Hi, I’m Paul and I’m the guy behind Haywoods Gems and I thought I would create a short about page to give you some info about me and the site.
So who am I? My name is Paul Haywood FGA DGA and I’m a fully qualified gemologist through the Gemmological Association of Great Britain as I passed their Gemology Diploma and Diamond Diploma (with distinction and I won an award for my score, which I’m holding in the picture).
So how did Haywoods Gems come into being, well I will give you a quick history of how I got to this point.
Haywoods Jewellery 2012 – 2019
In 2012, after working for a company that bought scrap gold and then a pawnbroker, I decided to start my own jewellery business, with the goal of becoming a pawnbroker at some point.
But the business ended up going a different route and would become a reasonably successful online jewellery retail business, seeing around 100% year-over-year growth for the first 4 years.
Then things changed in the political and economic picture in the UK and sales weren’t as good as they had been and after a challenging couple of years, plus changes in my personal life, I decided to wind down the retail business at the end of 2019.
Gemmology Studies 2015 – 2018
One of the things I always wanted to learn more about was gemstones as my past had given me a good knowledge of precious metals but I really didn’t know much about Gems and Diamonds, so in 2015, I decided to change that.
It all started with a 1-day introduction to Diamonds course I did at the Birmingham Assay Office in the February and I enrolled on the Gemmology Foundation Course at BCU to start in the September (I did this instead of completing my accounting qualifications that I had started a couple of years earlier).
I would go on to pass the Gem-A Gemmology Diploma in 2017 and become a Fellow of the Gemmological Association (FGA), in 2018 I passed the Diamond Diploma (with distinction) and become a Diamond Member of the Gemmological Association (DGA), something that I am still very proud of to this day.
I also won the Gwyn Green award for my results in the Diamond Diploma, which I was very humbled to win.
If you want to learn more about my Gemmology journey, then check out my post on How I Became A Gemmologist.
Other Business Interests 2020 – 2024
Following winding down Haywoods Jewellery, I didn’t get a job like most people would, instead pursued some non-jewellery related business that involved content creation such as blog posts and videos.
This turned out to be very good timing with the pandemic that hit the world in 2020!
But I still stayed in touch with the gem and jewellery world by teaching about gems and diamonds, something that I got my first experience of in 2019 and also buying and selling recycled gemstones and as we rolled into 2024, I knew I wanted to get back involved with the industry that I loved so much, so…
Haywoods Gems 2024 – Present
I launched Haywoods Gems, as a way of combining my skills and experience into what is basically my dream business, with the goal of:
- Creating educational and informative content around Diamonds and Coloured Gemstones for both consumers and industry professionals
- Buying and selling recycled gemstones
I also have one skill that I really want to learn, which is cutting or should I say recutting gemstones, so watch this space.
I will also be getting back to making jewellery as along the way I have also done a stone setting course and really enjoy being at the bench but making and selling jewellery isn’t going to be a priority, more of a fun hobby.