Sapphire's Story

Sapphire Frills is a small, handmade accessories business based in the village of Mattishall, Norfolk, where every piece is designed and lovingly made by founder Sapphire Plant and her small, dedicated team.

Hello, I’m Sapphire, the passionate and creative force behind Sapphire Frills. From my studio here in sunny Norfolk, I hand draw every design myself, pouring personality, originality and joy into each piece before it’s brought to life by my team and me. What started as a small creative dream has grown into a colourful, independent jewellery brand, proudly rooted in the local community.

We specialise in lightweight, statement jewellery, mainly earrings, made from acrylic, polymer clay, resin and wood. After more than six years working with these materials, I’ve perfected our process down to a tee. Today, we create a full range of products including earrings, hair clips and key rings, all handmade in small batches in Mattishall, meaning no two pieces are ever quite the same. Every design is shaped by my own ideas, the input of my team, and feedback from our lovely customers. We also carefully curate accessories such as glasses chains, claw clips and branded earring stands to complement our bold Sapphire Frills style.

My journey into business began after graduating from Norwich University of the Arts in 2015 with a first class degree in Fashion. I moved to London to work on the design team at Ted Baker, but city life wasn’t for me. Norfolk was calling me home. After just five months, I returned to Norwich, started saving, and focused on building something of my own, something I’d always known I wanted to do.

Sapphire Frills didn’t begin as jewellery, though. My first venture was a menswear brand, designing and hand making t shirts. But in April 2019, I discovered my true passion while experimenting with earrings and Sapphire Frills was born. I can honestly say I’ve never looked back.

Accessibility has always been at the heart of what I do. I originally started designing with my mum and sister in mind, both of whom have very sensitive ears and struggled to wear high street statement jewellery. I believed everyone deserved to wear fun, colourful earrings without discomfort. After countless hours of research, I found the solution in nickel free, hypoallergenic surgical steel, which we still use today as standard for our stud and hook earrings. For those with extra sensitive ears, we also offer a sterling silver option, although my mum and sister happily wear our standard backs, which are a much higher grade than most you’ll find on the high street.

I began by selling my creations on Etsy, landed my first wholesale order in February 2020, and launched my own website later that year. In May 2020, I took a leap of faith and quit my part time job to run Sapphire Frills full time. My sister soon joined the business, and today we’re a team of four, hand making thousands of products right here in Norfolk.

After welcoming my daughter, Zia, in June 2022, the business faced a brief slowdown, but by summer 2023, things were thriving once again. Since our first year, we’ve more than quadrupled our turnover, built relationships with 20 UK stockists, and sold thousands of earrings online, at events, and through wholesale.

More recently, we made the decision to pause wholesale to focus on strengthening the brand and our product offering. Now, we’re excited to say we’ve branched back out into wholesale once again and are currently having some very exciting conversations with several big name brands. It feels like a full circle moment and a really positive step forward for the business.

Alongside this, we have some exciting new projects that we’ve been quietly working on behind the scenes, which we can’t wait to share very soon. On a personal note, I’m also expecting my second child, which makes this next chapter even more special. Balancing motherhood and running a growing business is never without its challenges, but it’s something I’m incredibly proud of.

Today, Sapphire Frills is proud to be a Norfolk made brand, combining creativity, craftsmanship and community. From bold shapes to joyful colour combinations, everything we create is about confidence, self expression and everyday happiness. Whether you’re dressing up or keeping things casual, we believe your jewellery should bring a little spark of joy to your day.

If you’d like to follow along with my journey, you can find us on Instagram @SapphireFrills or sign up to our mailing list via our website. The future feels incredibly exciting, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Lots of love
Sapphire x