Stephen Webster MBE (born 1959) is a British jewellery designer best known as founder of his eponymous jewellery brand.

Biography

Born in

Gravesend, Kent Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

, Stephen Webster was educated at Gravesend Grammar School and later at the Medway College of Design (now the

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in Southern England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Institu ...

, Rochester). After completing his training under Tony Shepherd (himself a former Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths), Webster worked as a craftsman for several established London design houses. Among many highly regarded commissions was the honor, on two occasions, of setting the De Beers Diamond Stakes Trophy. After receiving the De Beers honour in 1982 (an accreditation that marked Webster's official passage into the fine jewellery trade) Webster relocated to Canada to design for an independent jeweler. Following a brief return to the UK in 1984, Webster identified a potential market for his jewellery in the US. Webster returned to London in 1989 to establish Stephen Webster Ltd. The brand currently has over 200 points of sale worldwide and flagship stores in London, Beverly Hills, Moscow, St Petersburg and Kyiv. In 2007, Webster was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University for the Creative Arts, and in 2013 Webster was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the New Year Honours for services to training and skills in the British jewellery industry. In 2015, Webster published his autobiography ''Goldstruck: A Life Shaped by Jewellery''. The book features photography by Rankin and Amelia Troubridge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Stephen Living people Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts English jewellers British jewellery designers Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Gravesend Grammar School People from Gravesend, Kent 1959 births