Scotland is quietly becoming one of the most interesting places to find modern jewellery.
Its roots in jewellery design run deep, laid by the likes of pre-eminent silversmith Malcolm Appleby, as well as Dorothy Hogg and Jack Cunningham, who respectively led the jewellery departments at the Edinburgh College of Art and The Glasgow School of Art.
Now, that legacy is expanding its international reach.
“Scotland has always produced exceptional makers,” says Keira Wraae-Stewart, founder of Aetla, a fine jewellery gallery that opened in Edinburgh in 2020. “But I think what has changed is the confidence and visibility of the contemporary jewellery scene.”
Aetla’s gallery in Edinburgh. Photo: Aetla
Scottish jewellers, she says, are carving out their own niches and building followings abroad, aided by a network of galleries, schools and events in Scotland that has grown far more robust in recent years.
Among these she credits Elements Festival, an annual Edinburgh selling fair and exhibition last held in 2023, with raising the sector’s profile, and highlights Craft Scotland’s Harvest, a contemporary craft fair in the same city held for the first time in October 2025. She adds that the Scottish Gallery and a growing number of independent galleries and retailers are helping connect makers with collectors.