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Suzanne Kalan is famed for her use of baguette-cut gemstones. She made her mark on the jewellery world with stacks of jewels set with undulating baguette-cut diamonds, but increasingly she is introducing colour into her work.

 

Brightly coloured sapphires add a rainbow streak to her collections, while precious gems, including emeralds, add an elevated chromaticity to her diamond designs. The latest launch from the Los Angeles-based designer, who just before lockdown opened her first standalone boutique in London’s Harrods, is an update to her iconic Fireworks line that exclusively uses black sapphires for the first time – a strong look she hopes will attract a unisex jewellery crowd.

 

With colourful jewellery increasingly taking over the jewellery agenda in 2021, Suzanne Kalan shares her thoughts on how to bring colour into luxury jewellery, and why we should all embrace this joyful trend, in this new exclusive interview.

How are you incorporating colour into your collections?

“Colour is always something I have loved using in my collections and hence why I launched the original Rainbow Fireworks collection. I have now extended that and have Pastel Fireworks, Inlay and also the coloured Evil Eye pieces. I take original pieces and add colour, largely with coloured sapphires, to make the piece more contemporary and eye catching.”

 

How much of an influence does fashion have on this jewellery trend?

“I’ve certainly noticed the pops of colour that have been coming out in fashion in the last year and I do feel it is therefore subconsciously felt and used in other industries too. I feel colour changes people’s moods and now, more than ever, I think everyone needs all the happiness they can get. I’ve been working with coloured sapphires, rubies and emeralds in my collections for many years now and I really do feel they’re something that brings a smile to everyone’s face.”

 

How do you strike the right balance to make popish bright colours feel luxurious?

“Using coloured sapphires; you cannot get more elegant. It’s also all about the setting. When I started the Fireworks collection, I changed the perception of how baguette diamonds were traditionally used. I found that having the diamonds offset increased the drama in a piece. I have always used unique vibrant gemstones in my collections, and I wanted to add more colour back into my signature line. Sapphires come in a wide range of colours, and I found them to be more stunning in a baguette cut. Traditionally, most coloured stones were cut in a round or oval way. We have been requesting our cutters to cut our stones in baguette shapes to update the look of colour.”

Do diamonds still have a role to play in colourful jewellery?

“I use white diamonds to set off the exquisite use of colour. With the new Evil Eye collection, for example, I have used white diamonds as the lashes to offset the chosen coloured sapphire or emerald eye. You’ll notice with my other collections too I tend to always incorporate white diamonds, regardless of size, to add to the drama of the piece. The contrast of a brilliant diamond against a beautiful coloured stone is the best combination you can make.”

 

Tell us about some of your newer colourful jewellery collections.

“Inlay is a continuation of the Fireworks collection with an exciting twist – signature baguette-cut and princess-cut coloured stones are randomly paved, protected with a gold bezel and secured by thin prongs for a contemporary feel. Taking a modern twist to the traditional Middle Eastern turquoise evil eye, my Evil Eye Rainbow Fireworks collection encapsulates the eye with the dazzling use of pink and blue sapphires and emeralds surrounded by baguette diamonds. All the collections signify the sense of luxury but are contemporary enough in how they are set to make them desirable to everyone.”

 

Why does the quest for bright, happy colours feel right for 2021?

“Colour brings positivity to any outfit. Regardless of the season, the economic climate or feeling of the person, colour stands out and subtly enlivens a situation.”

What does it take to transform a family jewellery business into one of the biggest names in British luxury? This is a question best put to James Amos.

 

Amos is both family member and marketing director at British luxury jeweller Boodles, and he will be at The Jewellery Cut Live to answer just this in Boodles: Building a British luxury brand.

 

On February 17^th, 2020, Amos will host an afternoon masterclass that charts the history of his family business and will explore the development of the Boodles brand, its commitment to British design and its approach to building long-term customer relationships.

 

Boodles can track its history back more than 220 years, and during that time it has created designs for royalty and the red carpet alike. This century has been a period of exciting growth for the jeweller, with the opening of its first London store on Bond Street in 2007, its Raindance ring being inducted into the permanent collection at the V&A museum in 2010, and becoming the star of a behind-the-scenes documentary on Channel 4 in 2014.

 

“Although Boodles started in Liverpool in 1798, the family business has seen a renaissance over the last 30 years as the company has grown to nine shops in the UK and Ireland,” says Amos.

 

And it is this blend of trajectory and heritage that will make Amos’ talk at The Jewellery Cut Live a most fascinating session for any jewellery lover, luxury follower or aspiring brand.

