Some collaborations begin with a brief. This one began with a gouache painting. And a moment of recognition between two women, who had known each other long enough to trust what the other saw.
Three years ago, Francesca Grima shared a series of her hand-painted designs with Amy Burton, Creative Director of Hancocks London. The paintings had been made “purely for enjoyment,” without any commercial intention. But when Amy saw them, something clicked. “I was struck by them and how much I wanted to see them brought to life,” she says. What followed was a conversation, then a proposal, then — after what Amy describes as “a very vulnerable moment” — a “YES.” The result is a five-piece capsule line, carrying dual makers’ marks, built around exceptional stones.
The relationship between the two houses runs deeper than the collection itself. The Grima family’s connection to Hancocks dates back decades, to a time when Francesca’s parents would return to London each summer from Switzerland to exhibit there. “Those early exhibitions established a connection and friendship that has endured over the years,” says Francesca.
Amy and her brother, Guy, grew up around the Hancocks business, which their father, Stephen Burton, acquired in 1992; Francesca accompanied her parents on their visits to the Bond Street townhouse. The two women may well have met as children — both were shy, Francesca notes — but it is in adult life that their friendship truly took hold. Amy said it in her wedding speech, where Francesca served as Best Woman: “Everyone needs a Francesca in their life.”
Trust shaped everything about how the collaboration unfolded. It was agreed, as Francesca puts it, “quite simply, with a gentlewoman’s handshake,” and from the outset both were clear that nothing would be rushed. Each design was allowed to emerge at its own pace over three years, with every decision considered and executed with precision. “We are both perfectionists, says Amy, “so we were both aiming for the same outcome.” The friendship, rather than complicating the process, strengthened it. “The foundation of trust and honest communication was already there and didn't need to be built,” says Francesca.
The five pieces were made by a single craftsman of exceptional ability — one whose father, it emerged, had worked with Andrew Grima decades ago. “That sense of generational dialogue — of hands and knowledge passing from one era to another — felt particularly significant,” shares Francesca. Hand craftsmanship is central to both Hancocks and Grima, and the series was conceived as a deliberate counterpoint to a world driven by speed and repetition. “It is a celebration of design instinct, British craftsmanship and skill,” says Amy, “and embodies rare, creative talent that simply cannot be manufactured.”
Francesca’s design process is instinctive rather than iterative. She does not produce multiple options for a single piece: “There is usually a strong idea from the outset, and I follow it through.” The capsule collection draws its inspiration from architecture, travel and the character of the stones themselves. A pair of transformable French-cut diamond earrings — wearable as shorter day clips or extended into long pendant earrings, or asymmetrically as one of each — takes its cue from a building by Oscar Niemeyer in Paris, specifically a ceiling of metal plates that catch and disperse light.
A pear-shaped diamond ring draws from a night drive along the Westway in London, passing the Trellick Tower — the diamonds on the shank are set haphazardly, evoking the irregular scatter of illuminated windows across a dark facade.
The dress set is, perhaps, the most conceptually unexpected piece, notes the designer. Its origins are unlikely: Francesca was watching a Western when she noticed the collar clips worn by the cowboys, and began thinking about versatility. The resultant double clip can be worn together as a single piece or separately, with the studs and cufflinks extending the set into formal territory. Crucially, the pieces can be shared between a couple — each wearing a single clip, or one taking the double, while the other wears the cufflinks. “The dress set is not only versatile in how it can be worn, but also in how it can be shared,” she adds.
The 11.15-carat cognac old-cut oval diamond ring presented the series’ most technically demanding challenge, remarks Francesca, who though not in favor of claws in their conventional form, but with a stone of this significance, conceded security was paramount. The solution was characteristically precise: diamond-set French-cut “claws” engineered as entirely removable components, placed only once all surrounding French-cut diamonds had been set, then secured around the stone without compromising the design. “It is a remarkable example of creativity, understanding and technical skill,” informs Amy.
For Hancocks, the stone selection throughout mirrors the house’s love for exception gems: Colombian emeralds, cognac fancy old-cut diamonds, vintage Asscher cuts, and the French-cut diamonds that have become something of a Hancocks signature. For Francesca, the line marks a notable departure — Grima has always been recognised for semi-precious stones set in precious metals, and working at this level of stone quality opened new creative ground. What unifies the collection, she says, is that it sits at an interesting intersection. “Unmistakably Grima in its sensibility, yet shaped by Hancocks’ world of exceptional stones, and underpinned by a friendship and shared history that makes the collaboration feel entirely natural.”