Home Business Events Bling Fling Diamonds are a lady’s best friend

Bling Fling Diamonds are a lady’s best friend

Trainee jeweller Emily Aked, workshop manager and designer Emmajayne Carter and director/jeweller Richard Franklyn crafting The Bling Fling pieces in their Halifax workshop.
Trainee jeweller Emily Aked, workshop manager and designer Emmajayne Carter and director/jeweller Richard Franklyn crafting The Bling Fling pieces in their Halifax workshop.

Two unique pieces of jewellery worth more than £5,000 in total have been crafted in Halifax to help raise funds for Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice.

Franklyn’s Jewellers have hand-made a two-stone diamond pendant and a pair of floral earrings which reflect Forget Me Not’s branding. The jewellery has been created specially for “The Bling Fling” ladies’ lunch, being organised by a group of local businesswomen in support of the Huddersfield-based charity.

The pieces were personally designed by Diamond Grader Nicky Franklyn then individually crafted by her husband Richard, the company director, and their team of expert jewellers, at the company’s workshop in Halifax.

The items took three weeks to create from start to finish. The process involved rolling down metal sheets to make the pieces, cleaning and polishing, soldering the settings, then setting the stones. In total there are eight precious stones in the pendant which is valued at £4,500 and nine in each of the earrings, worth £975.


Franklyns Jewellers in Market Street, in the centre of Halifax, have been in the trade for 21 years and are specialists at making bespoke jewellery as well as restyling sentimental items left to customers by their loved-ones. Visitors can watch the pieces being crafted at a workbench in full view in the store.

The glitzy “The Bling Fling” – the first-ever ladies’ lunch organised for the hospice, will take place at The Arches, a chic converted mill venue in Dean Clough, Halifax, on Friday, May 4, from noon until 4pm. Guests will be entertained by soul Diva Shorell Jade. After that, there will be more time to sparkle and dance the night away as the fun continues with an after-party until late.

The stunning jewellery will be won by two lucky guests as part of the charity fundraising activities on the day. To claim the big prize, The Bling Fling Pendant, guests will join in a ‘Balloon Pop’. They will each buy a balloon hoping to find a winning ticket secreted inside. All the balloons will be popped at the same time to create an exciting climax to the competition. The earrings will be the top prize in a charity raffle along with numerous others donated by local businesses.

Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice is there to give vital support to children with life-shortening conditions and their families from across West Yorkshire.

Nicky Franklyn, Sales Manager and Diamond Grader at Frankyns Jewellers, who are sponsoring the event, said: “As this is the first-ever ladies’ lunch for Forget Me Not Hospice, we wanted to do something that was also a ‘first’, so we decided to create some completely unique items to donate for the event.

“We’re honoured to be sponsoring The Bling Fling as it’s in aid of such a worthwhile cause and we feel it’s important for businesses to give something back. There can’t be anything more difficult to deal with than when your child is diagnosed with a life-shortening illness. Like so many other people, we have friends who’ve been supported by Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice during the sad loss of a grandchild so we’re very keen to do whatever we can to help this wonderful local charity to continue with their amazing work”.

The businesswomen organising the event are: Jess Lees, Corporate Fundraiser at Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice; Jenny Corbett, Head of Operational Taxes at Lloyds Banking Group, Huddersfield; Karen Bradbury, Director at Bradbury Bros motorcycle parts and accessories of Milnsbridge, Huddersfield; Nicky Franklyn, Sales Manager and Diamond Grader of Frankyns Jewellers, Halifax; Vicki Davenport, Joint MD of The Pink Link distribution company in Huddersfield; Alex Beardsley, Joint MD of ABL Business Ltd, in Cleckheaton; Michelle Crowther, Marketing Director of Crowther Chartered Accountants, Huddersfield; and Samantha Kaye from Farnley Tyas, Huddersfield, who helps to organise local charity events with Karen Bradbury.