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For anyone who subscribes to the notion of healing gemstones, amethyst jewellery is a must have. It is said to have healing properties that can boost the immune system, banish stress and help you get a good night’s sleep – Katy Perry swears by it, sleeping with amethysts in her hand.

 

The calming purple gem was also believed by the Ancient Greeks to banish drunkenness. This is especially good news if you have a birthday this month, as this helpful gemstone is also the birthstone for February. So, before you pop that celebratory cork, make sure you have some close to the skin to help protect yourself against a post-birthday hangover. Or should you be readying yourself to slide back off the wagon after dry January, slip on an amethyst pendant first.

 

Amethyst jewellery also has connections to love and Valentine’s Day – yet another reason that it is a stone in demand this month. Saint Valentine of Rome, the 3^rd century saint after whom the annual celebration of love on February 14^th is named, is said to have worn an amethyst ring carved with the image of Cupid. On the list of traditional wedding anniversary gifts, amethyst is ascribed to sixth and 23^rd wedding anniversaries; another of the supposed healing properties of amethyst is an ability to calm passionate lovers.

 

At the time Saint Valentine wore his carved amethyst ring, the stone would have been incredibly expensive – as much as fine rubies and emeralds. However, the discovery of a large deposit in Brazil in the 19^th century made the gemstone more affordable. As such, its rich purple hues have been popular with jewellery designers as a way to inject vibrant colours into designs.

 

If you need another reason to consider a talismanic piece of amethyst jewellery – other than its beauty – let us direct you to the musings of 15^th century astrologer Camillo Leonardi, another Italian obsessed with the gem. He kept one on his person at all times, believing it to ward off evil energies while making him more intelligent.

 

While we can’t guarantee amethyst will make you smarter, calmer and more sober, we do promise that a well-looked after piece of amethyst jewellery will be an investment in the future – and a blast of colour therapy that will lift your mood in a flash.

 

 

Ten amethyst jewels to soothe, heal and inspire…

On seeing Schiaparelli’s spring/summer 2021 haute couture presentation, it is hard to know where the eye should go first. Every shot captured to show off the collection, which was unveiled during Paris Couture Week, is a masterpiece in itself.

 

This is designer Daniel Roseberry’s third collection for Schiaparelli, and while the house is primarily a fashion label, it is the bold, surrealist jewels and golden accessories that make this one of the most exciting collections of the year.

 

When Daniel took over as creative director at Schiaparelli in 2019, he said his work would be shaped by big questions such as: “What does art look like? What is identity? How do we dress for the end of the world?” Little did he know that this last apocalyptic question would indeed be a certified vibe a year later.

 

Schiaparelli earrings from the SS21 haute couture collection, enquire at Schiaparelli

 

While the world hasn’t ended, it has at times during the pandemic felt as though it might – and, indeed, our day-to-day lives did end in a sense. So how would Schiaparelli dress us for the end of our social world? The answer: dipping in surrealist jewels that reimagine body parts in gold tones lavish enough to soothe the Aztecs.

 

“I want to make an alternative couture house,” says Daniel. “Here, the fantasy isn’t princess dresses or polite garments; here, the fantasy is within. These are clothes that make you aware of the fact of your body, that make you think about how you move through the world.”

 

Boots are tipped with realistic golden toes. Golden teeth spewing pearls and green faux gems double as embroidery and earrings. Earrings take the form of ears wearing earrings… the lines between body and adornment blur.

 

A look from theSchiaparelli SS21 haute couture collection, enquire at Schiaparelli

 

In an even bolder look, Schiaparelli dresses a model in a golden face mask – an entire face-like mask, not our now go-to mouth coverings – pierced with nose, lip and eyebrow rings. This is worn with a full golden breast plate with sparkling nipple rings, and stacks of golden chain necklaces and bangles. In another creation, the breast plate is minimised to cup a single breast, with a golden breastfeeding baby hanging off it.

 

The collection got a seal of approval from style queen Beyoncé at the Grammys, when she wore a Schiaparelli dress with gloves tipped with golden fingernails. She paired it with and a pair of the chest-grazing earrings that flow from faux black gems to spiralling seashells to hyper-realistic golden fingers to golden teeth bearing black globules.

 

“As irreverent as all this seems, it actually follows in the legacy of the house and its founder,” says Daniel, referring to Elsa Schiaparelli, who founded her namesake house in 1927. “Elsa was a great technician. She loved fabric, and she especially loved technical innovations. She was the first couturier to use synthetic fabrics; she was the first to incorporate plastic zippers into her work. Her ambition was to experiment, to be disobedient, in all things: fabrication, shape, colour, iconography.”

