Jeremy France Jewellers delights with glitz at The Odd Ball

 Hosted by married actors Sarah Parish and James Murray, the sold out ‘Odd Ball’ was in aid of the Murray Parish Trust and their nationwide #2MillionSteps campaign, to raise £2 million for a state of the art children’s emergency and trauma department at Southampton General Hospital.

Guests embraced the steampunk Trash and Tiaras dress code, with an abundance of aviator goggles, tiaras and top hats on display. Greeted by men on stilts and golden living statues, attendees were whisked into a mysterious, otherworldly, bizarrely beautiful venue – the perfect setting for an Odd Ball occasion that encouraged a little touch of Odd! 

Wild at Heart and Ballykissangel’s Stephen Tompkinson was the celebrity compère, introducing an evening of unforgettable entertainment, including hula hoop artists, the trash band of junk percussionists that is “Clateratti”, and the fabulous duo Stavros Flatley, known for their hilarious Greek Irish dance routines that famously got them to the Britain’s Got Talent finals in 2009.

As well as both a live and a silent auction that offered the most exclusive and unique of prizes, raising incredible sums of money for the cause, this year guests were also given the chance to win a half-carat diamond in what had to be the most ritzy of raffles ever thrown!

Winchester’s diamond specialists, Jeremy France Jewellers, have been supporting the Murray Parish Trust by offering their customers a ‘charity polish’ of their jewellery in return for a donation. Jeremy France has supported numerous charities close to his heart over the last 25 years, and was keen to get involved with the Odd Ball – after all, he and his team know a thing or two about glitz!

The family-run jewellers donated a 0.50ct perfect D colour loose round brilliant diamond worth £3000 for the Diamond Raffle, as well as £500 towards setting the diamond into a bespoke piece of jewellery; a truly fitting prize for such a glamorous affair. A beautiful freshwater pearl necklace and earring set, also from Jeremy France Jewellers, fetched a fantastic £400 in the silent auction. The wine for the evening, courtesy of Jeremy, was a sumptuous variety of old world wine by Stone Gorge 1908. Grown in the Minervois region of France, and run by a Hampshire based independent business, the superb “Fishers Pond” and “Droxford” wines helped loosen the wallets of all who indulged.

The beautiful Sarah Parish was admired wearing some of Jeremy’s most treasured pieces, including a stunning 5-row graduated diamond necklet set in 18ct white gold, and a 7-row matching diamond bracelet – a show stopping total carat weight of 9.58ct.

The Diamond Raffle raised an impressive £2460 on the night, which Jeremy France and his team are justly proud of.

The winner will be drawn at Jeremy’s annual Christmas Champagne evening on 1st December at his luxurious three-storey premises in Winchester, where he will be continuing to raise money for the Murray Parish Trust with over £10,000 of prizes to be won! 

For more information, please visit: www.jeremyfrancejewellers.co.uk