Our Story

Velvet Umbrella was founded by Caroline in 2004, as the natural culmination of a love of travel and a passion for people.

Originally inspired by South American artisans whom she travelled with and learnt basic jewellery making from in the Andes. She returned to the UK, to study and achieve a first class honours degree in anthropology. On completion of this degree she founded Velvet Umbrella, with a vision of connecting with artisans from around the globe to produce unique and quality pieces of jewellery. 

 The result of this vision was many years of hard graft, a lot of travel, plenty of moments of loss of faith,  but the eventual creation of a wiser, more astute and more confident Caroline with a wealth of small business knowledge and connections.

In 2014 she began to work with a small team of Indonesian silversmiths. This was a turning point and the relationship flourished. This team now  produce and hand make Caroline's own designs of jewellery, where emphasis is always high quality stones. 

The customer focus has always been face-to-face sales as connectivity is at the heart of our ethos. This culminated in 2024 with a move into a bricks and mortar shop. This has allowed Caroline to continue to produce the quality pieces she loves and to expand into higher end collections.

It’s also brought Caroline full circle as the base and permanence of a physical shop has given her time and space to revisit her own artisanal calling. She is now enrolled on a silver and gold smithing diploma with a view to focus increasingly on the design and creation of her own bespoke pieces.