Rhiannon
My name is Rhiannon and I established Honey Willow in January 2010, wanting to make meaningful jewellery that represents loved ones and life's significant moments. The business is named after my two daughters: Honey and Willow.
Honey Willow began at our kitchen table and for the first few years I was maker, packer, customer service and post-lady. I loved it and was so grateful to work from home, to be with my young children and able to manage my chronic Crohn's disease.
After developing the bestselling links birthday necklace, Honey Willow grew. I now have the help of a wonderful, hard-working team and a workshop and shop in the centre of Bath.
Although we have grown, Honey Willow remains a family business, focused on handcrafting meaningful jewellery. We love helping to tell the stories of our customers' lives.
When I'm not immersed in Honey Willow, I'm with my family: husband Nige and three kids Hugo, Honey and Willow, or with friends, or walking the pugs April and May.
Favourite jewellery to make:
My favourite part of the job is still designing and making the jewellery. Although nearly all of the day-to-day making is now done by my team, I still love nothing more than getting the chance to sit down with a cup of tea and my tools and get into the creative flow.
I particularly enjoy making bridal jewellery, enjoying both the challenge and also the relaxing repetitiveness of making a detailed piece. And it’s amazing to make something someone will wear on their wedding day.
Favourite jewellery to give:
Our necklaces personalised with names, words and dates. Many of my friends and family have their own and it’s so rewarding to see how often they wear them and how nice they look.
Among the most meaningful pieces I’ve given is a necklace to my cousin to celebrate her engagement, with her name, her fiancé (now husband’s) name and their wedding date. And after losing my dad very suddenly, I gave each of my aunts a commemorative necklace of linked rings, each ring stamped with the initial of each sibling, to represent that they would forever be connected. It's very comforting to see how often my aunts wear their necklaces, keeping my dad close.
Favourite piece to wear:
I’m not sure I can pick just one piece, so I’m going to pick two. My favourite necklace is the Amelie. The little links sit so prettily together, each one given a different texture and finish. It’s versatile - I sometimes wear it with three links to represent my children, sometimes four to represent my four decades and sometimes five to represent my family. It gets a lot of compliments.
Gabby modelling the Amelie necklace
And my favourite earrings are our gold hoops, which I wear all day and every day, with or without pearls or birthstones. They are so comfortable and perfect for any occasion.
What do I like about Honey Willow:
Honey Willow is a really lovely business to be part of. Our jewellery makes our customers happy and means a lot to them, so it’s very rewarding. And we are a positive team. We get on well, we enjoy helping our customers and each other. Some of the ladies that taught me some of my skills at local jewellery-making classes later came to work at Honey Willow. They have really helped my business grow. And I hope I've been able to help them a bit too - its been great to see their own creative businesses flourishing alongside their work at Honey Willow.