How did the brand come about?

C: We were friends but we didn’t know each other very well.

K: I had always made jewellery as a hobby since university.  I used to collect antique beads but there comes a point when there are only so many ways you can drape a bead necklace on yourself.! Then somebody gave me some pave diamonds so I started making bracelets with them.  I did lots of School Fairs and gave them to friends as gifts.

C: And then I swooped in!  I was your perfect customer.  I loved those beautiful bracelets with diamonds that you could wear all the time but still felt like something you treasure.  I was frustrated spending money on jewellery that felt disposable.  I’d buy it, wear it for the summer and it would either tarnish or fall apart.

K: Then a mutual friend, Kate, said ‘You two should really do something together’.   I’d finished being a lawyer and I really wanted to do something.  Claire had that itch as well.

C: I had worked at Warner Brothers Records for 10 years as Head of TV Promotions.  It was really fun but after having had children, I went back for a year and then thought, ‘This isn’t for me anymore.’  So we went for a coffee and starting talking about our love of jewellery.  Then we decided ‘Let’s Do This!’ It was a leap of faith setting up our company, looking back.  We were fearless.  But we were at that stage where we wanted to do something.  I was done helping everybody else and I wanted to do something for myself.

K: I’m so glad that we did it together.  It’s so hard to do it on your own.

C: We did months of research and plotting. Talking about what jewellery we loved and what we wanted ourselves.  We were a lawyer and a Record Company girl but we knew what we wanted to do and we had a really clear vision of what we stood for.  We went to Jaipur and found a workshop that we still work with to this day.

Was there a moment when you thought ‘Yes, this is really happening?’

C: We were lucky in that right from the start so many people supported us and liked the jewellery but I guess being the best selling jewellery brand at the Goop shop on Westbourne Grove shop was a top point for us.

K: When Gwyneth lived in London, her kids went to the same school as my kids and our sons became friends.  So through that, we then became friends and we are still good friends now.  She is a force and a half, I so admire her.

C: It was quite a random friendship though wasn’t it?  Maybe that is why you are friends. Kirstie is very laid back and not at all pushy.  The funny thing is that you didn’t ask Gwyneth to put KLM in Goop, she asked you!  Kirstie was staying with her in the Hamptons and Gwyneth said to her, ‘Oh I love the jewellery you’re wearing.  Is that one of your pieces?  We’ve got to have that in the Goop store!.’

K: Yes, there was no hustle!

C: To give Gwyneth her due though, she has a great eye.  It was the chunky star  pendant you were wearing which is still our best seller today as worn by Dua Lipa and Jodie Comer.  It’s become our signature piece with it’s mixed metals and was a real catalyst in getting our business going.

K: She has a great eye but she also puts in the work.  She has this beautiful house in the Hamptons (she always told me houses are the best investment!) and she is completely hands on with GOOP.  She is up at 6, 6.30 and is at the dining table by 7am working away.  And with that she is so clever and funny.  Really, she is utterly joyous company.

What about sustainability and ethical values – are they core to your brand?

C: Absolutely. We offer a range to our customers – so with the chunky gold star, you can either buy the 9 carat gold necklace at over £1,000 or the gold plated version for £375 which given most people’s budgets is the more popular option.  And as we’ve been going 5 years and people like to wear our jewellery every day, we realised that sometimes the jewellery needs to be replated.  So we now offer a service where customers can send their jewellery and we will replate it for them and send it back to them in our sustainable boxes.

K: The idea came when I took the car in for an MOT!  I said to Claire, why don’t we do the same for jewellery?  So we make a nominal charge of £30 for the replating.  We want our customers to keep on using and loving our jewellery.

C: And in terms of transparency of our supply chain,  we have two workshops in India that we work with now.  The first one that we initially started with which has about 40 – 50 people, we speak to them most weeks and then a newer one that was set up by a woman who initially worked at the first one.  As our Holly Willoughby collaboration was so popular, she was able to grow quickly and now has around 8 employees.  We have a really strong relationship with both workshops and know them really well.

Tell us more about the Holly Willoughby collaboration?

