How We Became Leaders In Engraving

Gemz by Emz began way back in 2010 from my bedroom at home! I was working full time (unhappily) in Insurance at the time and was working on the side as a Photographer, having qualified a few years before. I was suffering with terrible Anxiety and Depression and was looking for something to distract me. I've always been a huge lover of jewellery, photography and being creative and so I decided I would try to make my own jewellery. My original designs were mainly sterling silver stretch bracelets and sterling silver necklaces featuring engraved charms, spiritual symbol charms and positive affirmations.

This is me aged 21 and some of my early jewellery designs. 

From Hobby To Business

I had been sharing my designs on Twitter and Facebook and to my surprise everyone was loving them and asking to buy them. The satisfaction and joy I received from being able to create something that would provide such happiness to my customers was like nothing I had experienced in a day job before. This was when I saw real potential to start a business! I had studied Business as a Student and had always wanted my own business, as I hated working for other people. I come from a bloodline of Entrepreneurs so it was inevitable that I would wind up having a business of my own. I didn't want my business to just be a way of making money - I wanted to have a strong bond and personal connection with my customers, I wanted to create items that would bring comfort, joy and last for many years to come. Little did I know this was just around the corner!

Celebrating 10 years in business 2021

Business Innovation 

After around a year of jewellery making in late 2011 I was researching photo products for my best friends birthday and found glass products that could be engraved with photos. I thought 'I wonder if I could do this with my jewellery?!' and that was when I began researching whether photo engraving could be done and spent all of my time reading up on techniques, methods and equipment. I was so excited when I discovered it was something that I thought I could do as it would bring a unique and innovative range to my brand. It was a huge financial risk for me but I took the plunge and it was the best thing I ever did! It really took a long time to practice and perfect my technique but thankfully my background in photography and editing put me at a huge advantage.

Here is me wearing one of my own exclusive jewellery designs 

Not Just Any Photo

Once I launched my photo engraving range I was blown away by the positive response from customers and it quickly became apparent that I wasn't just engraving jewellery with everyday photos - 90% of the time I was engraving photos of people who had sadly passed away. As a Photographer I have always known the value and meaning of a photo but engraving memorial jewellery and gifts made this even clearer to me. This was why in 2012 I put all of my focus into creating the best memorial and gift range for you that I possibly could. Unlike other engravers I would always do my best to engrave even the poorest of quality photos, I would merge photos together and I would restore photos because for some of you I knew these were the only photos that you had left of your loved ones. Seeing the comfort my items provided really made me determined to become the best provider of memorial jewellery and gifts in the UK.

Some of our customer feedback

Handwriting And More

Over the years I have been extremely lucky to have such a close connection to all of my customers. Not only do you all give me feedback, support and advice on things like my website, marketing and packaging but you always come up with the best product and service ideas, some of which have turned out to be my most successful products still today! This is what led to me expanding my engraving range to feature not only photo engraving but also handwriting, baby ultrasounds, fingerprints, handprints, footprints, drawings and paw prints! Phew! I have my customers Hayley and Gemma to thank for asking me to start engraving handwriting and drawings and I have the lovely radio DJ Charlie Hedges to thank for asking me to start engraving on to Pandora Compatible Charms. We have since also launched canvases and cushions as special ways to keep your loved ones memories around you.

The Unisex leather bracelets 

Today

Today Gemz By Emz are the UK's first and leading photo engraving specialists and has grown from being a one Woman band to a team!

We have had a wide range of Celebrity customers including Eamonn Holmes, Stacey Solomon, Jacqueline Jossa, Lisa Riley, Charlie Hedges, Calum Best and Crystal Hefner. (to name a few!) Our items have been seen on ‘Coronation Street’ ‘X Factor’ and ‘ITV Weather’ and we have been featured in ‘Make and Sell Jewellery Magazine,’ ‘The Daily Mail,’ ‘The Sun,’ ‘Havering Living Magazine,’ ‘BBC Radio,’ ‘Metro’ ‘Prima Magazine’ and so many more.

In 2017 Gemz by Emz were hand picked by Dragons Den’s Theo Paphitis to win his ‘Small Business Sunday’ award and in 2019 we were commended as one of the ‘Indie Retail’s’ top 25 small shops in the UK! In December 2021 we were also nominated for Entrepreneur of the year in the Essex Business Awards! All have been huge achievements for us and are a reflection of our hard work and dedication to provide exceptional customer service.

This is me accepting my award at the Houses of Parliament in 2019 and some of my Celebrity customer feedback

We strive to provide you with the best customer service, to be the brand that you can trust and to put our customers first in everything that we do whether you need personalised memorial jewellery, canvases or cushions. Let us help you when you are looking for personalised jewellery and gifts that cannot be found on the high street.

Thank you to each and every one of you for your continued support and custom over the years. Gemz By Emz would not exist without you xoxo