Rachel Constantine

  1. Rebus Heads Stateside for LA Trunk Show

    Rebus Heads Stateside for LA Trunk Show

    Following a two-year hiatus, Rebus are thrilled to announce they will be heading Stateside this Summer to host their fifth US trunk show in Los Angeles.  Postponed in 2020, this long-awaited event will bring the Rebus showroom experience from our base in London’s famed jewelry quarter, Hatton Garden, all the way to the West Coast.

    To be held in the glamorous surroundings of The London West Hollywood Hotel on Friday 10, Saturday 11, and Sunday 12 June 2022, Angelenos will be able at long last to book private consultations with the Rebus team, without booking a flight to London.

    By appointment only, clients will have the chance to meet with Rebus signet ring experts Rachel Constantine and Merryn Milton for a one-of-a-kind, personal consultation and browse our feature collection, including the traditional signet ring, for which Rebus is internationally renowned.  Matthew Hart, one of Rebus’s master eng

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  2. History of Clan Badges

    History of Clan Badges

    As our first ever UK trunk show in Edinburgh fast approaches, our thoughts have turned to Scotland. For those seeking inspiration north of the border for a bespoke signet ring design, we take a trip back in time and explore the fascinating history behind the Scottish clan badge.

    The Scottish clan or Gaelic clann, roughly translated as ‘children’, has long-denoted kinship groups who share a common identity among the Scottish people. Since the 16th century, the heraldry, clan badges, and more recently crest badges and tartan of these clans have been officially recognised by the Court of the Lord Lyon.

    Not to be confused with these more modern Scottish crest badges, clan badges can more accurately be described as a plant sprig often placed behind a crest badge in a traditional bonnet or perhaps at the shoulder of a tartan sash. Showing allegiance to a particular clan, these tokens often bore significance to the occupied lands that made up each clan’s ancestral

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  3. Rebus Comes to Edinburgh for First UK Trunk Show

    Rebus Comes to Edinburgh for First UK Trunk Show

    Rebus is excited to announce that our first UK trunk show will arrive in Edinburgh this spring, taking place on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th April at the elegant Cheval The Edinburgh Grand hotel in the heart of the city.

    Bringing the Rebus showroom experience to Edinburgh from our base in London’s famed jewellery quarter, Hatton Garden, our customers in Scotland will, for the first time, get the chance to meet with Rebus signet ring experts Rachel Constantine and Merryn Milton for a one-of-a-kind, personal consultation in their hometown.

    “Our digital consultation process has bloomed over lockdown, but we’ve deeply missed the intimacy of in-person design consultations. Over the last few years we’ve been inundated with requests from clients in Scotland, and we’re delighted to finally bring the Rebus experience to Edinburgh for our first ever UK trunk show.” - Rachel Constantine, Rebus signet ring expert

    By appointment only, one-on-one consultations will allow clien

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  4. Chinese New Year: Year of the Tiger

    Chinese New Year: Year of the Tiger

    As we enter into the Year of the Tiger, we look back to a recent Rebus piece—commissioned via our new bespoke service—which incorporates a tiger into the design. We explore the ancient symbolism behind this majestic animal, and look ahead to the coming years of the lunar calendar for the meaning behind other animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

     

    The Ring

    Looking to create something truly unique outside of our core range of customisable jewellery, our client commissioned a piece via our bespoke service and was invited to a no-obligation introductory meeting to talk inspiration for the design, materials, and style of the ring.

    Following initial consultation and a tour of our workshop, together with our client we expanded the concepts into a fully-formed design.  Final drawings and amendments were then made, before we hand-painted a gouache artwork and produced a wax model to give an accurate representation of the final piece.

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  5. Meet the Team | Perry

    Meet the Team | Perry

    Meet the Team: Master Engraver, Perry Lewis

    Perry has been honing his craft as a master hand engraver for over a decade, after completing his five-year apprenticeship with Rebus, and becoming the first ever recipient of the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Apprentice of the Year Award back in 2015.  From being presented with the award by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal in the hallowed halls of St James's Palace to holding court in the Rebus workshop, come with us as he shares how perfection is something you strive for but never achieve - unless it comes to celebrity impressions...

     

    How would you describe what you do?