C: Holly has been a friend of mine for years – I know her from when I used to take the bands to their tv interviews.  She came over for dinner and I gave her some Angel Wing earrings and that December she put it on IG, saying my friend has just started her jewellery business  We were in the midst of setting up, building our website and suddenly we get all these orders!  She has always been such a great champion of ours.

It was actually Holly’s idea that we do a collaboration. We had breakfast and she came prepared with all these ideas and mood boards.

K: She loves a mood board, does Holly!

C: She was just setting up her own brand Wild Moon and she wanted to do something celestial inspired which fitted in really well with our brand.  It was actually a lovely design process together, super quick and hands on as she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

Which are your favourites pieces from the brand?

C: The strawberry pendant, the star and the studs. Oh also the moonstone drops with Holly and the bar hops for that 70s vibe when I’m going out.

K: The Huggie hoops and the Lion.

And which jewellery from your own personal collections do you love?

C: My mum’s old charm bracelet.  I’m slowly taking it part and piecing it all together so that we can split it between myself, my daughter and my sister.  Also a coin of hers that was made from half of her wedding ring melted down, a locked and one of her belt buckles. My mum was a real magpie when it came to jewellery and I’ve definitely inherited it from her!

K: My lion.  I’ve vintage and it’s been everywhere with me.  In fact one of the reasons that we did the lion for the collection was because I was so worried about losing this one.  I also love a bamboo gold bracelet that I bought when I graduated from university. I thought ‘Well done me!’ and I love it, it’s timeless. I wear all my jewellery with the KLM jewellery too. That’s part of the charm, that you can layer them.

C:  And we’ve just opened an office where customers can come (by appointment only) and try on the jewellery. Then if they want the necklace a bit shorter or longer because it fits with their other jewellery, we can change it.

Where do you live and please can you recommend your favourite places to eat, drink and shop?

K and C: The Red Lion and Sun Pub. It’s the best pub in the world!

C: Also, Trolley by Foever Maheater??, Le Moan, and Italian Deli we get lunch from.  Highgate Flowers do the most incredible flowers.  We use them for our shoots and Holly uses them too.

K:  If we are going into town, we like Charlie restaurant at Brown’s Hotel.  And of course Liberty’s.

C:  Kirstie is the world’s best shopper!

K:  Yes, I love vintage, interiors  and antiques.  A love a bit of Etsy.  I also have found great things on IG.  Especially during lockdown when suddenly all these brands went online.

C: We also love Laura Jackson’s Glassette.  She has great taste and her husband is our photographer.  And Love Your Home, for beds and sofas and chairs.  My sister is their head of Marketing.  We’ve just done our new office up and their stuff looks great.

K: I particularly love the Tobias and the Angel collaboration cushions we have.  Did you see those Christmas Turkish Slippers from Tobias and the Angel, they were amazing!

C:  I’ve never heard of Turkish slippers – is this something I need?!  I also really like With Nothing Underneath and Navy Grey.  Memo Press fo hand written notes.  We started doing them for Valentine’s Day and have kept on doing them.  They are so popular.

Which are your favourite Instagram Accounts?

K: I love @Retrouvius and @Vinterior, @MrsTrufflePig lives in a beautiful home  She picks up a lot of things in car boot sales.  @Mccully&Crane in Rye – Marcus and Gareth sell amazing things and have an incredible eye. @DownwardDog does great vintage. @ScenebyChloe  is also great – we got the marble coffee table in our office from her and she came and delivered it herself.  She is a one man band.  @SulisFineArt has lots of really affordable fine art.  In fact, Claire, I’ve been meaning to tell you that they have some great Indian prints that I think would go really well up on that wall of our office…!

C: Instagram has always been a great shop front for us.  Right from the start my husband who is into photography took some great pictures.

Your jewellery has been worn by Dua Lipa, Brooke Shields and Laura Jackson.  Is there anybody else you would like to see wearing it?

C and K: Kate Middleton, Olivia Coleman and Sienna Miller would be great.

What are your onwards plans for the company?

K: We would really like to start scaling up and going global.  Entering the US market for example. We’ve also got new collections coming this autumn based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a limited edition collection, plus more collaborations planned.

C: We’ve started the year so well with being stocked in our dream retailer, Liberty’s (it will be available there from end of April) and with our new office.  The world is our limit!