Bringing Webbs Jewellers story to life:
Our work with Out Thought Agency and Webbs of Holt.
For more than 35 years it has been the place locals and visitors , Webbs Jewellers, has been a go for a wedding ring that actually means something, a vintage piece with real history, or a one-off commission that will be handed down. It’s not you usual high street chain, it’s much more than that.
It is a proper family business: founded by Nick Webb, who cut his teeth making pieces for Asprey and Cartier, and now run by his son Olly, a master jeweller and qualified gemologist who still works at the bench in the workshop out the back.
Last year the team at Webbs Jewellers decided it was time for a gentle refresh. Not a full reinvention – that would have felt wrong – but a clearer, more cohesive way of telling their story to the growing number of people discovering them online.
They turned to Alex Flatt and the crew at Out Thought Agency in Norwich.
Out thought handle brand strategies, business identities and offer bespoke websites website and design elements for all sorts of companies who need a little help in getting more brand attention. Based in the centre of Norwich, their client base spans the UK.
At Blanc Creative, we’ve had the pleasure of working with Alex and his team on a number of projects both in Norfolk and London (including the amazing Electric Barge rebrand, which is a completely different story that you can read about right here.)
As a Digital Image Agency, our brief was straightforward: To create a set of incredible Webbs Jewellers commercial photographs and, a short film that would sit comfortably alongside the new “Webbs Blue” palette, the refined typography that now reads “Webbs of Holt”, and the overall feeling of quiet expertise and genuine care.
Heading the whole project, Alex wanted visuals that felt modern without shouting about it, and that would let online visitors feel the weight of a ring in their hand or hear the soft tap of tools in the workshop.
Now we absolutely thrive on projects like this.
When an agency we respect has already done the hard thinking on strategy and audience, it leaves us free to concentrate on what we do best: making pictures and moving images that actually work.
No grand theories, just clear communication, photographs people linger on and clean film that showcases the Webbs Jewellers, re-defined.
First, we listened!
Alex sent over the new brand guidelines, mood boards and a short list of what the refreshed identity needed to achieve: warmth, precision, heritage without stuffiness, and a sense of place.
We spent an afternoon on a call walking through the customer journey – from someone browsing engagement rings on their phone in London to the moment they walk through the door in Holt and meet Olly or one of the team.
The photos and film had to bridge that gap.
A week later we drove up the A140 with the van packed.
It was one of those bright Norfolk mornings where the light is clean and low.
We parked outside the shop, unloaded, and spent the first hour just wandering round with Olly and the team, cups of tea in hand, asking questions.
Where do you source the antique pieces? How long does a commission usually take? What does “care” actually look like day to day?
Those conversations shaped everything that followed.
The shoot: workshop, gems and real people at Webbs Jewellers
The workshop is small – just enough room for a couple of benches, a safe, and shelves of tools that have been sharpened and oiled for decades.
Lighting it properly was the first challenge. Jewellery photography is unforgiving: one wrong reflection and a diamond looks dull; too much light and it loses its fire.
We love shooting in natural light. Yes, we have some incredible continuous lighting, but our ethos is to run shoots with as little inconvenience to the business, while achieving the most natural look, that reflects what the customer will se when they walk through the door.
We chose to dispense with the continuous LED panels, adopting natural window light, bouncing it off white cards and black flags to control every highlight.
We filmed him at the bench while he set a stone – the tiny movements, the loupe in his eye, the quiet concentration. No staged “craftsman” poses; just the real rhythm of the work.
We shot close-ups of pieces in progress: the moment a vintage sapphire is checked for inclusions, the way light catches the facets of a newly polished band, the texture of aged gold next to fresh platinum.
The film: raw footage for flexibility
The moving image side was deliberately shot with longevity and versatility in mind. Rather than locking into one finished short video, we captured extensive raw footage – workshop processes, Olly at work, quiet conversations about commissions, close details of tools and materials, ambient sounds of the bench.
This approach meant the core content could be edited into different lengths and formats: a calm two-minute brand story for the website (focusing on the idea that every piece begins with a conversation), shorter social clips highlighting specific collections or processes, and even advert-ready versions for platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Google Ads.
But the real value came from the raw material. By delivering longer takes and multiple angles, Out Thought (and Webbs) could repurpose clips across a full campaign – quick 15-second stories showing a stone being set, 30-second testimonials-style snippets, or looped product reveals for paid social.
This flexibility extends the life of the shoot and keeps costs efficient for the client and offers the agency a fantastic return on investment.
Photography that works across devices.
The stills had to do several jobs at once: look sharp on a phone screen at 9pm when someone is browsing in bed, hold up printed on heavyweight stock for the new brochures, and feel at home on Instagram without the usual filters.
We delivered a big library – hero images for the homepage, detail shots for product pages, atmospheric store and town shots that tie everything back to Holt.
We also shot a selection of the antique and vintage stock in a way that shows character rather than just price.
These details matter when you are asking someone to spend serious money on a piece with history.
Why the Webbs Jewellers collaboration worked
Working with OutThought on the Webbs Jewellers project was a reminder of how good things happen when everyone sticks to what they are best at.
Alex had done the deep strategic work and knew exactly what the brand needed to say.
They gave us a clear brief, timely feedback, and the freedom to interpret it visually.
In return we delivered files organised the way their designers needed them, with multiple crops and versions ready for the new website. No surprises, no egos, just the job done properly.
For a business like Webbs Jewedllers, the rebrand was never about chasing trends. It was about making sure the next generation of customers – the ones who might never have walked down Holt High Street before – understand what has always been true: this is a place where craftsmanship and care still come first.
The new visuals help tell that story without having to shout.
For us at Blanc Creative it was another reminder of why we get out of bed in the morning.
We are based in Norwich, we shoot all over the UK, and we specialise in commercial work for people who make or sell proper things – whether that is jewellery, furniture, food or machinery.
When an agency like Out Thought brings us in on a project, we know the brief will be thoughtful and the end result will be something everyone can be proud of.
If you run a business with a story worth telling, or you are an agency looking for a reliable pair of hands on photography and film, we would love to hear from you.
Drop us a line at studio@blanc-creative.com or give us a ring.
