Discovering Miriam Haskell changed my life

As a child of keen collectors I was pushed around antique fairs in my buggy so I’ve always been at home amongst antique dealers and their wares. I collected bits and pieces as a child but as I got older my focus turned to jewellery. It was then that my mother showed me a book on the work of Miriam Haskell. I was hooked! The layered construction and stunning colours of Haskell’s pieces all made in glass beads was the most fantastic jewellery I had ever seen. I immediately became an avid collector and admirer of her work, I have never looked back.

In my final year of university, Haskell’s work provided the impetus for my research into the history of costume jewellery, my great passion. This research formed the basis of my dissertation, which gave an overview of the developments in costume jewellery and compared the careers of two of its foremost exponents, Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli.

You can find a list of my recommended books on these designers and the periods they worked in, on the Vintage Resources page.