    I surface engrave, seal engrave, and ring carve using specially-made tools.  I also provide a source of light entertainment with a variety of witty stories and hilarious celebrity i

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  6. Signet Stories: Lovebirds in Tennessee

    Signet Stories: Lovebirds in Tennessee

    A moving love story plays out among the wetlands of Tennessee, with a one-of-a-kind wedding ring to tell Kara & E’s beautifully unique tale.

     

    As a teenager, the high school biology class was E's safe space: a teacher who cared, tasks that had clear-cut plans, and front-row tickets to the annual Great Blue Heron migration that flew across the wetlands behind the lab.  These regal and elegant creatures - intimidating and powerful - became a talisman to E.  Later after moving to Nashville, and spending time at Percy Priest Lake, they found that same comfort as herons would nest and fly over the reservoir.

    "Every time I see one take off I’m exhilarated."

     

    As fateful happenstance would have it, these majestic creatures were also their future wife Kara's favourite bird.  Spotting them all over Tennessee as their courtship blossomed, herons have become an enduring backdrop to their love story.  The symbolism of

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  7. Death. She comes for us all.

    Death. She comes for us all.

    During the 16th to 18th centuries, nowhere was this message more apparent than on the memento mori jewellery that adorned everyone from wealthy middle-class merchants to royalty. But contrary to popular belief, the symbolism behind these fascinating pieces owes less to the macabre and more to the celebration and veneration of life.

    Looking back to the early 1600s, contemplation of mortality was a prominent theme across art and literature. It was the age of Shakespeare's Hamlet soliloquising over the skull of Yoric, and of vanitas paintings - depicting skulls, melting candles, and rotting fruit - making their mark across the Netherlands and other European nations. With the average life expectancy a sobering 43 years of age, it's no wonder that this obsession with death took hold.

    At this time, memento mori jewellery becomes de rigueur. Translated from the Latin as 'remember you must die', rings, pendants and brooches bearing skull and crossbone

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  8. Gifting a Signet with a Secret

    Gifting a Signet with a Secret

    Big occasions require big gestures, and for Gail and her partner Sophie - both approaching significant birthdays - a matching pair of Rebus signet rings stood out as the ultimate in the art of gifting.

    Embarking on a consultation process with the Rebus in-house team, the couple were given guidance (and a little coaxing!) to create a gift they hoped would symbolise, "timelessness, intrigue, and quality".

    Working together with Rebus, they designed a ring that featured their beloved first dog Mabel standing over a bed of flowers - representing where they both come from - and their combined initials.

    But inside the ring lies something so intimately meaningful and unique to the couple that we aren't at liberty to share: a secret message engraved into the back of the bezel.

    "We can't tell you what it says but

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  9. Signet Stories: James' Nautical Wedding Ring

    Signet Stories: James' Nautical Wedding Ring

    "When I started looking at wedding rings, I couldn't imagine myself wearing a normal band".

    Like his grandfather before him, James opted for a signet ring instead of a traditional wedding band.  A signet ring allowed him to connect his past with his present, and craft a legacy that he could pass down to his son.

    With no familial coat of arms, he embarked on a journey with Rebus to design a bespoke signet ring, choosing instead to detail the story of his courtship and marriage to his wife.

    The couple, who live and were married in Poole, chose a boat sailing on waves - drawn to resemble the lifeboats of Poole harbour - as a reminder of home and to symbolise their love for the sea. Continuing the nautical theme, their initials J and G were crafted into an anchor.  Three stars in the sky, representing husband, wife, and son, sit in the sky above a cherry tree - an ode to their wedding which took place in spring.

    For James, his signet ring symbolises

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  10. Meet the Team | Megan

    Meet the Team | Megan

    Meet the Team: Engraving Apprenctice, Megan Rigby

    Twenty-year-old British Academy of Jewellery student Megan is an engraving apprentice at Rebus.  Taking us behind the scenes of her five-year apprenticeship, she reveals how she’s already making waves with a prestigious award from the so-called Oscars of Jewellery, and how she’s learning to get things right and focus on the improvements, not the frustrations...

     

    How would you describe what you do?

    I’m an engraving specialist, focusing on seal engraving.

    What is it about the job that most appeals to you?

    For me, the most satisfying part of the job is spending a long time on a seal engraving, taking the wax impression at the end, and seeing how w

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