Designer Retailer of the Year 2022 · Corbridge, Northumberland
01434 633302 · 32 Hill Street, NE45 5AA
Saunders & Pughe Goldsmiths · Corbridge · est. 1994 Book an appointment
Shop Collections About Coloured gemstones Visit Book an appointment
Corbridge · since 1994 · Rob and Marianne Pughe

Thirty years of coloured gemstones on Hill Street.

Saunders & Pughe is an independent contemporary jewellery shop and workshop at 32 Hill Street in Corbridge, Northumberland. Rob and Marianne Pughe formed the partnership in 1994 and have spent the years since making distinctive handmade pieces around fine coloured gemstones: Royal blue sapphire, peach sapphire, Welo opal, bi-colour tourmaline, rainbow moonstone. National Association of Jewellers Designer Retailer of the Year, 2022. Top Inspiring Independent Jewellers, Retail Jeweller, 2024. CMJ Awards finalist, Autumn 2026.

Book an appointment  → Call 01434 633302
1994 Partnership Rob and Marianne, thirty years on.
NAJ 2022 winner Designer Retailer of the Year.
14 Gemstones Sorted by stone, not by setting.
Mon to Sat 10:00 to 17:00 Hill Street. Appointments preferred.
Saunders & Pughe Goldsmiths shopfront, aubergine fascia with antique-gold wordmark, 32 Hill Street, Corbridge
32 Hill Street · Corbridge · NE45 5AA The Hill Street shopfront, near Corbridge Roman Town.
2022 Designer Retailer of the Year National Association of Jewellers
2024 Top Inspiring Independent Jewellers Retail Jeweller
2026 Shortlisted Finalist, to be announced Autumn 2026 Company of Master Jewellers Awards
Shop · four lines

Four things an independent goldsmith ought to do properly.

Coloured-gemstone fine jewellery designed and hand-made in the Hill Street workshop, engagement and wedding rings (coloured stone or diamond), bespoke commissioning and remodelling of inherited pieces, and a proper in-house bench for repairs, valuations and pearl re-stringing.

01 · Coloured gemstones

Sapphire, opal, tourmaline, moonstone. Stones picked first.

The shop sorts by fourteen gemstones, Amethyst through Zircon, because that is how we actually buy. A coloured-stone customer chooses the rough before the setting. Our gemstone gallery covers the four corundum reds, the Australian and Welo opals, the bi-colour tourmalines and the rainbow moonstones, and the workshop sets them in silver, 9ct and 18ct gold and platinum. Diamonds are graded and certificated. Coloured stones are chosen by hand at the wholesale floors and matched against the design.

02 · Engagement & commitment

Coloured-stone engagement rings, alongside the classical diamond.

A growing share of engagement enquiries arrive asking for a coloured stone instead of a diamond. Sapphire is the most common (Royal, cornflower, peach, padparadscha); ruby, emerald, spinel and tourmaline come next. We carry the diamond classics too, with all centre stones from FairTrade Gold mounts and full grading paperwork. Commitment rings and wedding bands are made to match across silver, gold and platinum. Most rings start with an appointment.

03 · Bespoke & remodelling

Inherited pieces remade into something you would actually wear.

A bespoke commission at Saunders & Pughe starts with the stones, not the budget. Bring an inherited ring, a tired tennis bracelet or a grandmother’s brooch and we unset, sort and remake using the original gold and stones. Sketches, CAD renders and wax models all reviewed with you before we cast. The Saunders & Pughe own collections (Orbit, Seedpod, Snowflake, Woodland, Pebble, Luna) act as a design library if you want to start from a shape we already make. Typical lead time eight to twelve weeks.

04 · Repairs, valuations, pearls

Re-tipping, re-shanking, re-stringing, written valuations.

In-house repairs across the full bench: claw re-tipping, shank work, soldering, rhodium plating, hinge and clasp rebuilds, watch battery and strap fitting. Pearl re-stringing on knotted silk in any length. Written valuations for insurance, probate and resale, signed and dated. Engraving by hand and by machine. Free gift wrapping. Sentimental work is the kind we do most carefully.

