Making It All Sparkle!

For about six weeks over November and December I dropped boulder sized hints around a simply stunning green amythest I had spotted in the Byers & Co window. Lucky for me, RG is a man who understands that “There is a gorgeous green amythest in Byers & Co window” means “please buy me this for Christmas, I love it!”.

I don’t usually do sparkly as I’m not a girl who suits a dainty ring; and my budget seldom stretches to the zeros required for large and glistening. But Linda Byers has brought a new type of jewellery design to our small city, with a beautiful range of semi-precious coloured stones as well as the traditional diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds.

Her shop on George Street has been open since April 6^th last year and offers ‘off-the-shelf’ original designs alongside a commission service.  Linda trained as a silversmith and designer at Cardonald College in Glasgow and it was on a visit home to see her Mum and Dad that she spotted the wee shop at the top end of George Street.

“I was working as a florist in Glasgow at the time and although I’d always dreamed of opening my own shop it was still all a bit whirlwind. Even during the month we spent renovating everything it seemed like it might not happen. Then I opened up for business  and thought ‘WOW! I better start making some jewellery to sell!

I should’ve guessed it would be George Street though; it’s like this is my street.  I worked in Aitken and Niven, then in Williamsons the florist and then in Provender Brown. In fact I loved the deli so much I used to travel through from Glasgow when I was a student to do a shift. Eventually I had to stop because my petrol was as much as I was earning! I also had a flat at number 42 when I was younger. I was so, so happy when I spotted this unit – it was perfect for me.”

Linda envisaged lots of people coming in, trying on and buying one of her beautiful, minimalist designs from the cabinets, with maybe a few weekly commissions and some reworking of existing pieces. However, this was not to be! As soon as us Perthites discovered she made it herself we were all over the made-to-order!

“As soon as people realised I made the pieces in the shop they started to ask if I could make one with little tweaks or in different metals or stones. And I always say yes! I want people to love what they buy so I’m really happy to make a variation of what's there."

"I think owning a commissioned piece of jewellery is one of the nicest treats you’ll ever give yourself or a loved one and so I like to make it affordable for everyone.

You can order something like a smokey quartz in silver for as little as £40. It’s unique, it’s yours and it lasts forever.  I do a completely bespoke service as well, so people come in with an idea, I email drawings and we decide on the final design. Other times, people come in with their old jewellery or family heirlooms and I help them reset it into a new design. I really enjoy that – giving something a new lease of life.”

Linda’s self-confessed, guilty pleasure is semi-precious, coloured stones (like the beautiful green amethyst in my ring)!  She sources these stones directly from a Brazilian man called Achim Stobl and his two daughters.  As well as the more unusual colours she also loves their stunning, contemporary cuts that suit her simple design style beautifully. 

“If you ask someone their favourite colour they will never say white and yet we all adore diamonds. I love semi-precious because I think you get so much more bang for your buck!  They are bigger, more colourful and more exciting to work with in a design.”

Linda has been rushed off of her feet since Christmas, with the Festive wave of commissions generating a surge in word of mouth recommendations. She is generous in her description of her acceleration into Perth’s Indie bosom, citing it as ‘the kindness of Perth people’. 

I’d argue that it was Linda herself that has created her luck. Bright, smiley, passionate about her designs and with just the right balance of kooky and creative, she has made walking into 50 George Street a joy. Whether you are in for a browse, a chat, to ask a question or order up a diamond the size of Scotland, you will find her welcome exactly the same. Happy to see you!

In our Small City, it can sometimes take years for a business to become established and yet it seems as though Byers & Co has always been there; part of the Indie family. Her windows are amongst my favourite, with dried flowers in jam jars and books cut into beautiful cases, the artist in her shines through at every changing season.

Our conversation starts down a path about how she ended up designing jewellery but at the ‘I worked as a welder for a stage’ statement I knew it was too good to bolt onto the end of her lovely shop story. And so, she has agreed to be a Big Personality for the one year anniversary of Byers and Co and tell us all her tale of sparkles and joy.

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Find out more about Byers and Co on our Small City Directory