A LONG-ESTABLISHED Newton Mearns jeweller who has designed pieces for The Queen has revealed plans to close the store he has run with his wife in the Glasgow suburb for more than four decades.

Eric and Yvonne Smith, who have run the eponymous jeweller for 45 years, will retire when they close the doors for the final time at the end of April. It marks the end of a rewarding career serving the community of East Renfrewshire and beyond for Mr Smith, who learned his craft at Glasgow School of Art and designed and manufactured diamond pieces for retailers before launching his own store.

Mr Smith, who is 67, said he and his wife did explore a trade sale for the business, which has enjoyed the patronage of successive generations of families in the Newton Mearns area. However, when possible leads turned out to be unviable, and after consulting staff, the decision was taken to close. The jeweller, who traded in Hamilton and Bothwell before setting up in Newton Mearns, said the last 45 years have “gone in a flash”, revealing that the decision to exit the business has been emotional.

Mr Smith said: “It’s been unbelievable, because the people we have been telling are very sad about it. They are happy for us, but they are very sad about it closing. We’ve made a lot of friends so there has been a quite a bit of emotion [for us] and the staff, because obviously they have been a loyal team for such a long time. We have had our ups and downs in the last few days I have to say.”

Among a host of career high points, Mr Smith designed pieces for The Queen and The Princess Royal. The jeweller has twice been named UK designer of the year at the UK Jewellery Awards, and drew global attention for his Morse Collection – rings and bracelets with diamond dots and dashes set in Morse Code messages. He was also successful in restoring a Glasgow quality mark after gaining permission from the Assay Office in Edinburgh in 2013. It had been 50 years since the mark, based on the city’s coat of arm, was last used.

Above all, however, he ranks the loyalty his customers as the crowning achievement.

“We’ve got grandparents whose grandchildren come in, and we’ve done the wedding rings and engagement rings for each generation. And I can’t believe that,” Mr Smith said. “It’s flattering.”

The decision to retire means the store’s nine staff will be made redundant, after attempts to find a buyer failed to get off the ground. “The thing that was off-putting [to a sale] was that it was Yvonne and I who are the business,” he said. “People come because of us, and that’s a really hard thing to sell.

“We came to realise it was easier to close than convince somebody [to buy it]. One particular company wanted a two and a half-year buyout, where we didn’t really get to retire. We would have had to keep working with this other partnership, and that didn’t really appeal to us either.”

Mr Smith and his wife have been helping the staff affected, some of whom have worked for the business for 35 years, to find alternative roles. Some may move into jewellery manufacturing, while another is hoping to land a role as a watch specialist with another firm. One member of staff plans to retire.

“You would do it yourself,” said Mr Smith. “If you were in our position you’d try to help all your members of staff to do the best that they can.”

As well as his staff, Mr Smith praised his wife for her commercial acumen, which freed him to focus on jewellery design. He also said it was pleasing the business had managed to maintain turnover amid the difficult economic conditions of the last 10 years. “Yvonne is the one with the numbers – she has been very careful to make sure that the buying has been done properly and people pay their bills,” Mr Smith said. “We have run a tight ship, and that has paid its rewards.”