My online shop is closed until July 26, as I will be on a treasure hunt through flea markets in London and Paris.

Europe’s auction houses are one of my favourite sources for some of the unique stones and silver pieces that find their way into my necklaces. I found the antique keys that are in a number of pieces in a secondhand shop in Italy last year. I had them silverplated.

I’m never looking for anything in particular on these trips. I just comb the shops and wait for serendipity to strike. The keys are typical — I fell in love with the shape of them and thought they’d be lovely in all sorts of different necklaces. And they were. (There’s only a handful left.)

I’ll be blissfully phone-free for the trip, but I’ll post some of my finds when I get back.