Sparking Creativity at Truro High School for Girls!

As a female founded and run business with a desire to build connections within our local community, we thought it would be fitting for us to collaborate on a project with Truro High School for Girls. We wanted to connect with and inspire the next generation of potential female designers and entrepreneurs, by organising something fun and interactive for them to get involved with.

After meeting with the school to talk about what this collaboration would look like, we came up with the idea of a design workshop, where we would give the year 11 students the task of designing a Leavers Necklace (a glittery step up from a Leavers Hoodie!).

We also thought it would be fun for the students to make the workshop a competition, where we would make and gift the winning student their necklace as the prize, so they could get excited about getting involved! From all the designs submitted to us, we agreed that we would shortlist our three favourites at Ethica, and let the students vote on their winning design from those shortlisted. 

The purpose of the workshop was to encourage the girls to get creative, give them an opportunity to get stuck into how a bespoke design commission works in the real world, whilst having fun and encouraging some healthy competitive spirit! And that's exactly what we did!

Their design brief was simple: there was a budget to adhere to and a requirement that the necklace must in some way embody the essence of the school, whilst being appealing to all of their peers.   

The winning design!

We have called it "The Lily Necklace" after the student who designed it, and to whom we gifted this beautiful necklace in 9k solid gold set with seafoam moissanite and lab grown diamonds.

Inspiration Behind The Design

Lily's design stood out to us because it perfectly delivered on all parts of the brief. The design was simple, meaning it would appeal to the majority of her peers (in case they also wanted to buy one as a leaver's momento!). It was within budget, which is important for all bespoke design commissions.

But most importantly, the design beautifully captured the essence of Truro High School for Girls. 

Lily drew inspiration from the school's crest, by transforming the roses into gorgeous settings for the necklace's gemstones to be set in. Moreover, to reflect the school's motto "Luce Magistra", ("let the light be your teacher"), Lily designed the petals to have small gaps to allow the light to shine through.

- From a design integrity point of view, we were not able to carry that design concept into the finished piece as it would've made the necklace too delicate and bendy (quality and longevity are two very important considerations for us when we create & design our jewellery!), but we ensured that the backs of the settings were open to allow light to pass through that way, and ensured the rose detailing around the settings was prominent. -

The Gemstones

Lily chose a mixture of lab-grown diamonds and seafoam-coloured moissanite; the soft green colour is a nod to the school's colours, while the diamonds symbolise "forever" - a sentiment Lily connects to her time at Truro High as an experience she will forever remember and cherish.

We think Lily smashed it and created a necklace that matched the brief perfectly - we couldn't have done a better job ourselves!

A THS Alumna - Our Head Of Bespoke Design

Finally, what made this partnership even more special is that our head of bespoke design, Laura Basham, is an alumna of Truro High school herself, so it was particularly nostalgic for her to go back to her roots and have the opportunity to talk to the girls about what brought her to pursue a career in jewellery design. 

The collaboration went so well this year that we will be holding another workshop with Truro High School next year. We look forward to sharing the next winning design and finding 2026's jewellery design talent!