How Sheila Fleet Turned Edinburgh’s Geology Into an Award-Winning Store

The Edinburgh store brings together architecture, craft, geology and jewellery in a space that feels unmistakably connected to its founder. Rather than placing Sheila Fleet’s work inside a conventional luxury setting, the design translates the same Scottish landscapes and natural forms that have inspired her jewellery for almost six decades.

Andrew Martyniuk, Marketing Director of Visionary Displays and Founder of The Jewels Club, presented the award on behalf of Visionary Displays and The Jewels Club at the ICC Birmingham on 8 October.

The win gives the Hanover Street store its second national Store Design of the Year title in 2026. It received the same accolade at the UK Jewellery Awards in July, only a year after opening.

“Winning two major industry awards for store design in the same year is a wonderful recognition of the creativity behind the Edinburgh shop.”

Sheila Fleet - Founder

Sheila Fleet Jewellery also thanked the wider team involved in the business and the customers who have supported it over the past 34 years.

NAJ Chairman Mehdi Saadian, Sheila Fleet, Martin Fleet and Andrew Martyniuk celebrate Sheila Fleet Jewellery’s Store Design of the Year win at the 2026 NAJ Awards. Image courtesy of the NAJ

A return to central Edinburgh

The two-storey shop opened at 4 Hanover Street on 5 July 2025, opposite the Royal Scottish Academy and moments from Princes Street.

Its opening returned Sheila Fleet Jewellery to the centre of Edinburgh. The brand had previously traded from Stockbridge and held displays within the former Jenners department store, but the Hanover Street address offered an opportunity to create a complete retail environment rather than adapt an existing formula.

The project brought Sheila Fleet Jewellery together with Helen Lucas Architects and commercial interior specialist SPLINTR. Further work came from Ratho Byers Forge, which helped create the staircase, and Adrian Hatton of Rockcraft, responsible for the imposing rock wall rising through the building.

The result is a shop that could belong to no other jeweller.

Behind the scenes of Sheila Fleet Jewellery’s Hanover Street gallery, developed with Helen Lucas Architects and SPLINTR, alongside Ratho Byers Forge and Rockcraft’s Adrian Hatton. Image courtesy of Sheila Fleet Jewellery

Jewellery written into the walls

Sheila Fleet’s work begins with place. Her enamel, silver, gold and platinum jewellery draws from the sea, sky, archaeology, geology and changing light of Scotland, particularly Orkney, where she lives and where every piece is designed, made and finished.

The Edinburgh interior carries those references into the building itself.

Its design takes inspiration from iron pyrite formations and the dark basalt rock beneath Edinburgh Castle. Display cabinets emerge from angular surfaces like crystals exposed within stone. Walls are treated as sculptural forms rather than neutral boundaries, making the jewellery feel as though it has been discovered within the landscape that inspired it.

This geological language has a personal history. Sheila’s interest in rocks and gemstones developed while she was studying at Edinburgh College of Art during the 1960s. She joined the Rose Street Lapidary Club in 1964 and made her first piece of jewellery there.

That early encounter with stone now reappears, more than 60 years later, within the architecture of her Edinburgh store.

Gold-toned display cabinets emerge from the gallery’s angular rock wall, a design inspired by iron pyrite formations and the dark basalt beneath Edinburgh Castle. Image courtesy of Sheila Fleet Jewellery

Two floors, two landscapes

The ground floor has a dark, earthy character. Deep tones, mineral textures and angular structures create an atmosphere shaped by rock and land.

One of its defining features is a sculptural wall display inspired by pyrite. Jewellery sits within faceted forms that project into the room, creating a direct visual relationship between precious metal, gemstone and geological structure.

The experience changes as visitors move upstairs.

The upper level is lighter and more fluid, with softer forms intended to evoke the movement of the sea. Here, customers can explore designer rings and pieces made with Scottish Gold. The Ring Bar offers a more relaxed setting for conversations around engagements, weddings and anniversary jewellery, accompanied by views towards the Royal Scottish Academy and Edinburgh’s Old Town.

Connecting both floors is a staircase set against a handcrafted rock wall extending approximately nine metres through the building. It acts as the store’s central landmark, joining the heavier geological mood below with the lighter, more organic environment above.

“The overall result is a stunning expression of things that I love,” Sheila said when the store opened.

The downstairs gallery pairs dark, rock-inspired surfaces with warm metallic details and illuminated displays, creating an immersive setting for Sheila Fleet’s jewellery. Image courtesy of Sheila Fleet Jewellery

The upstairs gallery introduces a lighter, sea-inspired atmosphere through flowing forms, soft finishes and sculptural lighting. Image courtesy of Sheila Fleet Jewellery

The store as part of the collection

Successful jewellery retail design should do more than provide enough light, security and display space. It should help customers understand what makes the work distinctive.

