As bespoke jewellers, we like to keep an eye on what’s going on in the wider world of jewellery design. There are some gifted designers out there, both in this country and worldwide. As Hatton Garden quietens during the summer months we thought we’d take a moment to share some of our favourites.
The jewellery of Cindy Chao, a designer from Taiwan is simply breathtaking There are very few jewellers whose work one would say approaches fine art. She is one. So much so that she was made a Chevalier of l’Ordre des Artes et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture in France. Her Black Label Masterpieces, the finest work she produces are worth seeking out. The Royal Butterfly brooch has been brought by the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. It is a kaleidoscope of gemstones set so precisely that you hardly know that you are looking at a piece of jewellery constructed of metal at all. Pure joy!
Jessica McCormack is quite simply ‘the business’ right now. Somehow she has taken the design language of late Victorian and Edwardian jewellery, dusted it off, souped it up and taken London by storm. Most notably she has revived the technique of cut-down setting. This is a technique which requires quite some skill from the gem setter. A thick structure of silver would be constructed around the shape of a gemstone which would be all but carved away in the setting process to leave small claws, like nodules holding the stone. A smooth, almost imperceptible transition from the edges of the stones to the metal that holds it and a look to the metal like it is crimped pastry are what makes this technique so distinctive and refined. In Victorian jewellery this silver edge would then oxidise, developing a pleasing grey-to-black patina over time. These days platinum and black rhodium achieve the same effect instantaneously. She has set some extraordinarily large gemstones; octagonal diamonds, heart-shaped sapphires, and elongated ovals to name a few in this style.
Fernando Jorge has showrooms in London and Sao Paolo in his native Brazil. He studied at Central Saint Martins in King’s Cross, a stone’s throw from where we sit in Hatton Garden and the proving ground of many fine jewellers. Jorge’s jewellery happens in space. Pear-shaped emeralds hang like leaves on a trailing vine. The flame series, full of sinewy movement only works because of the space within and around the pieces. A satisfying lug of lapis lazuli in his ‘Oblong Ring‘ hugs the finger in a smooth yellow-gold setting. We love his work for the ease of expression his pieces have. Somehow the forms are natural and yet so sophisticated.
So there we are, just three amongst many jewellers we appreciate. We hope you do also.
