About Us
Fine jewellery, without the folklore
Novara began with one question nobody would answer straight: if two diamonds are identical under every instrument in the room, why does the older one cost three times more? We could not defend the difference, so we stopped selling it. Everything we make follows from that.
A bench, a loupe, and an awkward question
The first Novara pieces were made on one bench in a borrowed workshop, for people who already knew us and were willing to wait six weeks. There was no showroom and no stock — only a grading report, a sketch, and a price built from three numbers the customer could see.
We kept that habit as we grew. The stone is still graded by someone with nothing to gain from the answer, the price is still arithmetic rather than theatre, and the person who sets your ring still puts their initials against it before it leaves.
One bench
A borrowed workshop, a secondhand loupe, and more conviction than sense.
The first hundred
Made to order, one at a time, for people who found us by word of mouth.
An atelier
Setters, polishers and a gemmologist whose job includes telling us no.
Three things we will not trade away
Made by hand
Every piece is cast, set, filed and polished at our own bench. Nothing is finished on a line, and nothing ships without a second pair of eyes on it.
Independently certified
Every diamond is graded by IGI — never by us. We have an interest in the answer, so the answer should not come from our side of the counter.
Cared for, for life
Resizing, retipping, cleaning and re-polishing for as long as you own the piece. A ring worn daily needs looking after; that should not arrive as an invoice.
From first sketch to the box
Six stages, four to six weeks, and one named person accountable at each one.
The brief
A conversation about budget, timing, and what the piece has to say.
Design
Pencil first, then a CAD model you can turn over before any metal is cut.
Choosing the stone
We shortlist three within your budget. Certificates come before commitment.
At the bench
Cast in solid gold or platinum, then seated, set and burnished under a scope.
Inspection
A ten-point check at magnification. Anything short of it goes back.
Delivery
Insured both ways, with its certificate, care card and a sizing appointment.
Inside the workshop
Five stages happen within a few steps of each other, which is deliberate: a setter can carry a stone to the gemmologist and simply ask.
Modelled to a tenth of a millimetre and approved before casting.
Side stones matched for colour and cut, not only for carat weight.
Each prong raised, seated and burnished by hand under magnification.
Three grades of finish, then weighed and measured against its paperwork.
What you are actually paying for
No extra hands
We grow, cut and set through our own relationships. Every hop in a supply chain is a margin somebody has to fund.
Solid metal
Solid 14k gold and platinum. No plating, no filled shanks, no hollowed galleries to save a gram.
Plain pricing
Stone, metal, labour. Ask us to break a quote into those three numbers and we will.
Lifetime warranty
Manufacturing faults repaired free, for as long as the piece is yours.
Experienced hands
Our senior setter has been at the bench for three decades. That is a payroll record, not a slogan.
Shipped worldwide
Fully insured to more than twenty countries, with duties settled before despatch.
What we work in
Each of these answers a different question. Part of our job is telling you which question you are actually asking.
Lab-grown diamonds
The same carbon lattice, the same hardness, the same fire — grown in weeks instead of aeons. This is what most of our clients choose, and what we wear ourselves.
- Identical to mined under any loupe
- IGI certified, every stone
- Roughly 40% more carat for the same spend
- Traceable to the grower
Lab-grown gemstones
Emerald, sapphire, ruby and the quieter stones between them. Colour is judged by eye in daylight, because those are the only two instruments that matter here.
- Graded and matched in daylight
- Cut for colour, not for weight
- Set in solid gold or platinum
- Bespoke commissions welcome
Gold and platinum
Solid 14k yellow, white and rose gold, and platinum for anyone who wants the weight. Recycled stock wherever the refiner can evidence it.
- Solid throughout, never plated
- Rhodium refreshed free for life
- Hallmarked and weighed before despatch
- Recycled where it can be proven
Held to account
1,200+
PIECES MADE TO ORDER
4.9★
FROM 2,300+ REVIEWS
20+
COUNTRIES SHIPPED TO
Lifetime
WARRANTY AND CARE
Small on purpose
Everyone here handles the work, and everyone here will speak to a client.
Founder
THE AWKWARD QUESTIONAsked why two identical stones were priced differently, then had to go and answer it.
Master setter
THIRTY YEARS AT THE BENCHSets everything above two carats, and re-does anything that is merely fine.
Gemmologist
GRADES BEFORE WE OFFERChecks every stone against its certificate and says no more often than yes.
Design lead
PENCIL FIRSTBelieves a sketch catches the mistakes that CAD would only make expensive.
Client care
ONE NAMED CONTACTHandles sizing, timelines, and the occasional proposal that must stay secret.
The part we would rather keep boring
Growing our diamonds instead of digging for them avoids the worst arithmetic of an old industry — but on its own that is a talking point, not a policy. So we made the rest of it dull, specific and measurable.
Recycled metal where the refiner can prove it, named suppliers, packaging that goes in the paper recycling, and a workshop on a renewable tariff. We would rather publish four plain commitments we keep than one grand claim we cannot evidence.
Named suppliers
We can tell you who grew the stone, not merely which country it passed through.
Recycled metal
Gold and platinum refined from reclaimed stock rather than newly mined ore.
Plastic-free packaging
Paper, board and cotton ribbon. The box is meant to be kept, not binned.
The unglamorous guarantees
The unposed hours
Ready to find the piece you will not take off?
Browse what we have made, or tell us what does not exist yet and we will draw it with you.