The first pottery to be made by the Bouchet family was called Channel Island Jewellery and was started by Tony’s father in 1960.
After making pottery for 44 years Tony has now retired from his studio in St Ouen. In keeping with being the ‘Secret Potter’ he has destroyed all his recipes, records, moulds, clay and special equipment.
Although the pottery pieces and thimbles will never be available again jewellery can still be purchased in Jersey through many of the Genuine Jersey markets.
In 1965 Tony joined the business and a few years later began experimenting with white clay and metal oxides in an endeavour to make jewellery that looked like natural agate stone.
In the mid-seventies Tony was advised by a friend in Stoke-on-Trent not to attempt to make Agateware as it was impossible to produce successfully; many potters had tried and failed. He did not heed this advice and in 1984 produced the first Agateware collectables – a range of thimbles. These proved to be an overwhelming success, selling in many countries world-wide and in particular the USA.
