Tatty Devine – the crown jewellers of Hackney

Honoured: Tatty Devine

After over a decade creating handmade accessories and attracting a following far and wide, stylish local jewellers Harriet Vine and Rosie Wolfenden have now been honoured at home and are charming the bracelets off many abroad as well.

Victoria Park’s Vine and Stoke Newington’s Wolfenden, who founded Tatty Devine in 1999, were awarded MBEs in the Queen’s New Year Honours List.

The pair are “very proud and honoured” to receive recognition and acknowledge the impact that creativity in the borough has had on their own over the years.

“Hackney is a very vibrant place full of lots of interesting people doing all kinds of exciting things, it has always been an inspiration to us,” says Vine.

“Lots of our friends and our team live here and they are all an important part of Tatty Devine. We are based in East London and I think the spirit of that comes through in the jewellery.

“There are lots of local businesses that we enjoy being around. We most recently collaborated with Louise Gray, who is based in Hackney, by making jewellery for her catwalk. When we started using laser cutters we worked with a company called Capital Models off Hackney Road.

“There are lots of inspiring businesses around like Inition, Fabrications, A little Of What You Fancy and Café Oto.”

Riding the crest of Britannia’s 2012 wave, Tatty Devine created bunting, crown and medal pieces that have achieved popular approval. But it is a new year and new ideas are taking shape.

“Our Spring/Summer collections are full of exciting elements extracted from Indian and Japanese imagery, so expect some cherry blossom in spring. We have also got some romantic [Roy] Lichtenstein-esque pieces for Valentine’s Day and are working on some fun pieces for a festival.”

On receiving their recent awards, Vine and Wolfenden declared that they were “proud to represent British design and manufacturing around the world” and they are set to do exactly that in a big way in 2013.

“We are involved in a very exciting partnership to open a shop space in New York in the summer,” Vine says.

“As well as our Brick Lane and Covent Garden stores, we are now in Selfridges, making bright, colourful, laser-cut name necklaces while you wait. We have made our own little booth there, it is super cute and proving very popular.

“We have lots of lovely stockists now all over the country and the world, including The Museum of Modern Art in New York. We will also be at Bestival this summer!”

Tatty Devine has unveiled a miscellany of carefully crafted jewellery in its time, some of which have been at the centre of controversy with one big brand producing almost identical products. But what are their personal favourites?

Vine says: “I really love the dinosaur necklace, it is such a classic and I am also in love with the trapeze necklace in silver from our Fine range.”

“The Dog on Wheels brooch we made for Belle & Sebastian is one of my favourite pieces,” says Wolfenden.

“Our influences change constantly,” Vine says. “We are always seeing things in a new way and looking and thinking about something fresh we want to create.

“Our objectives remain more constant and are still the same as when we first started to create jewellery. We always strive to make original and exciting jewellery that we want to wear and to have some fun along the way!

“It’s important to keep making jewellery that makes people smile.”