I’m a girl that loves a bit of jewellery – I don’t feel fully dressed without an earful of studs and rings on my fingers. So, I wanted to look for something to accessorise Phoebe and Frank’s collars with when I stumbled upon Staffordshire-based jewellery brand Jessica and James.
Designer and creator, Charlotte, launched her human jewellery in lockdown one, before establishing her pet-based sub-brand in October this year, so your dog can be as glammed up as you!
Charlotte, who owns two bull-breed crosses called Brian and Slim, began making jewellery to relax after working a stressful job. The dog-obsessed jeweller – who used to help out at a local kennels before the pandemic – said: “I was sick of only being able to buy plastic and acrylic jewellery in the shops so would make my own from real semi-precious stones instead. During the first lockdown I thought I’d go for it and show my makes on Insta expecting no one to like anything , but my pieces started to find new homes which gave me the confidence and pennies to push my creativeness and make more lovely things.”
“Using no plastic and being as eco-conscious as I can is the most important part of my business. I’m animal mad too – like honestly would rather be in a room full of different animals for the rest of my life than with people – and so last month thought I’d start a collection of tags for pets so they can look amazing in crystals and enamels too.”
I fell in love with the Jessica and James enamel tags, which come in four different colours and designs – so obviously, I bought all of them. I knew that the Navy would suit Frank to a tee, as he has a vegan leather collar in the same colour. However, I wasn’t sure which of the other tags would suit Phoebe the most, so I wanted to hold each one against her collar to see.
The colours – each with a subtle glitter swirl running through – include navy, pink, light grey and pearl. The 15mm tags all have a different symbol on them, which represent Charlotte’s favourite things: love, stars & the moon and the electricity and power of lightning.
Frank’s navy tag features a crescent moon, with the pink donning an upside down crescent moon. The pearl tag has an adorable gold heart and the light grey – which we decided on for Phoebe – has a lightening bolt. As big David Bowie fans in our household (I even have a lightening bolt tattoo) this one felt right when we held it up next to her. We decided to gift our pink tag in our Instagram giveaway, saving the pearl tag as a Christmas gift for a very special pooch.
Not only do they look gorgeous, especially when they catch the sunlight, but they also serve a practical safety purpose for me, too. In the digital age of dogs dominating Instagram accounts, it can be easy to forget to hide the details on their nametags if it’s accidentally captured in a photo. So, in adding these tags to your dogs collar, you can hide some of your address and number to help reduce the visibility.
These Jessica and James tags cost £7.99 each, and are available via Etsy, or in-store at Josiah and Co, Wedgwood, Barlaston. They’re such a cute and stylish addition to your pets collar,
