to understand how an independent founder builds something meaningful in a market dominated by much larger players. If that's you, hello. Lucy does work with a small number of external clients on commercial design projects, and does speak at events where the audience and subject feel like a genuine fit. She's talked about entrepreneurship, creativity, reinvention, and sustainable business with audiences ranging from NatWest Women in Business to Rosie Nixon's Reinvention Retreats. She supports women in business and is an Ambassador for Buy Women Built – and is planning to host a 'female founder’s stories' podcast later this year  |
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The UK Jewellery Awards 2026 ceremony will take place later this year. We'll be there with the team , quietly optimistic, trying not to make too much of a fuss. Whether or not Lucy's name is called on the night, the shortlisting already says something we're genuinely proud of: that small, independent, purpose, led jewellery businesses can design at the highest commercial level. That's not nothing. Well done, Lucy. Fingers crossed. |