 

Schiaparelli earrings from the SS21 haute couture collection worn by Beyoncé to the Grammys 2021, enquire at Schiaparelli

 

The jewels and adornments that rip through the Schiaparelli haute couture collection are most definitely disobedient, and this type of rebellious, wild artistic expression is just the sort of escapism what we need right now, even if the world isn’t ending.

 

Whispers of Meroë by Matturi Fine Jewellery, the recently rebranded label of designer Satta Matturi, is an exploration of the rich history of Ancient Egypt and the Greater Upper Nile. Not the gilded land of the Pharaohs that has been so often plundered for inspiration, but the Nubian dynasty and its stories of female power, resilience and lost opulence.

 

Africa – its art, history, design and culture – has been a constant muse for British-West African designer Satta Matturi. She transforms the diverse narratives that emerge into luxurious jewels, set with diamonds and coloured gems that are ethically sourced. With Whispers of Meroë, we see Matturi return to Africa; this time, to its early Nubian kingdoms with jewels in rich, textured 18ct yellow gold, glittering with triangular-cut and round brilliant diamonds, black onyx, soft morganite, deep-red rhodolites and lustrous golden pearls.

 

“I have always been fascinated by Egypt,” says Satta. “As a little girl, my father would play the Cleopatra movie starring Elizabeth Taylor and we would watch that on repeat. That was my first encounter with Egypt.”

The Gemstone Detective Kim Rix will return to The Jewellery Cut Live for a second season, and this time the author, photographer and gemmologist will give a talk on travelling and buying gemstones in Myanmar.

 

While researching her seventh Gemstone Detective book, Buying Gemstones and Jewellery in Myanmar, Rix travelled to the country twice last year. The region is famed for its rubies, and has a long and chequered history that has seen its Burmese rubies swing between reverence and revulsion on the global stage.

 

Rix plans to return to Myanmar in February this year as a guide for a sold-out gem tour into the famous Mogok valleys, where some of the world’s most exquisite rubies have been found. She plans to follow this up with more tours in the future.

 

At The Jewellery Cut Live, Rix will share her experiences of Myanmar with an audience during a talk titled Gemstone Adventures in Myanmar, offering tips for those who wish to follow in her footsteps. This retelling of first-hand intrepid experiences will also make for a fascinating afternoon for travel enthusiasts and gem lovers.

 

“There aren’t many unspoilt travel destinations that offer a tourist both an authentic and exciting experience, but Myanmar is certainly one of them,” says Rix, who is passionate not just about the country’s gem exports but its food, architecture, scenery and trekking. “It was so hard to put the camera down. The only time it left my hands was when they served Laphet, a local salad of fermented tea leaves, shredded cabbage, deep-fried beans, nuts, peas and tomatoes, all flavoured with chilli and garlic. You won’t have tasted anything like it before.”

 

 

Gemstone Adventures in Myanmar with The Gemstone Detective Kim Rix will take place at 1pm on February 16^th, 2020, at The Jewellery Cut Live, held at The Royal Institution, 21 Albermarle Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 4BS. Early bird tickets start at £10 (£20 thereafter).

Marie Walshe is in it for the gems. No question. Fascinated by what happened on our planet millions of years ago, she is offering up two new ways to wear remnants of that time with fresh collections released under her ethical fine jewellery label Sorrel Bay.

 

“Anyone who knows me and my work will know my fascination with all things geology: how rocks and gems are formed; the unique geological environments that dictate what gemstone is formed and where; the unique specific conditions required, at times up to 4 billion years ago, that miraculously allowed a particular gemstone,” enthuses Marie. “It is this magical unique series of events that leads me to find some gems – that, to some, may not be seen as very precious at all – the most precious. Gems that have a truly unique story to tell – the history of the formation of this planet that we live on. Well, to me, that’s about as precious as it gets.”

 

The gemstones that form the basis of Sorrel Bay’s new Hewn and Kor collections, which launched recently at Goldsmiths’ Fair, are indicolite tourmaline and dendritic agate. As Marie suggests, these are considered semi-precious gemstones – a term not always in favour with jewellers because of its disparaging undertones. However, lashings of sustainably sourced gold give them the elevation Marie believes they deserve.

 

“This collection was very much about highlighting the gemstones themselves and giving them a golden platform to really shine from,” she says. “I like to think of my work as framing nature and these collections really highlight that.”

