Sydney store Love Well is giving antique fine jewellery a second life
Image via Love Well Sourced
Words by Kate Streader
“Jewellery is just so personal and evokes so many memories.”
Emrys Cousins worked in fashion for over a decade before launching her own business. Love Well is centred around rehoming antique fine jewellery – though it was by chance she discovered her love for sourcing and reselling preloved pieces.
Although she has always considered herself a “treasure hunter” with a love for heirloom jewellery, it was while she was searching for a birthday present for a friend that Emrys realised how much she enjoyed giving these special pieces a second life.
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Based in Sydney, she sells her jewellery via Instagram where her loyal followers typically snatch up her finds not long after she posts them. Love Well offers a wide spread of pieces including silver and gold rings, earrings, bracelets, watches and necklaces spanning various decades and continents of origin.
We caught up with Emrys to find out more about the story behind Love Well, the pieces she sources and what it is that she finds so special about antique jewellery.
Tell us about you. What’s your background?
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I worked in the fashion industry for 12 years – introducing and building contemporary brands from the US and Europe into Australia and NZ. I worked with the best brands and the best retailers and I loved this role so much and formed some dearly treasured friendships during this time.
How did Love Well get started? Talk us through the process and the challenges.
Love Well evolved from searching for a group gift for a girlfriend’s birthday. I found her a really special antique sapphire and diamond gypsy ring, but in the process just had the best time ever searching. I bought some other incredible pieces which I ended up finding homes for with family and friends and it just naturally evolved from there. I am so grateful to my beautiful girlfriends for their early and continued support.
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I have always loved personal and antique jewellery and have forever been a treasure hunter, always antique and vintage shopping. I used to really cringe when people talked about ‘following your passion’ but Love Well really is the coming together of elements of my previous professional life, combined with what I would do for pure indulgence.
Where did the name come from?
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I was thinking about how I could communicate this idea of loving something long-term, of personal and heirloom pieces rather than fast/mass-produced trend pieces with a short life cycle… Love Well just seemed to encapsulate these elements and values.
How would you describe Love Well Sourced jewellery to someone who’s never seen it before?
Love Well is fine jewellery sourced from all over the world. A Love Well piece is one of a kind; uniquely yours. Love Well is fun! Jewellery with personality but never trendy. A future heirloom to treasure.
What are you most proud of?
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First and foremost, the beautiful relationships I have with my clients. Their trust in me is the greatest privilege and brings me such joy! More generally, I am really proud to find new homes for incredible pieces of jewellery that already exist, that my clients might not find otherwise.
What do you wish you knew when you started?
I was really surprised to find that I quite quickly built a following of clients. I thought that I wouldn’t sell anything until I had a really large following on Instagram but I have learnt that a large following is not what my business requires. It is my loyal clients who are everything to me. A small but engaged, authentic audience; community, is for me, far more important than a large following.
Who do you think is most exciting in the Australian/NZ fashion scene right now?
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There are so many Australian and NZ designers that do an incredible job of being current in a way that is still so timeless and makes me feel great about investing because I know I will wear for years to come. Beare Park and Esse are homegrown favourites of mine that I wear daily and for special occasions, and of course the queen of true sustainability, Maggie Marilyn.
Go-to dinner party playlist?
Really depends on the mood and the season! I love a little Sade, Morcheeba, Moby [and] Jungle. Then as the night progresses I’m moving to something a little more upbeat, Janet Jackson, Fred Again…
Who is in your wardrobe now?
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I have been living in these bias-cut Harris Tapper pants, the Irving Trouser… it is such a great cut and quality and does not pill! [And] knits from Nanushka and American Vintage and Venroy… a lot of denim on rotation (always Slvrlake), Beare Park suiting, always a trench or my vintage distressed leather jacket that I currently have on high rotation… Khaite boots and Adidas sneakers. I don’t really love sneakers… I’d rather be wearing sandals, but eventually, my toes do get cold and you just can’t beat the comfort of running-around days or when I am with my children.
Anything else to add?
A gorgeous client of mine recently messaged to say that the pieces I have been posting had inspired her to go through her grandma’s jewellery box with her, and this just made me so happy. My own grandma’s jewellery collection is a huge source of inspiration for me and I could tell you the story of most of her pieces. Certainly all the ones she wears daily!
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Jewellery is just so personal and evokes so many memories, it’s a really special joy to share with the ones we love so helping my clients to build and add to that treasured collection for themselves, is just so meaningful.
Shop Love Well here.
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