Future HEIRLOOMS

As the great grand-daughter of Louis Breitmeyer, one of the original directors of De Beers, Sophie Breitmeyer has jewellery running through her veins. However, her first memories actually stem from her mother. “She’s a farmer’s wife and not remotely interested in fashion; but has always been like a complete magpie around anything sparkly,” she tells us from her Victorian terraced house in Hammersmith.

“Rifling through boxes last weekend, my sister and I actually found some of her costume jewellery from the 80s and 90s. There’s some amazing stuff. My love of jewellery very much comes from my mother.”

Sophie fulfilled her childhood dream of graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2010. Before that she did a foundation course at the City & Guilds, which she describes as a “tiny art school in south London”. She wonders if the antique vibe of her approach is down to the college teaching an old-fashioned style of art there. “They do the opposite of degree courses, things like stone carvings for restoring the outside of chapels and art restoration.”