26. Zelda cave
“I had finally found something that I loved to do. Growing up, I didn’t even know that being a jeweller was a thing. ”
I feel so fortunate that we chose Clapton as our place to settle and raise a family. When we moved here ten years ago, we had no idea that we would become part of such a tight knit and supportive community. My latest interviewee, Zelda Cave, used to live a few doors along from me. We got to know each other as neighbours and as mothers of daughters a similar age. She is also a brilliantly talented jeweller, whose studio sits at the bottom of what is surely one of the longest gardens in Clapton (she is sadly no longer my neighbour – my garden is the size of a postage stamp).
Zelda started life in Wales, surrounded by wildlife and getting snowed in in Winter. Aged eight, the family moved to Oxford. Both of her parents are architects, so she grew up in a creative environment. Her father was always drawing “we were encouraged to draw and be creative and go to galleries and things like that. And both my siblings are very creative”. Yet she had no idea she would become a jeweller when she embarked upon her degree. She left Oxford for Bristol to study graphic design, but was frustrated by the fact that she was being pushed to do everything on a computer, feeling better suited to the print room where she could use her hands. After graduating she took a job with an architecture firm and while there, saw an advert for a jewellery making course:
“I signed up for that, and I went along and there was a group of - to me, they seemed like old ladies, but they were probably the age I am now! - chatting, making silver jewellery, drinking tea and it was just lovely. I had finally found something that I loved to do.
Growing up, I didn't even know that [being a jeweller] was a thing. I had always loved jewellery, but I didn't realise that I could have a career making it until my mid 20s”.
Toward the end of her degree in Bristol, Zelda met her partner Zak: “at the time, Zak and I were both feeling restless, so I got him to come with me [to the jewellery class]. I was like, you're gonna love this course. So he came along and started making jewellery, too”.
Zak recognised Zelda’s potential and so together they decided to move back to his hometown, London. “I found a degree at Central Saint Martin's. We moved back to London and lived with Zak’s mum so that I could study. I also got a job, because obviously I had no grant to pay my way. But I just loved making things. I was the first one in most days, and the last to leave. During my second year, I started working for Barbara Christie who was one of my tutors and an amazing woman. Her pieces could be described as art – beautiful, tactile things. And I haven't looked back”.
While situated in the same building in Hatton Garden, Zelda then freelanced for Shaun Leane, a pioneer in jewellery at that time and probably best known for his work with Alexander McQueen. After that, Zelda moved to the brand Laura Lee, where she remained for a decade as studio manager, making all of the bespoke pieces. It was new motherhood that finally pushed her to start her own brand: “I was always doing bits and pieces of my own in the background and had a very ropey website in the beginning. But it slowly grew through word of mouth”.
Around five years ago, after having her second daughter, Zelda committed to her brand full-time. “It's taken me a while to figure out exactly what my brand looks like, but I feel like I'm almost there. I'm building a new website, drowning in all of that! It's a big job, when you do everything yourself - it can be hard to fit it all in”.
Zelda has two approaches when working on new pieces, depending on whether it’s a design for her brand, or a bespoke piece: “if I'm working on bespoke piece, quite often it will start with a stone, either one that I've been given by my client, or one that I've sourced for them. I'll then base my design around that, which is a straightforward way of working. My other approach is quite chaotic, much freer. If I'm working on a new collection, I will usually make lots of small shapes and patterns that I'll lay out on a flat surface and play around with, pulling in stones, seeing what works. The possibilities are limitless when I'm designing for new collections”.
I love that mix of order and chaos – I feel it sums up the creative process quite well! But I can confirm she is a consummate professional when working on client commissions. At the end of 2024 she made a beautiful ring for me in memory of my dad, using a vintage emerald I’d found and a diamond I had from a broken piece of jewellery. At the start I wasn’t certain how it should look, but the process was a lot of fun and the end result precisely what I didn’t know I wanted (see image below, photo credit: Zelda Cave).
Zelda’s working day always begins with coffee. She’ll take care of emails at her kitchen table (where, I can confirm, the light is gorgeous with a view of that fabulously wild garden), sometimes with a cat on her lap. She’ll then make her way down the garden to her studio. “I have endless lists that I go through, reminding myself what I need to do before sitting at the bench, but not every day is a bench day. Some days I’ll have to sit at the computer and plough through admin”. Her studio is a treasure trove. It’s also got some alarming tools and instruments that wouldn’t look out of place in a dentist’s surgery. In fact, I later learn, some of them are instruments you’d find in the hands of a dentist. So now you know. Jewellers, dentists, not so different.
Living in London is hugely important to her work, she continues: “I've got so many suppliers and services right here on my doorstep, like Hatton Garden, for example. I go there most weeks, and it's wonderful to see what is hidden behind all the doors there. There are incredible stone suppliers there, bullion suppliers, all sorts. While I can do this remotely, if I'm sourcing stones I want to be able to handle them and look at them”.
As with so many of the women I’ve spoken to, Zelda most struggles with being the one person responsible for every element of her business. Building websites, managing marketing, social media, admin: “juggling all of that is my biggest struggle! Trying to teach myself these things to a basic level, in order to survive is a lot, and you always think that everyone else is doing it so much better than you”. As for throwing motherhood into the mix, Zelda says she sees it as a blessing that she is able to be flexible and work around her daughters’ schedules. But it does sometimes mean early starts and late finishes. Her advice to young mothers thinking of returning to work?
“Be kind to yourself. Please don't beat yourself up - it's so difficult. That first return to work, questioning everything that you're doing and your abilities. If you're getting up every day, getting yourself dressed and out the door, you are winning!”
When asked what about her work gives her the greatest pleasure, Zelda tells me it’s seeing an idea in her head or a quick sketch on a piece of paper, transform into something that she can hold, touch, wear and keep: “I love making small things. I love figuring out how I'm going to piece them together and make them come to fruition. Holding the finished pieces is magical -such a tactile process”. There's nothing quite like having an idea or a seed of an idea in your head, then seeing it fully formed on a person. It's an incredible feeling. Zelda says she particularly enjoys showing people that you can have a piece of jewellery that isn't simply a shiny white gold band from the high street. There's a whole world of other possibilities: “for years, so many couples believed their engagement rings had to be a platinum band with a solitaire diamond. There’s nothing wrong with that if it’s what you like. But many are led to believe that's what you're supposed to have. I enjoy encouraging them to break that mould”.
Moving on to other women-led businesses, Zelda loves knitwear by her old friend Nina Capatani. “She recently recovered from a significant illness and she's bounced back with so much energy, I think she's remarkable. She's making again, releasing lots of new work.
In ceramics, I love Sophie Alda. Her distinctive pieces are a bright vibrant blue. So joyful. Also, a brand called Foredays. I've got a few of her pieces that I love, in particular a pair of candlesticks”.
I always close these interviews with a question about dream projects for the future, but Zelda is already realising hers: “I love collaborating. I love it when people get in touch with ideas and stories, like your stone that you chose - the story woven around that piece is just lovely. I get requests from people with stories that are wonderful and I'm constantly surprised by the things I am asked to do. I feel so lucky that people want to reach out to me and work with me - you never know what's around the corner. For example, I recently had a client with some pieces of jewellery that she was given by her mother-in-law, who came from Afghanistan. The stones are from there and the cuts were mind blowing – such amazing shapes, so to be able to make something so special from those beautiful stones that I would never otherwise find, was wonderful”.
You can see more examples of Zelda’s bespoke pieces on her Instagram page. If you’re interested in commissioning Zelda to make a one-off piece, or to shop her ready-to-wear pieces, visit her website.