From the workshop

Three pieces, made on Hill Street.

One from the Snowflake collection, one from Seedpod, and a brown-diamond three-stone ring from the one-of-a-kind cabinet. The rest of the work rotates through the shop on Hill Street.

Saunders & Pughe Snowflake ring, hand-made in Northumberland
Snowflake ring 18ct gold · multi-stone setting · Saunders & Pughe own collection
Moonstone peardrop earrings, Saunders & Pughe
Moonstone peardrops Rainbow moonstone · sterling silver · one of a kind
Brown-diamond three-stone ring by Saunders & Pughe
Brown diamond, three-stone Champagne diamond centre · 18ct gold · The Vault cabinet
Thirty years on Hill Street

Rob and Marianne formed the partnership in 1994. The workshop is still on Hill Street.

Rob Pughe and Marianne Pughe formed the partnership Saunders & Pughe in 1994. Thirty years on, the workshop and the shop are still at 32 Hill Street in Corbridge, the village set down inside the Tyne Valley a mile from Corbridge Roman Town. Every piece in the Saunders & Pughe own collections (Orbit, Seedpod, Snowflake, Woodland, Pebble, Luna) is designed and hand-made on the premises by the goldsmithing team. The bench is where the work happens; the cabinets are where it ends up.

There is always something different to buy. Marianne and Rob head a team of friendly and professional staff who obviously love working in a beautiful jewellery shop.

A long-standing customer, on the Saunders & Pughe site

1994 Rob and Marianne Pughe form the partnership Saunders and Pughe. The workshop and shop together in the Tyne Valley from the start.
2000s The Saunders & Pughe own-collection design language develops: nature-inflected work named for what it draws from. Orbit, Seedpod, Pebble, Woodland, Snowflake.
Hill Street The Corbridge shop settles at 32 Hill Street, in the village centre, near Corbridge Roman Town and the Tyne. The fascia carries the antique-gold wordmark we use today.
2022 Winner of the National Association of Jewellers’ Designer Retailer of the Year. The award that puts an independent on the same shortlist as Cred Jewellery and a handful of other British design-led shops.
2024 Included in Retail Jeweller’s Top Inspiring Independent Jewellers 2024. CMJ membership active across the year.
2026 Shortlisted Finalist, The Company of Master Jewellers Awards (to be announced Autumn 2026). Over thirty years on, the workshop still designs and hand-makes every Saunders & Pughe collection piece.
Today Monday to Saturday on Hill Street, 10:00 to 17:00, the same partnership names above the door.
Specialism · coloured gemstones

Stones picked first, settings designed around them.

The shop sorts by fourteen gemstones for a reason. Coloured-stone customers do not buy by setting weight, they buy by the rough. A Royal blue Ceylon sapphire is a different conversation to a peach Madagascan one, a Welo opal sits in a different mount to an Australian black, and a rainbow moonstone goes silver before it goes gold. The Saunders & Pughe gemstone gallery covers each at the depth you would want to know before choosing one, and the wholesale visits and cutting-house relationships are how we make sure the rough you see in the cabinet was picked by hand and not by photo.

  • 01 Sapphire, ruby, emerald and spinel, sorted by colour rather than carat.
  • 02 Opal across the three families: Welo white, Australian crystal, Australian black.
  • 03 Tourmaline, including bi-colour and watermelon, hand-picked from the cutting houses.
  • 04 FairTrade Gold throughout the workshop, with chain-of-custody from mine to bench.
A goldsmith at the bench inside the Saunders & Pughe Hill Street workshop
Inside the Hill Street workshop Designed and hand-made in Northumberland, by the goldsmithing team.
Own collections

Twelve collections, drawn from the natural world.

The Saunders & Pughe own collections each have a shape and a feeling. Orbit and Seedpod are the sculptural lines, Snowflake and Woodland the multi-stone settings, Pebble and Luna the everyday rings and pendants. Each one is designed and hand-made in the Hill Street workshop, in silver, 9ct and 18ct gold, and platinum where the stone calls for it. Browse the cabinet next time you are on Hill Street, or by appointment for the engagement work.

