Yesterday Dinny was given the honour of crowning the Queen at Legoland Windsor.

  

The Royal Family wave from the royal balcony at Buckingham Palace. Her Mini Majesty's head piece is one of the resort's most valuable models ever made.

 
Guarded by their very own body-guard, ready for trouble equiped with giant lego handcuffs!

In the International Business Times Dinny was quoted as saying: "(I) don't think any jeweller in England would expect to being asked to make the Crown Jewels in this day and age. So it's an honour and a privilege and I think we're all really excited about this event. Our Queen has nearly been the longest reigning monarch in history. So it's a truly momentuous event and I'm just really proud to be part of it".

Dinny Crowns the Queen!

Dinny is off to Legoland Windsor to crown the Queen! HRH will be on display over the Jubilee Bank Holliday guarded by her own real-life body-guard.


















Dinny and Clare appeared on 'This Morning' on Monday, where they were shown preparing the crown, setting the tiny silver replica with real diamonds.

I was given the honour of crowning Her Royal Majesty with a tiny Dinny Hall crown, designed and handmade especially for Legoland. Nothing but the best for our Queen, so the crown is set with 48ct diamonds!

My new favorite designer Mungo Gurney has the most beautiful collection out this season, this really is the time to make a statement with strong, simplistic design.

Perfect timing as our brand new Almaz collection is hitting our stores next week. This seasons bold prints would look stunning teamed with these Long Almaz Earrings. The repetitive form of this collection has just the right amount of oomph to really set off this seasons prints.

The re-make of The Great Gatsby is soon upon us and, as seen left, the catwalks have been crawling with tasseled trims and flirty drop-waist dresses.

Our Long Almaz Chain would look right at home wound round the neck of a modern day Daisy Buchanan!

I wanted to design a collection which symbolizes strength and endurance, whilst keeping it feminine and with a sensitivity to shape and form. In ancient Arabic and Russian the word Almaz means diamond. This seemed like the most fitting name for this collection which uses the diamond shape as well as the essence of a diamond itself for the inspiration.

Almaz is all the more of a poignant name for this collection as I remembered the most wonderful song by Randy Crawford called Almaz that I will never forget.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St6q3Hm2sDc

One of my favorite motifs to use in jewellery design is the star (and the moon for that matter). I first used these motifs when creating the catwalk jewellery for Rifat Ozbek- way back!

See below..

When you think about stars they make you think of all things wonderous, glamourous and fabulous. The moon is feminine, gentle and magnetic.

I'm delighted to see one of the nation's favourite comedians Mirand Hart looking georgeous wearing my Toro pendant when she hosted the Olympic Ball earlier this month. The Toro pendant is fast becoming a Dinny Hall classic! Miranda was styled by the wonderful Angie Smith for the event and I think she looks incredible. The understated simplicity of the outfit really sets of the statement pendant.

Seeing Miranda in my jewellery got me thinking about all the brilliant comedians who have been fans of my jewellery over the years. To name drop a few Harry Enfield, Kathy Burke, Miranda Richardson, Frank Skinner, Paul Whitehouse and Jennifer Saunders have all bought jewellery from our Notting Hill and Upper Street boutiques.

Not to forget the hilarious Dawn French, who has been wearing my designs for 20 years.

Here she is seen wearing my vintage resin drop earrings.

We're hoping for an Indian Summer,
but Dinny Hall is having an Indian Autumn
anyway..

Hailing from the pink architecture of Jaipur
we are excited to showcase the fabulous
gemstone jewellery by Amrapali for Dinny Hall.

Lemon Quartz, Tourmalines, shards and chips
of Diamond, Rubies, and Emeralds make up
just a few of the exotic gems used in their
jewellery for which Jaipur is so famous.

Come and see the jewellery, now in all of our stores. Prices range from £80 upwards

Going to Notting Hill Carnival? Adorn yourself with some statement Dinny Hall bling, grab yourself a rum and get into the festival spirit! P.S. Our Westbourne Grove shop will be shut over the bank holliday due to carnival madness, but do come and visit one of our other branches as we have loads of lovely new stock in today.

I am really pleased tell you about a new collection called Galaxy which is especially designed for Jigsaw by yours truly Dinny Hall. In fact the Galaxy collection is in 25 Jigsaw stores throughout the UK.

