Interview with Diane Hall, Co-Founder of Dower & Hall
Read our interview with Diane Hall, Co-Founder of Dower & Hall.
What’s your career background?
I trained as a jewellery designer, graduating with a BA Hons in Jewellery Design; my husband, Dan Dower, also trained in jewellery design and is a qualified gemmologist.
We founded Dower & Hall in 1990, so rather terrifyingly we have now been doing this for over 35 years! We started as two designers and makers and have grown the business through many different chapters; from our own shops and wholesale to department stores, international stockists and, increasingly, ecommerce.
I am still very involved creatively in the business, because jewellery and design is what I love, however running a business for this long means I have also had to learn an enormous amount about everything from finance and production to retail, marketing and people.
Where did the idea for your business come from?
It really came from wanting to make a living doing what we loved. Dan and I were both jewellery designers and we wanted to create jewellery that had the craftsmanship and individuality of designer jewellery but could also be worn every day. That idea is still very much at the heart of Dower & Hall today – we want our jewellery to feel special and beautifully made, but not so precious that it sits in a box waiting for an occasion.
How did you move from idea to actual business?
Very organically and with far less of a grand business plan than people might imagine!
Truly the start was just us designing and making pieces and then selling them; in those early years you did everything yourself because there simply wasn’t anyone else to do it.
As the business grew, we developed collections, took on staff, opened shops and began supplying other retailers and at various points we have had concessions and stores as well as a substantial wholesale business.
The business today looks very different from the one we started in 1990. Ecommerce has completely changed retail, and we now sell directly to customers all over the world as well as through selected stores and partners.
One of the biggest lessons has been that you never really finish building a business. You have to keep adapting it if you want it to succeed.
What’s your USP?
I think it is the combination of genuine jewellery design and craftsmanship with jewellery that is very wearable.
We have always cared enormously about how a piece feels, its weight, texture, movement and all the tiny details that customers may not consciously notice but which make something feel special.
We are probably best known for our tactile, organic designs such as our Nomad collection, alongside meaningful jewellery and pieces that people collect and layer over many years.
We don’t design jewellery to be disposable fashion. We want someone to buy a piece, love wearing it and still be wearing it years later.
Who’s your target audience?
People who love jewellery and have their own sense of style, rather than simply following fashion. Our customer can be buying a piece for themselves, marking an important moment or choosing something meaningful for someone else.
We also have customers who have been buying Dower & Hall for many years, which I love. Jewellery becomes incredibly personal. A piece can remind you of a person, a place or a particular time in your life.
How do you spread the word about what you do?
These days it is a real mixture. Our website and digital marketing are hugely important, alongside social media, PR, email outreach and our relationships with retailers and marketplaces. We also have our Glasgow store, which gives us that invaluable direct relationship with customers.
What has changed enormously is how many different places a customer might discover you. Someone might see us on Instagram, read about us online, find us through Google, discover a piece in a department store and then eventually buy directly from us.
It means brands need to tell a very consistent story wherever the customer finds them.
What’s been your most successful marketing strategy?
Probably not one single campaign but by building a recognisable design and staying consistent with it. It is very tempting in jewellery to chase every trend, particularly now when you can see instantly what is selling online, but some of our strongest collections have come from developing ideas that are very recognisably Dower & Hall.
Digital marketing has obviously become enormously important to us, but ultimately it works best when the product itself is distinctive. A great advert can bring somebody to your website once. A product they genuinely love can bring them back for years.
What’s been the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome?
Constant change. Retail has transformed beyond recognition during the time we have been in business. We’ve lived through recessions, the rise and decline of department stores, the enormous shift to ecommerce, Covid, rapidly increasing costs and now another huge technological shift with AI.
There have definitely been moments when it would have been easier to stop. But running a business for 35 years teaches you that very little stays the same. You have to be willing to question what worked before and change direction without losing sight of what made the business special in the first place.
I think resilience is probably one of the least glamorous but most important parts of entrepreneurship.
And your proudest moment so far?
There have been some wonderful milestones, but I think what makes me proudest is simply that Dower & Hall is still here, still independent and still creating jewellery after more than 35 years.
We have pieces being worn by customers who first discovered us decades ago, and we now sometimes meet the next generation of their families. There is something incredibly satisfying about knowing that something you drew or made has become part of somebody else’s life.
Why is work so important to you?
Because creativity is such a fundamental part of who I am. I still get genuinely excited by a new design, a new collection or seeing an idea finally become a finished piece of jewellery.
Running the company can be demanding and there are certainly days when I would happily hand over the spreadsheets and just sit at a bench designing! But I don’t think I would ever want to stop creating.
Work also gives me independence, purpose and the satisfaction of building something tangible.
Who inspires you?
I am inspired by creative people who have managed to retain a very strong identity over a long career. I’m also increasingly inspired by younger entrepreneurs. They often approach business completely differently and aren’t burdened by the idea that things have to be done in the way they’ve always been done. After 35 years in business, being willing to learn from people younger than you is probably quite important!
And I’m inspired by the people around me. Dan and I have worked together since the beginning, and we have a team with very different skills and perspectives. A good idea can come from anywhere.
How do you balance your work with your family?
I’m not sure I have ever achieved the mythical perfect balance! When you own a business, particularly one you have built yourself, there isn’t always a neat dividing line between work and home. Dan and I also founded the business together, so inevitably the two worlds overlap.
I’ve learned that balance isn’t necessarily about giving everything equal time every day. Sometimes the business needs more of you and sometimes your family does. I think the important thing is recognising when you need to shift your attention and accepting that you cannot do everything perfectly all of the time.
What are your three top pieces of advice for someone wanting to do something similar?
1) Make something genuinely distinctive
It has never been easier to start a business, but that also means there is an enormous amount of choice. Ask yourself why somebody should choose you. Don’t simply copy what appears to be working for somebody else. Your point of difference is ultimately one of your greatest assets.
2) Know your numbers
Creativity and passion are wonderful, but neither will rescue a business that doesn’t make money. Understand your margins, your costs and your cash flow. I wish somebody had drummed that into me when I was a young designer! You don’t need to love spreadsheets, but you do need to understand what they are telling you.
3) Be prepared to change – without losing sight of who you are
The way we sell jewellery today bears almost no resemblance to the way we sold it when we started in 1990. If we had refused to change, Dower & Hall wouldn’t still be here. Technology changes, customers change and markets change. Adapt quickly, keep learning and don’t become too attached to the way you have always done things, but at the same time, protect the thing that makes your business yours.
Perhaps the unofficial fourth piece of advice is: keep going. There will be difficult years, mistakes and moments when you wonder why on earth you started. Building something worthwhile takes much longer than Instagram would have you believe.
Find out more about Dower & Hall.
