Sheila Fleet, one of Scotland’s leading jewellery designers, is opening her first Gallery outlet outside Orkney this April at 18 St Stephen Street, Stockbridge in Edinburgh.

Her new small boutique style outlet will show her unique range of designer jewellery which is all made in her Orkney workshop.  It seems appropriate that she has chosen the Scottish capital as this is where she spent many happy years training as a designer at the Edinburgh College of Art.

Following her graduation in 1967, she worked 26 years in the jewellery trade before setting up on her own in 1993.

Over the past 15 years she has created her own distinctive style using vibrant enamels on silver. Many of her designs are also set with diamonds in gold and platinum. 

One of her most recent collections, Flagstones, is based on beautiful ancient stones which are found in Orkney and Caithness.  These are used in many buildings for floors and were used most recently in the new Scottish Parliament building.  Texture and form on the stones translated very well into an exciting contemporary range of jewellery. 

She has also recently launched two other new collections called Cascade and Moonlight which incorporate enamel on silver or gold.

Sheila said ‘We are very excited about this project, it is a really big step for us having our own independent Jewellery Gallery on the Scottish mainland.

The Stockbridge area is full of independent specialist retail outlets who run their businesses with pride, similar to Kirkwall in Orkney where many unique products can be found.  I hope we will add interest to this part of Edinburgh which has a rich history of Arts and Craft Galleries.’

Throughout her career Sheila has won many awards in Britain and Europe. However, she feels the challenge is always in what lies ahead and with lots of new ideas ready to develop, she will continue to build on her range of jewellery designs.

Gallery opening times are Mon – Sat 10am – 5:30pm. The gallery is closed on Sunday.  For more information contact the new Gallery at 18 St Stephen Street, Edinburgh on 0131 225 5939 or visit her website: www.sheila-fleet.co.uk