The perfect gifts for island life...
Harriet and Rose was founded in Jersey, for Jersey. It was born from our (own) frustration of struggling to get thoughtful gifts if we left it late (despite suggesting you sort out your Christmas shopping now, we fall into the ‘argh it’s December 15th! GO GO GO!’ camp… do as we say not as we do and all that jazz). So it got us thinking. There’s a niche for us! No one is doing an online gift shop in Jersey that can guarantee next day delivery. Let’s go out to creative makers in the island and further afield and put things in one place… let’s set up an online gift shop and gift finder that only delivers in Jersey. And so we did.
We have handpicked every piece on the website so that we’re confident that you’ll get something gorgeous even if you do leave it late (we’re ethical too, and are conscientious about all the stock we have on the site, where it’s from, who made it, and how we get it to you). We work with lots of Jersey companies and creators, supporting small creative businesses and keeping things local when we can, but we do sometimes go further afield if we see something we’ve never seen before and love its story.
Jersey is a wonderful place to live with a beach or headland never far away, and after a couple of months of the website launching, it was clear the less usual gifts that were selling in their droves… and almost all of them were to do with the sea.
When we first moved to Jersey we were given a tide clock. We assumed everyone had one… it would appear they do not!
We discovered a company based in Cornwall creating a range of different tide clocks all made from recycled milk bottles and cardboard. They’re frankly gorgeous; light, durable, slate like… and incredibly useful! Depending on the style that you opt for you can have the time as well as tide, the moon cycle (so you know whether the tide is spring or neap), and the time or atmospheric pressure. The perfect gift for any beachcomber, surfer, or island-dweller. We have a range of options on the site, from a simple tide clock (£26.95) up to hand-finished barometer/moon/tide clocks (£55.00) and all are in stock available for next day collection or delivery. (They’re also great in a holiday let or hotel room, so get in touch with us about large orders as we’ll be happy to help.)
We're also delighted to be the exclusive Jersey stockists of The Beach Bat Company. The name pretty much says it all, but there’s a lot more to them than meets the eye. Founded by Hylton Harvey, they are a family business based in the UK.
Tired of going on holiday and finding few alternatives to buying cheap foreign made beach bats that were poorly made and not great to play with Hylton set about making a beach bat that would last a lifetime. The Beach Bat Company is focussed on making the world’s best, personalised, ethically sourced and manufactured Frescobol beach bats. They not only play brilliantly, but they look pretty good too.
The Beach Bat Company bats are designed and handmade in the UK from local wood and can be individually personalised making the perfect gift for a wedding, big birthday, anniversary or occasion. The grips can be finished in a number of different colourways and are made from cork which is ethical and durable. What’s more, no two bats will ever be the same due to the natural variation of the wood.
As if that weren’t enough to convince you, they also plant a tree in the UK for each and every set of beach bats that are sold and take great pride in the fact that their bats aren’t made abroad so their carbon footprint is small and they know the craftsmen personally. You can be certain that no questionable labour makes its way into their bats. They are the perfect socially conscious gift for anyone who hits the beach on a regular basis and uses the summer as an opportunity to get a new PB on what’s an already impressive rally record (Anna, if you’re reading this, we mean you).
From £85.00 we keep one pair of each style in stock, but highly recommend the personalisation option, which should take approximately 7-10 days to get to you.
Styles (left to right) are: The Ouen, The Holkham, The Camber and The Constantine.
Though we may be reluctant/fair-weather/rubbish surfers ourselves, we have kids that can’t wait to get in the water. We spend most of our summer lining up tides and free time and making the trek across to St Ouen (once upon a time when we first moved here, we wondered if we even needed a car… ). Whilst we love nothing more than the smell of neoprene and wax (in a non-dodgy way), it does linger, and the wax smell stays mushed into our car floor and boot until we attempt to clean it up (futile as the kids think the back of the car is actually their own personal bin). We chanced upon these brilliant Orange Peel wax recyclers. Made in California, we’re again the only stockists in Jersey. Perfect as a little gift for any surfer (or long-suffering surf taxi driver who wants their car to remain wax free). Not only do they keep those stray bits of wax off the beach, they mean you finally get to use up all those annoying little bits and create a brand new bar ready to use. Priced at £11.99 they’re the perfect little gift (or a stocking filler).
When we started Harriet and Rose, we knew ceramics were going to feature big. We’ve made a real effort to only stock brands and designs that we really believe in and would want to own or receive ourselves. Much to the dismay of our kids, we can’t walk past a ceramics shop without going in and - invariably - adding to our already excessive collection of pots.
Almost all of our Harriet and Rose ceramics are made exclusively for us by local potter Ray Ubsdell who worked for many years at Jersey Pottery, and the range of ceramic travel mugs are the perfect gift for anyone who’s known for taking their thermos out on a walk, or who hates drinking from anything other than china (though this technically is ceramics rather than china if we’re being strict about trade descriptions which we probably should be).
Photographed by the very lovely and very talented Holly Smith, nothing says cosy better than one of our mugs round a campfire… providing there’s not any rain. Which given where we are geographically, we cannot assume. Available in three sizes (and many different colours). £13.00 for small, £15.00 for medium, £19.00 for large.
One final little suggestion for anyone living in Jersey… is one of our Defender prints. Something of an institution, and always in demand, we’ve chosen four models… perfect displayed alone, or altogether, they’re a great gift for anyone with a Land Rover (which is great swathes of the population). They’re the perfect addition to any wall and available in A4 or postcard size mounted or unmounted.
