When I was in Rome I bought these little earrings for nearly no money because they’re imitation Etruscan coins set in silver, and I just loved them.

When I got home and showed them to Polly she said, before I could, ‘oh, let’s make some!’.  So we got hold of our lovely and very reliable coin dealer in London who sent us a selection of Roman coins and we made our own, but this time the coins are really Roman and the metal is 22ct gold, exactly the right metal for the period.

They’re so in tune with our style and what we do here that I’m not at all shy about copying the ones I bought in Rome. In fact it reminds me of what our Dad told us once… no one has had an original idea for centuries, they just take someone else’s idea and do it better or just different, so go for it!  And so we did.

I’m not sure Dad’s theory holds true with jewellery design though; perhaps the ring is the original idea and what the designer does with it is where their imagination comes in, because when I look at jewellery on all the media platforms we have at our disposal today I can’t help but be amazed and impressed by the hundreds and hundreds of imaginative designs I see.  This is a testament to the powers of design modern jewellers have, and as imagination must surely be infinite, there’s no reason for any one jeweller to copy another ever again.  But as Dad said, take someone else’s idea and make it better or different – make it yours. We copied the ones I bought in Rome, certainly, but made the earrings ours with 22ct gold and genuine Roman coins, and I think that’s a flattering imitation indeed.