Brona loves those sparkling moments

Brona Spencer, jewellery design consultant at The Steensons in Glenarm.

What does your job involve?

I predominately work directly with the customer. Some days I am simply doing straight forward sales but mainly I am dealing with the more specialized commissions. This would be when a customer approaches us to design something personally for them. A lot of this work is for engagement and wedding rings, but it can also be jewellery such as broaches for clubs, anniversary presents, commemorative pieces, things that people like to have a personalised twist to.

I do most of the design work with a CAD software package. This allows me to create the piece of jewellery, on screen, perfectly to scale. I can adjust stone sizes and the finger size. All the things that can have a big visual impact on the piece can be ironed out at this stage, rather than at the bench. The software also allows me to calculate the estimated weight of the finished piece, so the business can give much more accurate quotes at the design stage.

In the past, all the design work was done by pencil drawing, which inevitably left areas open to interpretation. Scale was often wrong and it was harder to get a feel for the finished piece. This advance in technology makes it so much easier for the customer to visualise, as they now get an almost photographic image of the piece before it’s produced.

What made you want to do this for a living?

I have to admit I kind of fell into it. Bill and Christina Steenson are my parents, so I worked part time within the family business during my years at art college in Belfast, just to have a part-time job. When I left college, they had a vacancy for an assistant manager, which I took temporarily to help them out and of course to have a bit of income.

It had been my intension at the time to set up my own ceramic workshop, but the more involved I became in the business, the more I enjoyed it. The design side of things really fed my creative needs and I was surprised how much I enjoyed the business end too.

My long-term boyfriend and now husband Dan Spencer also got involved in the business as a goldsmith after leaving art college at the same time, so it became apparent after a while that neither of us were going anywhere!

What is your favourite part of the job?

I love seeing the finished article - half the time I’m as excited as the customer. You create these things on screen, but it’s not until they’ve been made by our goldsmiths and come out sparkling and real that you see why you do it.

And are there any disadvantages to it?

I deal with a lot of the advertising and marketing as well. I enjoy getting involved in how the business is marketed, but it can be frustrating when I am interrupted continuously with phone calls from advertisers trying to get us to advertise in their magazine or on various internet search engines. There is only so many you can or would want to do.

How does the job fit around your personal or family life?

There’s good and bad here too. It can be both great and difficult working with family and it can be hard not to take the job home with you at night, as it is so personal. But if you can switch off the brain, the hours are fine. Retail demands that you open on days you may wish to stay at home, like bank holidays, and it can be long days at Christmas, but that’s just the nature of the job.

What tips would you give anyone seeking a similar career?

Design or art school is an obvious one, but sometimes it’s just as good to get on the ladder as a junior sales person and learn the job from within. The same would be true for the goldsmith side of things. It takes many years at the bench to build up the skills needed, so an apprenticeship is the best way to go.

How do you like to unwind or have fun when you are not at work?

I love getting out for a long walk or run in the evenings with the dog - the fresh air always clears the head. My husband Dan is a keen rock climber so I occasionally join him in that. We go yearly to his family in the Yorkshire Dales where we can get plenty of climbing and walking in, always a welcome break from it all.