MAEVE’S STORY

“As a multidisciplinary designer craftswoman representing the forefront of Scotland’s international creative stage, I pursue my art of treasure-making with equal devotion to heritage and innovation, in constant pursuit of restoring beauty, excellence and integrity to our lives”

Design Mastermind Maeve Gillies, BA Hons, MA RCA, FSA Scot, is an internationally renowned Artist, Jeweller, Designer & Entrepreneur from Scotland, who has been in love with precious metal and gemstones since she first worked on a goldsmith friend’s bench at age 15. Her glittering 30-year jewellery career includes 15 years in New York City as Founder & Chief Creative Officer of MaeVona, the trailblazing Scottish-themed American engagement ring brand she co-founded in Manhattan in 2005.

With two Degrees in Jewellery and Goldsmithing - including a Masters from London’s legendary Royal College of Art - Maeve has won multiple UK and US Design Awards, including 3 UK RSA Design Awards, 3 JCK USA Design Awards and the prestigious COUTURE Best Bridal Award in Las Vegas. In 2019 Maeve was invited to design the World’s First 22ct Scottish Gold collection for Hamilton & Inches, described by the Financial Times as ‘Scotland’s newest treasure trove’, featuring a stunning signet ring set with white host rock from the Tyndrum goldmine which was acquired in 2020 by the National Museum of Scotland for their Permanent Collection.

Maeve is a dual US/UK citizen, having been invited to live and work in the USA as an Artist of Extraordinary Ability, an American ‘National Treasure’ due to her exceptional achievements in the Arts. She has also designed Scotch whisky bottles for Highland Park, Macallan and Ardbeg, including the sterling silver Highland Park 50yo set with Orcadian sandstone, which won ‘World’s Best Design’ and ‘Best Limited Edition’ at the World Whiskies Awards in London, and the Ardbeg ‘Aoibhinn’, the world’s first all-Scottish Gaelic bottle made in collaboration with Charles MacLean and Dr Bill Lumsden of Glenmorangie for St Columba’s Hospice Life Live Ball, purchased for a private collection. Maeve has been a GlobalScot International Business Advisor for the Scottish Government for 17 years, is a Trustee of the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council in London and the Scottish Goldsmiths’ Trust. She is based in Edinburgh with her American husband and their two young daughters.

Photography Credit - Herald Business News