Inside Edinburgh's Award-Winning Jewellery Store

Sheila Fleet’s award-winning Edinburgh store on Hanover Street, where interiors inspired by Scotland’s geology and Orkney coastline have earned two national design awards.

A little piece of Orkney in the heart of Edinburgh has just won its second major national design award. Step inside Sheila Fleet’s Hanover Street store and you’ll find there’s rather more to admire than the jewellery.

There’s a nine-metre-high rock wall, a sculptural staircase and a rather lovely spot upstairs to sit with a glass of something while considering a new ring. Sheila Fleet’s Edinburgh store is certainly not your average jeweller, and now it has the awards to prove it.

The Scottish jewellery designer’s Hanover Street boutique has just been named Store Design of the Year at the 2026 National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) Awards, following an identical win at the Retail Jeweller UK Jewellery Awards in July.

For a company with its roots firmly in Orkney, it’s quite an achievement. And the story behind the store is every bit as interesting as the awards themselves.

A Little Piece Of Orkney

When Sheila Fleet moved her Edinburgh boutique from Stockbridge to 4 Hanover Street in July 2025, she had rather more ambitious plans than simply finding somewhere larger to display her jewellery.

Working with Helen Lucas Architects and Edinburgh-based interior specialists SPLINTR, Sheila set about creating a space that would reflect the natural world that has inspired her designs throughout her career.

The result draws on two very different Scottish landscapes: the rugged geology of Edinburgh, particularly the volcanic rock beneath the castle, and the softer, shifting forms of the Orkney coastline.

Downstairs, the atmosphere is rich and earthy, with sculptural display cabinets inspired by pyrite crystals. Upstairs, the interiors become lighter and more fluid, with finishes that reference the movement of the sea. Here, customers can browse Sheila’s ring collections and Scottish Gold jewellery, or take a seat at the Ring Bar, enjoy a complimentary refreshment and look out towards the Royal Scottish Academy and Edinburgh’s Old Town.

Connecting the two floors is the store’s most striking architectural feature, a nine-metre-high handcrafted rock wall and a bespoke staircase.

It's an unusually personal approach to retail design. Rather than adopting the familiar language of polished counters and anonymous luxury, every element has a connection to the woman whose name is above the door.

A Lifelong Love Of Geology

That connection goes back much further than Sheila’s jewellery business.

While studying at Edinburgh College of Art in the 1960s, she developed a fascination with rocks and gemstones, joining a lapidary club in 1964 and making her first piece of jewellery. More than 60 years later, those early interests remain central to her work.

Her collections continue to take inspiration from Scotland’s natural landscapes, with every piece designed, made and finished in the company’s Orkney workshop.

The Edinburgh interiors, then, are less a departure from her jewellery design than an extension of it. And the judges have certainly appreciated the connection.

Presenting the latest award in Birmingham on 8th October, the NAJ judges were unanimous in their praise:

"Judges were unanimous in their admiration for this stunning, innovative and immersive store. Sculptural forms, discreetly integrated technology, and storytelling, come together beautifully, reflecting the designer's love of nature, and the geology of Orkney and of Edinburgh."

Two Awards And Counting

For Martin Fleet, Managing Director of Sheila Fleet Jewellery, the latest recognition is particularly satisfying.

"We're delighted to have won a second national award for our new store in Edinburgh," he says. "For Sheila to get the recognition for the revolutionary design is amazing."

The double win also makes an interesting point about the continuing appeal of physical retail. In a world where almost anything can be bought online, Sheila Fleet has invested in creating somewhere that offers an experience beyond simply choosing a piece of jewellery.

And there is more to come. Martin has confirmed that the company's next retail development in Kirkwall, Orkney, will take a similarly ambitious approach, once again drawing inspiration from Sheila's love of geology and the islands' coastline.

For now, Edinburgh shoppers have a very good reason to explore Hanover Street. It's not often that the interiors of a jewellery store compete quite so successfully with what's inside the display cabinets.

Sheila Fleet Edinburgh, 4 Hanover Street, Edinburgh.