I’ve always had stars in my eyes even as a wannabe rock babe aged 12, when I longed for a pair of loon pants with stars all over them and I still love just gazing up to the heavens on a clear summer night

Stars are right on trend too so hurry while stocks last ….

Friends of Portobello

  I was a little sceptical when a friend of mine told me he was going to make jewellery from silver bits and pieces he had found on Portobello Road. Miles Chapman had been an editor at Vanity Fair magazine in the heady days of Tina Brown and it was during the same era, the late 1980s and 90s, that I used to sell my jewellery in some very classy New York stores. Miles used to take me to the Oyster Bar at Grand Central station, nearly every time I visited and gossip about the celebrities of the time. So his venture into the realms of jewellery making surprised me (in a nice way I might add). Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few years ago, his doctors advised him to do something focussed with his hands as this can help with keeping symptoms of the condition at bay for while. Before long Miles had created some wonderful pieces of silver jewellery from antique chains, perfume bottles, charms, pen holders, tweezers and all manner of trinkets and was selling to some of those very classy stores that I used all those years ago.

  I am delighted to be showing some of his jewellery pieces in an exhibition at Dinny Hall Westbourne Grove called Portobello Plunder until the end of June. You also have the opportunity to own a little part of the Plunder until the end of the exhibition.

On the subject of Portobello Road I do have a special love of the place.  I came to live in Notting Hill whilst still a student and nearly all my clothes came from there; in fact it was the second hand cashmere stall that gave me a taste for expensive knitwear and I think I bought my first Gucci handbag from Portobello.

 

  Sadly, change must come to all things but we should do our best to keep at least some of Portobello’s charm since it is very gradually disappearing under ones very nose! So check out www.friendsofportobello.com if you too want to see Portobello survive and thrive.

Forget Me Not... This Easter

I'm off away now for a long Easter break, which I couldn't be more ready for, it's definitely time to relax!
But before I go I wanted to tell you about my beautiful new Flower rings...

  They are not only exclusive to our Dinny Hall Liberty concession this Easter but they are my pick for styling out Spring too!
Pictured above is the 'Primrose' version of the Flower ring, a twinkling multi facetted yellow beryl surrounded by five amethyst set in solid sterling silver, £365.

The Flower ring is also available in selected semi precious stones:  You can make a ‘Forget me Not’ with blue topaz or a ‘Daisy’ with white topaz.

Or why not be creative and commission another flower of your choice to celebrate Spring in your own style!
The Flower ring is available in any combination of these semi precious stones, price on application:

Amethyst - Pale purple
Blue topaz - Aqua blue
White topaz - Clear
Apatite - Turquoise
Rhodalite - Burgundy pink
Yellow beryl - Yellow

I wish you all a happy time in whatever you choose to do this weekend,
whether it be fun filled, peaceful or both!
Happy Easter all!

W11 en Francais

Over the years I have appeared in various publications focussing on the fact that I really have been selling my baubles in Notting Hill for along time. So Rachel has dug up a few press cuttings to show just for fun.
Much has changed since we first opened the shop in 1992, gone are all the junk shops and small independent boutiques, the post office, the newsagent, the garage and the pub next door where we watched the collapse of the Twin Towers in disbelief.

The transvestite no longer roller-skates by in hot pants led by a coiffure giant poodle and even the was cool celebs (like Hugh Grant and Robbie Williams) that used to hang out here seem to have gone.

It's still all very smart though and some of the new shops are full of very desirable things (202 next door has a fab new clothes emporium down stairs it's no longer Nicole Farhi by the way and I love Theory and Matches of course ) but over all we seem to be going French.

Don’t get me wrong, I love all things French, but I hope that these new people frequenting (a lot of Euro banker types) my patch here in W11 love Dinny Hall jewellery truly a Notting Hill brand with genuine credentials.

Festive Foraging

Festive foraging for Christmas display at Dinny Hall and an excuse to get out to the wilds of the countryside; my little dog Bo, more than enjoyed the walk too!  This year our shops have been decked with goodies from the forest and we have gone to great lengths, even as far as rowing out on the Norfolk Broads to collect Alder firs and such the like.

Prime pickings on the waterside.

These firs (you can just see them in my hand in the above picture) look perfect touched with gold leaf and displayed in our shops with branches of Yew and Ivy.

Oranges with cloves and hand made paper chains, with the burning aroma of Frankincense and Cedar all complimenting the jewellery. We're channeling a crafty, homely, vintage vibe for Christmas at Dinny Hall; comforting but luxe.