Celebrating 10 years of Stockport Jewellery School

Walk through the Underbank, and just under the bridge along the stretch of indie bars and cafés, you'll find a shopfront full of gorgeous silver jewellery and trinkets. Those with magpie eyes will be drawn to the cabinets adorned with beautifully crafted rings, earrings, pendants and more, but this is no ordinary gift shop.

Enter the store, and you'll discover the wonderful world of SJS Smith Jewellery. Sam Smith's handmade silver jewellery store has delightful, intricate and whimsical designs that make the perfect gift, even if it is for yourself. Venture down the staircase and you'll find Stockport Jewellery School, where she shares her skills and passion by running silversmithing courses, from beginners to more advanced or intimate sessions where you can even make your own wedding rings. It's a truly enchanting and personal experience.

As enchanting as it sounds, the school didn't start out this way. Sam began making jewellery from her spare room with no soldering skills, no stone-setting experience and no financial safety net. She's just marked ten years in the trade, and to celebrate she spoke to SK Lowdown about her journey and story of sheer resilience that has made the school what it is today.

Starting from scratch

There was no bank of mum and dad, no investors or grants. For six years, Sam worked a full-time job to cover the mortgage and bills, coming home to then put full-time hours into the jewellery business on the side. Evenings were spent making pieces in front of the TV; weekends were for running workshops, updating the website and prepping stock. Every penny the business made went straight back into buying tools and materials.

Sam had successfully secured a space to run the school on the A6, but then the landlord decided to sell the building, giving her just six weeks' notice. With classes fully booked, closing wasn't an option, but after a stressful couple of weeks the forced move turned into a blessing in disguise leading her to a newly refurbished studio on the Underbank, and a grotto-like basement for the workshop that's part of Stockport's historic tunnels. It was the perfect location and in September 2023, she moved the school and shop to their current home.

A labour of love

The workshop you'll find below the shop was all put together sustainably by Sam, who sourced the furnishings from second-hand outlets, Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and Freecycle, with a lot of determination along the way. The now-famous ceiling light installation in the workshop, which people regularly ask about buying, exists because Sam couldn't afford an electrician to replace the strip lighting that was there before. What was initially a budget workaround turned into one of the shop's most talked-about features.

When it first opened the shop was close to empty, and many passers by assumed it was a pop-up. Sam made vegan candles alongside the jewellery just to have enough stock to fill them. It's taken two and a half years to build the beautiful collections you'll find in the store today, every piece hand-designed and made in the workshop.

Sam has also been very open about the parts of running a business that don't usually make it onto a shop's Instagram page, and why it's so important to support independent businesses. There was a point where she had just £11 left in her account with rent and bills due. Some months meant choosing which bill could wait and at times she had to rely on food banks to get through. She's shared this not for sympathy, but because so many small business journeys get presented as one long success story when the reality is usually far messier.

Throughout most of it, she was the entire team. Teacher, jeweller, photographer, website builder, marketer and cleaner, all in one, across both businesses. If you've seen a social post, newsletter or poster from either SJS Smith Jewellery or Stockport Jewellery School, chances are Sam made it herself.

Bruce and Valentino

Anyone who's visited the shop in the last few years will likely remember Bruce, the shop dog who greeted customers and supervised classes as Head of Wellbeing. When Bruce became seriously ill, Sam kept the business running through physio appointments, medication and hydrotherapy, but he sadly didn't make it. Whilst devastating, classes still had to continue and orders still had to go out. It was a really tough time, but during that period the local community, students and neighbouring businesses rallied round to support her. Valentino, her new rescue dog, arrived after Bruce died and has brought some routine and peace back with him.

Stockport Jewellery School

Ten years on, SJS Smith Jewellery and Stockport Jewellery School run side by side from 20 Little Underbank with the shop above and a fully-kitted teaching workshop in the basement. The core offer is a six-week Introduction to Silversmithing course, capped at eight students so everyone gets individual guidance, alongside half-day workshops where you make your own ring, pair of earrings or pendant in a single sitting, with a six-week stone setting course for anyone wanting to go further. There's also bench rental for former students and experienced jewellers who want ongoing workshop access.

Sam said this year already feels optimistic with a fuller workshop, stronger business and for the first time in a while, room to think about growth rather than just getting through the month. She's also learning to delegate rather than doing every job herself, which after ten years of running solo sounds like a fairly hard-won lesson.

Find SJS Smith Jewellery & Stockport Jewellery School at: 20 Little Underbank, Stockport, SK1 1JT
Follow: @stockportjewelleryschool on Instagram.

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