Vivienne began her serendipitous career by working in the antiques trade, during a school holiday, buying and selling jewellery.She enjoyed it so much, met so many interesting people, collectors, dealers, passionate eccentrics, that she decided to stay, spending three years learning all she could about antique jewellery.  When she decided to get a “real” job, pursuing a long held ambition to be a journalist, she worked first as assistant to the Fashion Editor of SHE Magazine, and then as a writer on Antique Collector, where she was able to develop her speciality of jewellery. Her experience in handling jewellery, meeting collectors and dealers, during her years in the trade proved an invaluable grounding for her career.

Eventually she branched out on her own as a freelance writer and jewellery historian, and since that time Vivienne has written extensively on jewellery, both antique and modern, and often on decorative arts in general, or lifestyle features, for a wide range of newspapers and magazines in Britain and the United States.  She was Jewellery Editor of Harpers & Queen, (UK) and is now a Contributing Editor to the FT’s How To Spend It, as well as a contributor to newspapers, magazines and specialist publications around the world. Vivienne’s first book, Antique and Twentieth Century Jewellery,has become something of a “bible”  for collectors, and she has followed its early success with a stream of books, both glamorous and learned, several of which have become standard works on their subject. She has also contributed chapters to several major books.  2013 saw the publication, by Assouline, of the magnificent limited edition art book, The Impossible Collection of Jewelry: the 100 Most Important Jewels of the 20^th Century. Vivienne has organised and written catalogues for major exhibitions, notably the Jewellery of Rene Lalique, the milestone 1987 exhibition at the Goldsmiths’ Hall and 1993- Jewels of Fantasy, the Swarovski-sponsored touring exhibition of 20^th century costume jewellery.

During the course of her work as a writer, Vivienne has also enjoyed success as a creative consultant, working for many years as jewellery consultant for Swarovski, followed by a consultancy for Faberge and further design and research projects for major international brands and jewellery houses. Vivienne was a member of the original team behind  Gem Visions, Swarovski Gems’ acclaimed annual trend and design service. She continues to work as a member of the team, travelling the world, in search of trends, design directions, giving trend presentations. She is in demand across the world as a speaker, an acknowledged authority on her subject. In 2000, she toured South East Asia, giving talks on Art Nouveau Jewellery for Christie’s; in 2013, she was invited to give a trends presentation at the Hong Kong Jewellery Show,  and to judge it’s Design Excellence Award, and in 2014, will travel to Macau to be one of three pioneering “influencers” at the DFS Masters of Time event.

In January 2003, Vivienne was honoured with an inaugural Gem Award for Excellence, presented to her in the category of International Press, by the Jewellery Information Center of America– the communications and public relations arm of the entire American jewellery industry. The newly instigated awards celebrate and honour journalistic excellence in the coverage of jewellery. Vivienne continues to lecture and broadcast widely on her subject.