Despite growing up surrounded by her parents' mineral collection, it wasn't until Susi studied for the Diploma in Gemmology at Gem-A – the Gemmologicial Association of Great Britain that she discovered her true passion. After completing her gemmological training, intoxicated by the mixture of geeky science and aesthetically beautiful natural wonders the passion for gemstones and crystals was ignited. To delve deeper, Susi embarked on two life-changing field trips to Sri Lanka and Tanzania with the Scottish Gemmological Association to gain a deeper understanding of sourcing gems.
With over 15 years of hands-on experience in the jewellery trade Susi has honed her skills over the years. Starting with a short course in jewellery making at Central Saint Martins this has led her through four years training in Hatton Garden to becoming a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain and studying jewellery design at The Gemmological Institute of America. After working at Holts in Hatton Garden as Stock Controller for three years, Susi felt all the building blocks were in place and in 2015 she launched her jewellery brand named after her passion for gemstones - The Rock Hound.
The Rock Hound is ‘The Gemmologist Jeweller’ known for taking responsibly-sourced, raw materials to create bold, design-led pieces and is a proud Fairmined licensee. Since launching the brand in 2015, Susi has received multiple industry accolades in the US and UK: New Designer of the Year 2017 at the UK Jewellery Awards; International Jewellery London 2017, Editors’ Choice Award for Technical Trailblazer; Top Three among the Rising Stars in the Design Center at JCK Las Vegas 2018 and shortlisted for Professional Jeweller’s Ethical Collection of the Year in 2017 and 2019.
In 2019 Susi was invited to join the team at Fair Luxury, a collaboration of jewellery industry changemakers with a vision for a responsible and sustainable future. In December 2023, Susi was invited to participate in COP28 UAE, to speak about circularity, on the Extreme Hangout stage as part of “Round in Circles: A Panel Discussion at COP28 UAE on the unexpected Extreme Hangout players resolving fashion's final frontier”. Sat alongside four other trailblazers in the field of fashion circularity, Susi spoke about how she is approaching it within the jewellery industry, and revealed her latest sustainable initiative which utilises recycled silver locked away in retired NHS X-rays.