{{Short description|British jewellery designer}} {{for|the Vermont attorney and politician|Stephen W. Webster}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox fashion designer | birth_name = Stephen Webster | name = Stephen Webster | birth_place = Gravesend, Kent, England | education = Medway College of Design | label_name = {{plainlist| * Stephen Webster, * Garrard }} | occupation = Jewelry designer | website = http://www.stephenwebster.com }} '''Stephen Webster''' MBE (born 1959<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.high50.com/life/stephen-webster-jewellery%E2%80%99s-rough-diamond|title = High50| date=30 January 2020 }}</ref>) is a British jewellery designer best known as founder of his eponymous jewellery brand.
==Biography== Born in Gravesend, Kent, Stephen Webster was educated at Gravesend Grammar School and later at the Medway College of Design (now the University for the Creative Arts, Rochester).<ref name="ucreative.ac.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/alumni/stephen-webster|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606223627/http://www.ucreative.ac.uk/alumni/stephen-webster|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 June 2014|title = UCA | University for the Creative Arts}}</ref><ref name=Nytimes>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/style/10iht-fjewelry.1.18479932.html|title=New York Times, Dec 12, 2008 - Stephen Webster of Garrard's: The crown hipster of jewelry | work=The New York Times | first=Suzy|last=Menkes|date=8 December 2008}}</ref>
After completing his training under Tony Shepherd (himself a former Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths), Webster worked as a craftsman for several established London design houses. Among many highly regarded commissions was the honor, on two occasions, of setting the De Beers Diamond Stakes Trophy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Stephen Webster Story: Provoking, Iconic, Beautiful |url=https://jrdunn.com/stephen-webster-story?srsltid=AfmBOoo0d1AQYSNdWDZ94buAXrZsZ6ftFdGQhWkOP3UsXrX-QGuUDH-t |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=jrdunn.com}}</ref> After receiving the De Beers honour in 1982 (an accreditation that marked Webster's official passage into the fine jewellery trade)<ref name=":0" /> Webster relocated to Canada to design for an independent jeweler. Following a brief return to the UK in 1984, Webster identified a potential market for his jewellery in the US.
Webster returned to London in 1989 to establish Stephen Webster Ltd. The brand currently has over 200 points of sale worldwide and flagship stores in London, Beverly Hills, Moscow, St Petersburg and Kyiv.
In 2007, Webster was awarded an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University for the Creative Arts,<ref name="ucreative.ac.uk" /> and in 2013 Webster was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Year Honours for services to training and skills in the British jewellery industry.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=60367 |date=29 December 2012 |page=23 |supp=y }}</ref>
In 2015, Webster published his autobiography ''Goldstruck: A Life Shaped by Jewellery''. The book features photography by Rankin and Amelia Troubridge.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Stephen Webster's new book: Goldstruck|url=https://howtospendit.ft.com/house-garden/95283-stephen-websters-new-book-goldstruck|last=Liu|first=Ming|date=19 November 2015|website=Financial Times, How To Spend It|access-date=28 May 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Stephen}} Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts Category:English jewellers Category:British jewellery designers Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:People educated at Gravesend Grammar School Category:People from Gravesend Category:1959 births