Catherine Jones, founder of Catherine Jones Jewellery in Cambridge, passes away

4 January 2012 | By Laura McCreddie

One of the jewellery industry’s much-loved figures died on December 21 surrounded by her closest family

Catherine Jones was born in Nainital, India on October 16 1916 and was part of an influential Anglo-Indian family. She came to London when her father died from pneumonia in 1918.

She was a gifted musician and worked as a piano teacher at a girls’ boarding school near Brighton where she was to meet her future husand, Dr Philip Jones, at a piano recital in 1936.

The couple moved to Cambridge at the end of World War II and Catherine started her jewellery business when, in 1964, she was invited to one of the colleges’ May balls and couldn’t find any jewellery that complemented her dress.

Her statement: “If I can’t find interesting jewellery, then others can’t either” was what led her to set up her business with £500 inherited from a member of her Indian family.

Catherine took that £500 to London and bought her first batch of jewellery, which she sold from a small counter in a hairdresser’s owned by a friend.

The daring choices she made on that first buying trip were to define the ethos that was to make her and her jewellery business well-known in the industry, as well as her support of her suppliers.

It is an ethos that has been continued by her daughter Vanessa Burkitt and grandson Matthew Burkitt who have been running the business since 2003.

Speaking of his grandmother Matthew said: “We have learned that her life touched many thousands of people. She will be sorely missed but her legacy continues.”

These sentiments were echoed by jewellery designer Paul Spurgeon: “I believe Catherine to be unique among lovers of jewellery and people. She led from the front not driven by fiscal dogma but by a passion and love of the people she chose to work with and I consider myself fortunate to have been one of the chosen few.”

Prior to her death, Catherine set up the Catherine Jones Foundation, a registered charity, to help those affected by the 2004 tsunami. The Catherine Jones Memorial Fund has been set up following her death with a fund-raising target of £100,000 to be used to build a new school for 1,000 children and provide some scholarships.