 

The green-blue indicolite tourmalines that take a starring role in the Sorrel Bay Hewn collection are a vibrant, energising hue that gives pricier emeralds a run for their money. Set against a backdrop of textured gold, the gems capture the roughness of the volcanic rock within which they formed millions of years ago. “It is the most beautiful lagoon blue you have ever seen,” says Marie of the rare indicolite tourmalines. “It is not seen too often, and I am always asking my supplier to source it for me. The pieces in this collection are responsibly sourced from Afghanistan.”

 

For the Sorrel Bay Kor collection, Marie returns to one of her favourite gemstones, dendritic agate. These gems, which look like wintery woodland scenes in miniature, have become a calling card of Sorrel Bay. Their natural dark markings, which make each gem unique, were caused by tiny particles of iron or manganese oxide seeping into the cracks of the white agate when it was forming.

 

“Many are formed during the Archean Eon, one of the four geological eons, when the Earth’s crust cooled enough for the beginning of life on Earth,” says Marie. “These incredible patterns were formed then. It feels rather magical to me to be able to wear one on your body, almost in homage to the Earth. A talisman, I guess.

 

“Also, I have spent many years researching and sourcing gems that can be sourced with as little impact on the environment as possible, and my agates rise up in the riverbeds of northern India after the monsoon rains. A family business collects them, cracks them open and begins the polishing process to reveal their treasured patterns.”

 

Sorrel Bay will be taking part in online jewellery fair Elements on November 6^th to 8^th, 2020.

In our new world of social distancing, casual embraces with family, friends and colleagues have become a strict no-no, as elbow bumps give way to 2m distances. The good news, however, is that we can still get our snuggle fix through gemstones, and Dior has a brand new line of Moi et Toi jewellery that is all about intimate couplings.

 

Toi et Moi can be translated from French as ‘you and me’. In jewellery, it refers to rings that have two gemstones of significant size that sit close to one another to represent two lovers. It is a style that has thrilled lovers for centuries, including famous couples like Napoleon and Josephine, and Jackie and JFK.

 

Victoire de Castellane, the famously audacious creative force behind all Dior’s fine jewellery collections, has taken this classic motif and given it a colourful twist, in more ways than one.

 

The 39 designs in the Dior et Moi collection, released during Paris Couture Week earlier this year, offer up a kaleidoscopic blast of colour thanks to a bold mix of gemstones – emeralds, opal, malachite, red spinels, tourmalines, rubellites, kunzites, turquoise, pearls. Lacquer also adds a further pop of chromacity, with 15 shades – specially created in house at Dior’s atelier – sprayed directly onto brushed gold to create solid or gradient effects.

 

Moi et Toi, traditionally reserved for rings, has spilled out into asymmetrical earrings and necklaces in Dior et Moi. The collection also includes through-the-finger rings with three main gemstones, perhaps hinting at more modern relationships that stretch beyond a couple. Meanwhile, pendants on strings of pearls with one much larger oval-cut opal, surrounded by lacquer outlines and rainbow sapphires or diamonds, could be a comment on relationships of unequal balance, or even kinkier dom/sub affairs.

 

Then, there is a ring with a sensuous solo pear-shaped diamond, looped with suggestive pink enamel and a halo of diamonds, and one with a smooth, round rubellite cabochon. Could these perhaps be a nod to the concept of self love? If so, it’s especially timely in this new culture of self isolation.

October has arrived, and as well as the promise of crisper days, roast dinners and Halloween treats, there is another reason to delight – it’s opal month. For anyone celebrating a birthday in October, this is your kaleidoscopic birthstone.

 

The shape-shifting opal is unlike any other gemstone; its flashes of rainbow-hued light do not need the encouragement of a cutter’s tool to dance and sparkle. It will be left as a smooth stone, most often a bulbous round or oval, but also works well in organic, irregular shapes.

 

While the Bedouins might have believed that opals were filled with lightening, and it’s easy to see why, it is another natural element that gives them their bewitching play of colour – rain. Opal’s play of colour is created by water trapped within the gemstone’s silica structure (up to 20% of an opal is water). Millions of years ago, when arid lands – such as the Australian Outback, which is well known for its opals – were drenched with rain, the water pushed deep into rocks, dragging down a silicone compound. This combination of geological factors led to the creation of this shimmering stone.

 

There are many kinds of opal, the best known being white opals and black opals. White opals pepper their namesake colour with flashes of rainbow – the best examples are Welo opals found in Ethiopia. Black opals, the rarer of the two, offer an even stronger play of light with a storm of reds, oranges, purples and blues against a moody, dark background – ask for Lightening Ridge opal from Australia for the finest example of this.

