Bold and beautiful, Whitby jet has a dazzling future, writes Sharon Griffiths.

THE gemstone so often associated with the gloomy and elaborate mourning of the Victorian age is now just as likely to be found in cutting edge contemporary designs as a new generation discovers its special qualities.

At W Hamond, in Whitby, they know all about it.

Founded by James Storr in 1860, the shop at the bottom of the abbey steps is celebrating its 150th birthday.

Large display cases in the shop show off some of the most beautiful of the original Victorian pieces – large, intricately- carved brooches, necklaces, bracelets, rings – nearly all of them unrelieved black jet.

But in the workshops, which can be viewed from the shop, craftsmen are working on modern, lighter, more elegant pieces, jet combined with other gemstones, silver or even diamonds for a completely fresh look.

On a suitable spider’s web display stand, there are pieces designed to appeal to the Goths who flock to Whitby for their annual festival.

Chris Sellors, whose family owns W Hamond, trained as a jeweller and has been a lapidarist since the age of 12. He said: “I grew up in Derbyshire, Blue John (a form of fluorite) country,” where he still has businesses.

“Blue John is still one of my favourites. I love stone-cutting and I love British gems.”

He has been associated with W Hamond for 30 years and jumped at the chance to buy it in 1997. He also has other jet shops in the town, including the very swish new Whitby Jet Store, Robert and Victoria, CW Sellors and Araucaria.

Araucaria is the name of the monkey puzzle tree from which jet was formed about 180m years ago. “The shops all offer slightly different ideas and designs as we keep evolving and run out of space for new designs,” he said.

Whitby is full of jet workshops, not all of them owned by Mr Sellors, who said: “It works – the more the merrier.

We are all doing slightly different things, so I think it all adds to the interest, brings more people in, so that we all benefit.”

People wore jet necklaces as far back as the Bronze Age.

The traditional craftsmanship has changed little since Victorian, Viking or Roman times.

The Yorkshire Museum asked W Hamond to re-create a 2,000-year-old hand-carved hair curler made of jet. “Our team used exactly the same techniques as the Roman craftsman. It was a real connection with the past,” said Mr Sellors.

But the Romans would certainly have envied the precision laser-cutting and computer- aided design which the workshop also uses to bring designs into the 21st century.

The new Whitby Jet Store is run by Mr Sellors’ son James, 24, who trained as a jeweller in Birmingham. Daughter Rebecca has also just started there.

They also have a shop in the Shambles, in York. Wife Diana is involved in the business.

“It’s a real family affair and I love it,” said Mr Sellors.

Interest in Whitby jet is particularly keen in the US and Mr Sellors and assorted members of his family regularly travel to sell there. “We also export regularly to Australia, Canada and New Zealand. They love this unique piece of Britain.

“The Americans have some jet of their own. There’s jet too in Siberia, China and other European countries. But the best quality of all is found in Whitby. It’s very light, it’s warm and it’s such a tactile gem.”

The metal stair rails leading to the newly-opened tea rooms above the shop have a piece of jet embedded in the post, just where people hold on.

“It finishes it off nicely – that contrast between the cold metal and the warmth of the jet,” said Mr Sellors. “I love it when children come into the shop and I encourage them to pick up the jet, feel the lightness and warmth of it.”

He is passionate about using British gemstones and also passionate about making things. “So few businesses in this country actually make things any more. They buy things in from China or wherever, add a margin and sell them on. I want to make things, keep the skills going.

That’s why I take on an apprentice every year.”

Jewellery in the W Hamond shops ranges from earrings at £9.95 up to £15,000 for special pieces. There’s also a lot of commission work. “But most of our jewellery costs between £100 and £300,” said Mr Sellors.

W Hamond uses only Whitby jet and, as it is found in such a small area, it is, presumably, a finite resource. Mr Sellors sometimes goes out and looks for jet himself. “I like to look, yes, but collectors bring us chunks of it. I particularly like the sea-washed jet. It’s been rolled around by the ocean for so long that the sea will have found any flaws, so that what’s left is usually of a very good quality.”

W Hamond has the ultimate store cupboard piece – a positive tree’s worth at 21ft long – though there’s the dilemma of whether to use it or just keep it on display.

Whitby jet’s boom time was in the 1870s, when everyone wanted to copy Queen Victoria’s mourning jewellery.

Then, there were 200 manufacturing shops in the town, employing about 1,500 people.

By 1900, the boom was over and only a handful of jet workers were left. In 2010, another boom may be about to start.