Renne Jewellery
With Mother’s Day on Sunday, what better time to share this story of a mum and daughter who recently launched their first jewellery collection.
Helen and Annie Rennison have always shared a passion for design and creativity and Renné Jewellery was born in early 2014. They’d been unable to find UK stockists of the old, characterful jewellery they were drawn to, so decided to make their own.
The mum-daughter duo say the fusion of their tastes results in jewellery that can be worn by women of all ages.
But what is it like to live and work together full-time?
Helen says it is daughter Annie’s passion that drives them forward. “We are pretty much with each other 24/7, but it’s great as we might come up with a new design whilst we are cooking or walking our dog, Ted.
“We love our work so it’s not a chore to discuss new ideas, what’s happening next week or next season’s collections.”
Annie said: “We are a very close family, so it’s always fun working with my mum. I’ve learnt so much from her, from her amazing sense of style to her incredible eye for detail and design.
“Because of this we now have very similar tastes, which works well when we are deciding on which pieces to add to the collection. We both bring our individual styles, thoughts and experiences to the designs that we fuse together to create each piece for the collection.
“It’s full on, especially as we have such a busy family life too, but we love every minute of the madness.”
Travel has played a big part in shaping their tastes and influencing their designs. Before launching Renné, Annie left school at 16 and says she worked to travel.
She said: “I always knew I wanted to be in a creative career but I just could not work out what.
“We spend a lot of holidays in France and I have gradually fallen in love with their antique markets, cobbled squares and the most beautiful empty chateaux. There’s so much inspiration, everywhere I look, anything with a history is a treasure.”
Helen added: “Anything Scandinavian always catches my eye, I think it’s their simplistic style that I love.”
They say they want to create silver pieces that look loved, timeless and not quite perfect.
Helen says: “Every single piece that comes out of our workshop is slightly different, there might be an indent in one and a blemish on another. But that’s what makes our pieces so different and unique.
“Our inspiration for the collection comes from childhood memories, our family adventures from around the world and the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside that surrounds our workshop and where we live.”
Annie added: “Our collection isn’t about fine, intricate and perfect designs. Renné is about the imperfections and blemishes that make a piece stand apart and unique to the owner forever.”
Their collection has rings, bangles, earrings, necklaces and cufflinks – much of which can be personalised.
I particularly love their chunky designs and charm bangles. Here are some of my favourites.
Could you work with your mum? What would you do?
