DESIGN INSIGHTS INTO OUR ICONIC 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Discover how one of the hottest days of the year inspired our cool Christmas decorations...
The sun was streaming in, windows thrown open, and Robert Welch Head of Design Kit deBretton Gordon was in her kitchen dreaming up her next project.
It was the hottest day of the year when the call came through.
“We’d been designing Christmas decorations for many years,” explains Kit. “But this would be a departure for us. I was tasked with creating a new set of ornaments and the weather wasn’t making it easy to think about winter.”
The sun was streaming in, windows thrown open, and Robert Welch Head of Design Kit deBretton Gordon was in her kitchen dreaming up her next project.
It was the hottest day of the year when the call came through.
“We’d been designing Christmas decorations for many years,” explains Kit. “But this would be a departure for us. I was tasked with creating a new set of ornaments and the weather wasn’t making it easy to think about winter.”
Kit wanted to create something timeless and collectable. Heirloom designs to delight – memorable motifs rooted in the traditions of Christmas past with a nod to the present to delight adults and children alike.
“With the Christmas designs I’d done before, there was no real link between them,” says Kit, whose husband Paul – Design Director at Robert Welch – had the lightbulb moment.
“He suggested 12 Days of Christmas. We realised we could release three designs a year over four years and create something collectable – cherished heirlooms interwoven with the obvious Christmas motifs of holly, ivy and mistletoe.”
A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE
Kit started with the popular song’s iconic birds, and these intricately designed feathered friends have quickly become her favourites.
The plumpest of partridges sits on a holly bough intertwined with pears. Two turtle doves, a perfect heart between them, flutter over an ivy garland. A fat French hen, resplendent with a regal comb, ruffles her feathers in the mistletoe.
Kit’s designs flew off the shelves, and by the following summer, collectors were already asking for the next in the series. So, she set to work creating calling birds, egg-laying geese and five entwined gold rings – another design which brings her enormous joy.
PHOTO-ETCHED TO PERFECTION
“They are stylised, intricate designs and there are lots of weak points to consider,” says Kit. “I remember feeling rather daunted by the feathers because of the intricacies of the photo process. It’s like stencilling.”
For each, Kit carefully sketched her design, then made a prototype to make sure no tiny detail would be lost in the production process.
Each bauble-shaped disc has its own charm. Aproned milkmaids balance pails; ladies dance, caution thrown to the wind; elegant swans swim; piping pipers become trumpets; drummers’ drums are immortalised, and top-hatted lords leap joyously.
Made from the highest quality 18/10 stainless steel and tied with red ribbon, each set of 12 is presented in a beautifully designed gift box.
Hang on the tree, where they’ll twinkle in the light and capture every memory of your celebrations. Weave into a wreath or garland, tie to perfectly wrapped presents, or slip inside a card to wish the merriest of Christmases to far-flung loved ones.
“I really enjoyed doing them,” says Kit. “I’ll never forget sketching the first ones on that scorching hot day. It was lovely.”
Kit wanted to create something timeless and collectable. Heirloom designs to delight – memorable motifs rooted in the traditions of Christmas past with a nod to the present to delight adults and children alike.
“With the Christmas designs I’d done before, there was no real link between them,” says Kit, whose husband Paul – Design Director at Robert Welch – had the lightbulb moment.
“He suggested 12 Days of Christmas. We realised we could release three designs a year over four years and create something collectable – cherished heirlooms interwoven with the obvious Christmas motifs of holly, ivy and mistletoe.”
A PARTRIDGE IN A PEAR TREE
Kit started with the popular song’s iconic birds, and these intricately designed feathered friends have quickly become her favourites.
The plumpest of partridges sits on a holly bough intertwined with pears. Two turtle doves, a perfect heart between them, flutter over an ivy garland. A fat French hen, resplendent with a regal comb, ruffles her feathers in the mistletoe.
Kit’s designs flew off the shelves, and by the following summer, collectors were already asking for the next in the series. So, she set to work creating calling birds, egg-laying geese and five entwined gold rings – another design which brings her enormous joy.
PHOTO-ETCHED TO PERFECTION
“They are stylised, intricate designs and there are lots of weak points to consider,” says Kit. “I remember feeling rather daunted by the feathers because of the intricacies of the photo process. It’s like stencilling.”
For each, Kit carefully sketched her design, then made a prototype to make sure no tiny detail would be lost in the production process.
Each bauble-shaped disc has its own charm. Aproned milkmaids balance pails; ladies dance, caution thrown to the wind; elegant swans swim; piping pipers become trumpets; drummers’ drums are immortalised, and top-hatted lords leap joyously.
Made from the highest quality 18/10 stainless steel and tied with red ribbon, each set of 12 is presented in a beautifully designed gift box.
Hang on the tree, where they’ll twinkle in the light and capture every memory of your celebrations. Weave into a wreath or garland, tie to perfectly wrapped presents, or slip inside a card to wish the merriest of Christmases to far-flung loved ones.
“I really enjoyed doing them,” says Kit. “I’ll never forget sketching the first ones on that scorching hot day. It was lovely.”