David Morris, a star-studded London jeweller

The eponymous fine jewellery maison was established by David Morris at the height of the Swinging Sixties, soon gaining international acclaim as the ‘London Jeweller’, with many stars vying to wear his high jewellery creations. The brand gained its crowning glory when they partnered to provide iconic jewellery pieces that played a central role in several James Bond movies. We spoke to Cecily Morris – Global Digital and Brand Content Executive at David Morris, during the Doha Watches and Jewellery Show recently

The David Morris brand was launched in 1962 and is known as the London Jeweller; considering that there are other jewellers in London, why did that name stick?
I think the nickname London Jeweller comes from the fact that my family were all born in London, and we are not influenced by other cultures or other countries in our creations. We just see ourselves as the London Jeweller. Most importantly, we stand out from our peers. We are still a family-run company; third generation now with me, and with more generations to come.

Many stars have worn David Morris jewellery, beginning from Elizabeth Taylor till Janet Jackson and so on; why are the stars fascinated with David Morris?
Our jewellery is colourful; they’re big, impactful and they are all showstoppers. Every single piece of jewellery is handcrafted with my father’s inspirations in mind. I think the celebrities are drawn to it because they all stand out. Every other celebrity has these relationships with the various brands, and they are all wearing the same pieces over and over again. But I think David Morris is definitely different. We stand out from our peers as our designs are unique and special.

Many stars have worn David Morris jewellery, which star and which jewellery piece was the perfect combination for you?
I am just fascinated with JK Rowling and am a Harry Potter fan; I just love the lapis and diamond tassel jewellery suite that she wore for the 2018 “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” UK premiere. She owns that piece as well. We have had Oprah Winfrey, JK Rowling, and plenty of other celebrities who have bought David Morris pieces. They are not just using them for the red carpet but own them. Beyoncé was wearing some of our new pieces – the Fusion necklace and the Mantra white diamond earrings – quite recently in Dubai, as did Olivia Coleman at the Golden Globes. Olivia Coleman is such an elegant lady and the pieces that she chose represented her as a person. They weren’t our big showstopping pieces; they were dainty, special, and they really fit with her character. I think that was perfect.

Beyoncé wore the Fusion necklace at the Atlantis opening?
Yes, and when she wore that with all her other jewellery as well, it symbolised what she is like. It is a cool piece of jewellery, but we wouldn’t think to wear it that way. It was styled perfectly on her and she looked amazing.

Can you tell us about the special relationship between David Morris and the James Bond movies?
That partnership began in my grandparents’ time, and I think they must have had some sort of connection to one of the producers. I do not know the full story of how it came about, but it is highly important to us, and we are still known as the “James Bond Jeweller”, even though they haven’t used our jewellery in their movies for some time. Again, being a British jeweller and James Bond being from London, it is the perfect relationship. We were part of some of the most iconic Bond films, especially “Diamonds are Forever”. This also probably ties in with why we are known as the “London Jeweller”.

You have been expanding worldwide with new boutiques; can you tell us how many boutiques David Morris has right now?
We have 13 points of sale at the moment; the majority of these are flagship, stand-alone David Morris boutiques in various parts of the world. We have also been growing our e-commerce distribution very strongly. We first worked on our own e-commerce platform around 2019-2020, just before the COVID lockdowns began. In the first year of COVID, we launched on Farfetch and at the Net-a-Porter the following year.

What is the future growth potential for the brand?
I think the sky is the limit, really. We have a very good presence in the GCC, but there’s unlimited potential in other parts of the world such as Far East and Southeast Asia, where we are looking to open our first flagship store in Tokyo later this year. Hopefully, soon, we will also see a return of David Morris to the US market.