The owner of a Belfast jewellers whose creations featured in Game of Thrones has told how its 50th anniversary has helped her to put her own stamp on the business her parents founded.
Steensons was established by Bill and Christina Steenson in Glenarm in 1976, before opening a Belfast store on Little Victoria Street in 1988.
The Belfast shop moved to Bedford Street in 1995, where it remains today, while the business also retains its Glenarm workshop.
It is now run by the couple’s daughter Brona Steenson, who has designed 25 one-off pieces for an exhibition celebrating the anniversary.
Speaking to The Irish News Brona said the milestone had helped her feel a greater sense of ownership of the business since her parents stepped back a decade ago.
“For a long time I did feel like I was just managing it on their behalf as opposed to feeling that ownership,” she said.
“Doing the exhibition and it being all my work has definitely helped me move into that transition.”
Unlike the business’s 25th anniversary exhibition which showcased older pieces, Brona wanted this collection to look towards its future.
“I wanted to showcase where we’re going and what we can actually do, the skill level that our goldsmiths have and what we can produce,” she said.
“It was a really nice opportunity to push ourselves and do something a little bit more elaborate.”
Bill and Christina met while studying silversmithing at art college in the early 1970s.
They set up shop in Glenarm after a tutor offered them studio space, later buying a former chemist’s premises in the village.
Their jewellery went on to be stocked by around 30 galleries, including outlets overseas, before they gradually moved away from wholesale to focus on their own retail business.
Brona began working in the Belfast shop as a Saturday girl in 1997 but had not planned to follow her parents into the trade.
“I did the ceramics degree rather than jewellery. I had no intention of being in the family business,” she said.
“I was only planning to work part-time. But when their assistant manager resigned just as I was finishing college they asked me to temporarily fill in.”
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She eventually took over running the business, which has weathered recessions, Covid and changes in shopping habits over its five decades.
“You just have to keep finding what is working for you and what’s not and keep trying to look at it afresh,” she explained.
Among the business’s best-known commissions was its work for Game of Thrones, a connection which began through Brona’s friend Donna Hughes in the production’s costume department.
“We made a lot of pieces for the first series – a lot of crowns and Daenerys’ brooch pins and things like that,” she recalled.
“We did right to the end of series eight. We did the Queen of the North, Sansa’s crown. We did Cersei’s crown and numerous other little pieces throughout it as well.”
As the series grew in popularity fans began visiting the business to ask about its work on the show.
Brona subsequently secured a licence to sell a collection inspired by the pieces Steensons had made for the production.
“That did really well for a good number of years,” she said.
“And it still sells. It still brings people in.”
Alongside the screen commissions Brona said being trusted with customers’ treasured jewellery was particularly rewarding.
“You feel very honoured that they put that trust in you,” she said.
“They’re handing over pieces that mean so much to them.”
That can mean transforming an inherited ring into something a customer can wear themselves, while retaining the gold and stones that give it its sentimental value.
“To see the delight when they actually get handed over the new piece, that’s what makes it. It’s a really lovely feeling.”
The business is also seeing younger generations follow in their parents’ footsteps.
“Now that we are 50 years in business we are seeing that second generation coming to us,” she said.
“We have people coming in and saying, ‘my mum and dad got their wedding rings from you and we’re here to do the same.’
“It’s nice that we’re now starting to establish that tradition.”
The anniversary also recognises the staff, suppliers and other designer-makers who have helped build Steensons, with some relationships stretching back more than 30 years.
Alongside its own jewellery, the business stocks work by local and European makers, giving customers a wider choice while supporting other small creative businesses.
“It’s important to us that they are, like ourselves, small craftspeople trying to make their own work and sell their own work rather than anything mass-produced,” Brona said.
“We deliberately seek like-minded folk.”
Looking ahead she expects bespoke work to become an increasingly important part of the business.
“There’s definitely more and more people looking for something that isn’t just off the shelf, they are looking for original designs,” she explained.
For Brona the loyalty of customers who value that individuality is more important than expanding into a large chain.
“When you’re offering something very unique it doesn’t necessarily appeal to the mass market,” she said.
“But those customers that you do have are really loyal and really appreciate what you actually are putting forward as a product and that kind of support is invaluable.
“It goes without saying but we wouldn’t be here without our customers.”
Reflecting on the anniversary Brona said her parents had “lived and breathed” the business.
“I grew up with business talk around the table,” she recalled.
“Mum and dad were just talking about the business all the time, 24/7.
“They built this business to such a good, successful standard that I’ve been able to just come in and take that up and run with it and that’s a real privilege.”
While it is too early to say who might eventually take over from her, she hopes the business will continue for another generation.
“We’ll wait and see on that regard,” she laughed.
“Hopefully Steensons will carry on with or without me at the helm.
“But either way, it’s fantastic that we’ve made it to 50.”