 

Mexican fire opals are a strong flaming orange, often displaying strong flashes of yellow and green. These energising stones – some of which don’t display the hypnotic rainbow effect, yet are still prized for their strength of colour – get their shade from traces of iron oxide. The volcanic glow they emit is believed to inspire courage and stamina.

 

Pink opals are another variety that don’t always have a play of colour – and are often the better for it. Soft pink opal, mostly hailing from Peru, is a beautifully feminine shade, and looks wonderful next to other pastel gemstones, like chalcedony, and warm rose gold.

 

For all opal’s many delights, it does have a chequered history. It was long considered to be an unlucky stone, most probably because its delicacy would have led to some expensive errors on the cutting bench. However, for those who believe in the healing power of gemstones, this particular stone is said to encourage freedom and independence, stimulate originality and creativity, and release anger while helping you to find your true self.

 

Ten October birthstone opal jewels…

All prices were correct on the date of publishing, but may be subject to change

Running a global business, like Topshop, can seem miles away from running an independent jewellery label, but there is a lot that designers can learn from how the big players operate.

 

Join Jo Grogan, head of jewellery design at Topshop, for an exclusive workshop on How to balance commerciality with creativity at The Jewellery Cut Live on February 16^th, 2020. During this session, Grogan will endeavour to pass on the experience that she has picked up during her 18-year career in the fashion industry and explain how it can be applied to jewellers working on a smaller scale.

 

Grogan will cover a number of topics, including:

• Changing consumer and retail behaviour, and how to understand your customer
• How to harvest data, tech and social media
• Making emotional connections by tapping into marketing trends
• Using the catwalks to develop your own ready-to-wear trend generation
• The art of range building – how to structure and size your range, for both core products and directional lines
• Calculating the correct margins
• How to deliver to the market and maximise sales

 

This talk will be a must-attend event for any jeweller starting out, looking to scale up or attempting to tighten any part of the supply chain. As well as delivering an in-depth presentation, Grogan will take questions from attendees.

 

“Commerciality can often be seen as a compromise on creativity, but it’s an essential part of most businesses,” says Grogan. “I’d like to help others gain an understanding of how a commercial jewellery business is run and, in doing so, help them to find a suitable structure for their own brand and creativity that works specifically for them.”

 

 

How to balance commerciality with creativity will take place at 2.30pm on February 16^th, 2020, at The Jewellery Cut Live, held at The Royal Institution, 21 Albermarle Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 4BS. Early bird tickets start at £10 (£20 thereafter).

Did you spot Beyoncé at the Super Bowl back in February? You know, that distant time of yore when we could all meet in gatherings of up to however the hell many we wanted? Well, if you can stretch your mind back to the old normal, you might recall seeing the superstar wearing a particularly striking necklace.

 

Beyoncé, who attended the Super Bowl with husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy, dressed up for the occasion in a green denim Balmain suit. She matched it with white heels, cat’s eye sunglasses and a whole lot of diamonds.

 

The diamond choker Beyoncé wore to the Super Bowl was a bespoke creation crafted by Parisian jeweller Messika. Dubbed the Diamond Equalizer, the necklace pays homage to singer’s craft, with the design echoing the equalisers found in recording studios that oscillate when picking up musical vibrations.

 

At the centre of the Messika choker, crafted especially for Beyoncé, is a 17ct pear-shaped diamond, with the tapered tip pointing down in a nod to the star’s rebellious side. Vibrating out from this rare gem. are Mikado-esque bars of white gold set with either diamond pavé or channel-set diamond baguettes.

 

“I dreamed of designing for Beyoncé a piece that would embody her style, while remaining faithful to the DNA of our house,” says Messika founder and designer Valérie Messika. “B is a queen, and the idea was to imagine an anarchic adornment with all these barrettes, which intertwine with a sequence of baguette and round diamonds to create rhythm. But this chaos ends up finding a certain order and highlights the pear diamonds.”

 

Yes, pear diamonds plural, as Messkia also crafted a pair of matching Diamond Equalizer earrings for Beyoncé. The asymmetric pair has one extra-large ear cuff, with diamond barrettes leading down to a 4ct pear-shaped diamond that, when worn, swings like a metronome. For the right ear, a more subtle interpretation of the design showcases a 1.5ct pear-shaped diamond.

 

These spectacular earrings made their public debut at Clive Davis’ Pre-Grammy Awards Gala, also in February. This time, Beyoncé ramped up the glamour, pairing the earrings with a red Valdrin Sahiti gown with plunging neckline.

 

On this occasion, the star left the Messika Diamond Equalizer choker at home, because even Bey – with an enviable high jewellery collection temptingly at hand – knows the power of dialling it down to focus on a single statement jewel.