Newbridge Silverware Belfast | Competition Time

This blog post is about an undiscovered gem right in the centre of Belfast. When I paid a visit to the Newbridge Silverware store on Upper Arthur Street last month, I was genuinely blown away by the gorgeous fit out,  the customer service and the stunning selection of homewares and jewellery. It was way beyond my expectations.

My lack of knowledge of the brand is a bit embarrassing because I was born and bred in Co Kildare, just 5 or 6 miles from where Newbridge Silverware started over 80 years go. We used to go there regularly to look in the factory shop for cutlery - as they were best known then for providing canteens of cutlery to homes across Ireland and beyond. Gorgeous wooden boxes lined with velvet that used to come out only on special occasions. 

Back when I was hitting my 20's, their first jewellery collection emerged. An absolute genius move for a business that was going to go the same way as the crystal companies at that time. You were no-one without a piece of their on-trend silver plated pieces. Regularly friends would arrive on nights out with the same pendant or bracelet! I still have a couple of their pieces from back then.

Moving to Belfast meant that I wasn't close enough to the brand from the mid 90's onwards and even though the products are available more widely now, I've never really looked at them since way back then - I had a dated, chunky silver impression in my head but I was very much mistaken. 

Last month when Ciara, the store manager in the Belfast shop, invited me in for a look around. She was looking after a customer when I arrived and I was so impressed by the customer service she was giving - and no, she didn't know at this stage that I was there. With a retail background myself, I always observe how employees engage with customers...it can tell you a lot about the culture of a business. (Zara is probably the best example of how not to do it)

So after a good look around, I pulled a few bits and pieces to try on, including this rose gold ring:

Rose Gold Plate Ring - £17

And this rather gorgeous men's watch. The benefits of having larger than average hands and wrists:

Gent's Rectangular Watch with Leather Strap - £51

But actually, I ended up falling for this ladies' watch. I love that it's not full on rose gold. To me, it's how rose gold should be - much more subtle and flattering on the skin.

Ladies Rose Gold Round Watch - £68

I then grabbed a few photos of the home wares while Ciara looked after another customer. And here's where I fell for so much of the homeware stock..

It's not all silver - there's amazing glass ware and crockery, including this boxed set of crystal cut goblets which are only £21. What an amazing gift this would make:

4 Piece Clear Glass Goblet Set 

This cheese board is also gorgeous - it's £38

Ceramic & Wood Cheese Board Set (currently out of stock online)

And the white crockery love continued with this tea set. I really hope they extend this collection to include a full dinner set as I'd love to get plates/bowls etc in the same range.

Whitewear Teapot - £13
Whitewear Cream & Sugar Set - £9

This oblong platter comes boxed for £15 - perfect for the centre of your dining table decorated or with food on it (I'm all for the latter)

Whitewear Tray

But what I kept coming back to throughout my visit was the Amy Huberman jewellery collection which ironically, is all gold. It actually would work so well in silver too but perhaps the fact that it's gold in a shop with mostly silver, makes it stand out even more.

It's a 36-piece gold plated collection inspired by the universe around us featuring motifs of the sun, moon and stars as well as other symbols like feathers and wishbones. There's a little story behind each one and I was particularly taken by the cluster necklace with features all three of the main symbols. 

The most brilliant thing about all of the necklaces in the collection is that there's a little adjuster at the back of the necklace for you to easily lengthen or shorten your necklace so this cluster can be worn as a choker, mid décolletage as I'm wearing it or as a proper long pendant to below the bust. This is a gamechanger for me - it's such a genius idea and I'm amazed that other jewellery companies haven't cottoned onto it yet.

There's a matching bracelet to the cluster necklace, which I tried on below with one of the pieces from the Ti-Amo collection, for which Naomi Campbell is the brand ambassador. It's a chunkier range with lots of stacking pieces and this champagne gold plated bangle comes in a few different colours. 

Charm Bracelet - Amy Range
Throughout, I was taken aback by the prices of the products. They're so competitive and honestly, seem almost underpriced in some cases. Everything comes boxed so it all makes for great gifting.
My only feedback to the company? I think they should rebrand to Newbridge.....leave out the silverware...because it's SO much more than that.

Of course, I made a few purchases and was also gifted some pieces by Ciara in the shop and the good news is that one of those pieces is a cluster pendant like the one I'm wearing above, which I'm giving away here on this blog post.

Newbridge Gold Cluster Necklace - £34/€40

For your chance to win this Amy Gold Plated Cluster Pendant, simply follow the instructions on the attached rafflecopter application and I'll pick a winner on Saturday morning, 21st October. Competition is open worldwide and there's no cash alternative. Winner will be chosen at random using the Rafflecopter App and will be notified by email and announced on this post. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Disclaimer - I was not paid to write this post, nor was I obliged to. I simply wanted to share this absolutely gem of a business. It's my newest go-to for gifts. Some of the items I'm wearing above were gifted to me. Thanks for supporting the businesses that support this blog.