At Hanover Street, the interior acts almost like another Sheila Fleet collection. The shop uses architecture to tell the same story as the jewellery, with land, sea, stone, colour and Scottish craft present throughout.

That relationship gives the space its coherence. The rock formations do not feel like decoration added to create drama. They belong to the same creative language as the pieces inside them.

The judges at the NAJ Awards unanimously recognised the store as one of the year’s most innovative and creative retail environments, highlighting the relationship between its sculptural design, storytelling and Sheila’s connection to Scotland’s landscapes, geology and nature.

That judgement followed Sheila Fleet Jewellery’s earlier Store Design of the Year win at the UK Jewellery Awards, making Hanover Street a rare double winner within its first full year of trading.

The nine-metre rock wall created by Adrian Hatton of Rockcraft rises through the gallery beside its sculptural staircase, connecting the store’s two contrasting levels. Image courtesy of Sheila Fleet Jewellery

Andrew Martyniuk presents the award

Store Design of the Year was sponsored by Visionary Displays, whose work centres on jewellery showcases, secure display systems and complete retail and exhibition environments.

Andrew Martyniuk presented the award to Sheila Fleet Jewellery in his roles as Marketing Director of Visionary Displays and Founder of The Jewels Club.

“Store design is at its strongest when it feels inseparable from the jewellery it presents. Sheila Fleet’s Edinburgh gallery does exactly that. The geology, movement and sense of place found in the collections continue into the architecture, giving customers a complete experience of the brand.

“I was delighted to present Store Design of the Year to Sheila Fleet Jewellery on behalf of Visionary Displays and The Jewels Club. It was a very well deserved recognition of an ambitious and beautifully resolved retail space.”

Andrew Martyniuk - Founder of The Jewels Club

Andrew Martyniuk, Marketing Director of Visionary Displays and Founder of The Jewels Club, announces Sheila Fleet Jewellery as Store Design of the Year at the 2026 NAJ Awards. Image courtesy of the NAJ

Why the win matters

Jewellery stores are often asked to perform opposing tasks. They must provide security without feeling defensive, offer luxury without becoming intimidating and display a wide range of pieces without losing visual clarity.

They must also compete with the convenience of online shopping.

The Hanover Street store answers that challenge by offering something a product page cannot reproduce. It gives visitors a physical encounter with the landscape and ideas behind Sheila Fleet’s jewellery.

Customers are not simply shown pieces in cabinets. They move from earth to sea, from dark mineral textures to softer organic forms, while the design reveals more of the brand’s story at every stage.

The Ring Bar adds hospitality and conversation to the experience. The views connect the store to Edinburgh. The rock wall gives the building a memorable internal landmark. Together, these elements make the visit part of the value.

That is particularly important for a jewellery company rooted in Orkney. The Edinburgh store introduces the brand to residents and international visitors while maintaining a clear connection to the islands where the jewellery is made.

Sheila Fleet: A Life In Jewellery

The Jewels Club Take

Sheila Fleet Jewellery’s double win shows what can happen when retail design begins with identity rather than fashion.

The Hanover Street store does not imitate the visual language of an international jewellery house. It uses Sheila Fleet’s own references: pyrite, basalt, the sea, Scottish light and Orkney craftsmanship.

That confidence gives the space its character.

The project also demonstrates that storytelling in retail does not need to rely on screens or written explanations. Materials, lighting, structure and movement can communicate where a brand comes from before a member of staff says a word.

For independent jewellers, this may be the most useful lesson. Memorable store design is not necessarily about creating the most expensive room. It is about deciding what the customer should understand and feel when they enter.

At Sheila Fleet Edinburgh, the answer is clear. The jewellery, the landscape and the store all belong to the same story.

Discover More

Sheila Fleet Jewellery’s Edinburgh gallery is located at 4 Hanover Street, close to Princes Street and opposite the Royal Scottish Academy. Opened in July 2025, the two-storey space brings together jewellery, architecture and the geological character of Scotland.

Read the story behind the Edinburgh gallery, including Sheila Fleet’s early fascination with rocks and the creative process that shaped the finished interior.

Explore the Hanover Street gallery, its collections and visitor information through the official Sheila Fleet Jewellery website.

Every piece of Sheila Fleet jewellery is designed, made and finished in Orkney. Discover the wider world of Sheila Fleet Jewellery, from nature-led collections and Scottish Gold designs to the people and craftsmanship behind the brand.