A current rotation. Cabinets change month to month.

Orbit
Seedpod
Pebble
Woodland
Snowflake
Luna
Embrace
Olive
Lavinia
Wishes
Eden
Dewdrop
Enquire · appointment

Tell us what you are looking for. We reply the same day.

Whether you are starting an engagement-ring conversation, bringing in an inherited piece to remodel, booking a valuation, asking about a particular coloured stone, or wondering if a Snowflake ring can be made in platinum, this gets you in front of Rob, Marianne and the workshop directly. Walk-ins are welcome any time we are open. Phone 01434 633302 on a Saturday morning is the fastest route.

What happens next

  1. We read it within the working day, Monday to Saturday.
  2. We propose two or three appointment slots that suit the work you have in mind.
  3. We confirm by email and the chair in the workshop is yours.

Thank you. We have your details and will reply from info@saundersandpughe.com within the working day, Monday to Saturday.

Visit

32 Hill Street, Corbridge.

Hill Street is the main shopping run through Corbridge village centre, a short walk from the Tyne bridge and a mile from Corbridge Roman Town along Hadrian\u2019s Wall. The Princes Street pay-and-display car park is a two-minute walk; the village free car park is five. Newcastle is half an hour by car or thirty-five minutes from Corbridge railway station on the Tyne Valley Line.

Mon 10:00 · 17:00 Open
Tue 10:00 · 17:00 Open
Wed 10:00 · 17:00 Open
Thu 10:00 · 17:00 Open
Fri 10:00 · 17:00 Open
Sat 10:00 · 17:00 Open · busiest day
Sun Closed
Bank hol Closed, plus between Christmas and New Year
32 Hill Street, Corbridge, Northumberland NE45 5AA · Princes Street car park, two minutes\u2019 walk. Open in Google Maps ↗
Frequently asked

The questions Corbridge customers actually ask.

Mined from thirty years of front-counter conversations, engagement-ring appointments, remodelling consultations and walk-ins on Hill Street.

Can I bring an inherited ring and have you remake it into something I would wear?

Yes. Remodelling is one of the things we do most often. A first appointment goes over what you have, what you would wear instead, and which stones are worth re-using. We sketch, then CAD, then send a wax for sign-off before we cast. The original gold is melted down and re-used where the karat matches; if the original is 9ct and you want 18ct we top up with FairTrade Gold and account for the difference. Typical lead time is eight to twelve weeks from sign-off.

Do you do engagement rings with a coloured stone instead of a diamond?

Yes, and they are a growing share of our engagement work. Sapphire is the most common (Royal blue, cornflower, peach and padparadscha all carried), then ruby, emerald, spinel and tourmaline. We have the diamond classics too. Centre stones come with full grading paperwork; coloured stones are matched by hand at the wholesale floors against the design you want.

How long does a bespoke commission take, sketch to collection?

Eight to twelve weeks is the honest answer for most pieces. A simple band can be quicker; a multi-stone Saunders & Pughe Snowflake or Woodland ring with sourced coloured stones takes the full twelve. The schedule covers the first appointment, sketches, CAD renders, a wax model you can try on, sign-off, casting, stone setting, polishing, finishing and hallmarking. We will not rush a wedding date; tell us the date at the first meeting and we work back from it.

Where do the gold and gemstones come from? Are they traceable?

Saunders & Pughe is a FairTrade Gold workshop. The gold has full chain-of-custody from mine to bench. Coloured gemstones are bought from the same handful of cutting houses every year, mostly direct, with provenance for the rough wherever the stone is large enough to merit it. Diamonds are graded and certificated. If the chain of custody on a particular stone matters to you, ask at the first appointment.

Do I need an appointment or can I walk in?

Walk-ins are welcome any time we are open: Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. For an engagement-ring discussion, a bespoke commission, a remodelling consultation or a written valuation, an appointment gets you the right person for the longer conversation. Phone 01434 633302 or email info@saundersandpughe.com to book.