 

 

Boodles: Building a British luxury brand will take place at 4pm on February 17^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). 

When it comes to virtual jewellery consultations, bespoke engagement ring maker Taylor & Hart had the jump on everyone else. Long before lockdown barrelled to the top of our lexicon and jewellers scrambled to modernise their digital offering, this online retailer had already mastered the art of proposals from a distance.

 

“In a way, we have always been offering virtual consultations, since the majority of our customers never visit our showrooms,” says Jason D’Heureux, creative director at Taylor & Hart, which was founded in 2013 to disrupt the jewellery world by offering transparently priced, digitally accessible diamond jewels.

 

Being cooped up over the past few months has inevitably caused couples to re-evaluate their relationship, and while headlines of an uptick in lockdown divorce rates have emerged, so too have romantic tales of couples who have used this intimate time to seal the deal. And for those planning to pop the question as we start to re-emerge from our unexpected social hibernation, has there ever been a better time to slow down and plan a dream bespoke engagement ring?

 

“We’re thrilled at the number of couples getting engaged – love conquers all,” says D’Heureux, who oversees the design of Taylor & Hart’s collections, which have found customers in six of the seven continents. “While there is tremendous uncertainty in the world because of Covid-19, people are affirming their love and commitment to each other. Human beings have a natural affinity for connection.”

 

Modern love stories

The bespoke jeweller’s team has been working hard during this time to ensure that the Taylor & Hart experience has remained seamless during lockdown, by offering virtual consultations that mimic the personal shopping experience of its London and New York showrooms. “Innovation is one of our core principles and while we already had many of the processes in place to offer virtual consultations, we challenged ourselves to refine the process even further,” says D’Heureux. “Our consultants are now available to answer questions face-to-face over Google Hangouts, and they can try on the rings so our clients can see exactly what they look like on the finger. We wanted to ensure we could offer as much of what makes Taylor & Hart special during virtual consultations.”

 

One of the elements that makes Taylor & Hart special is diversity. The jeweller has a strong focus on celebrating all types of relationships, and as such has many clients from the LGBTQ+ community. “Our customers are anyone in love and they should see their relationship represented in our brand,” says D’Heureux. “We never want anyone to feel restricted by the one-size-fits-all approach of most jewellers.”

 

This mantra of inclusivity extends to design, and in 2018 Taylor & Hart launched a simple but effective advertising campaign on the London Underground. It asked: “Are you wearing someone else’s engagement ring?” A provocative question, indeed, but one that cuts to the heart of couples everywhere; nobody wants to imagine that their engagement ring, an adornment so infused with love and ready to absorb a new family’s personal history, could be a generic, mass-produced item.

 

This is why the trend for bespoke engagement rings has boomed over the past few years. From simple tweaks that nod to your personality, to full commissions that take you on a creative journey with a jewellery designer, personalisation is everything. Taylor & Hart offers both.

 

How to buy an engagement ring

Whether you start your journey by sitting down with a consultant in one of the Taylor & Hart private showrooms or by browsing online from home, the first thing that will hit you is choice. The jeweller has nearly 200 designs to choose from, all of which can be modified to swap in different cuts of ethically sourced diamonds and gemstones as well as a choice of precious metals. The online Taylor & Hart virtual ring builder is a rabbit hole of toggle options and real-time pricing alterations, in which you can happily lose yourself for hours as you tinker with unions until you hit on that dream combination.

 

You can take this further by making additional amendments, such as changing the width of the band, adding or removing gemstones. Taylor & Hart’s design team will create sketches of how the ring will look along the way to ensure customers love the final result.

 

What this means is that Taylor & Hart is opening up the often intimidating world of bespoke jewellery at an affordable price. Indeed, the prices of its jewels are entirely competitive. For example, its minimalist Grace six-claw solitaire engagement ring in platinum with a 1.01ct round brilliant H VS1 diamond comes in at half the price of a directly comparable example at a well-known luxury jeweller that is famed for that style of setting.

 

For some couples, subtle tweaks are not enough; a full bespoke commission is required. D’Heureux advises adding an extra 15% to your budget should you wish to go down this route, which will pay for a designer to create your dream ring from scratch. And no matter how unusual the request, Taylor & Hart is always up to the challenge.

 

“A local London chef wanted to create an engagement ring with lobster pincers holding the centre diamond,” recalls D’Heureux, giving an example of one of the more creative Taylor & Hart bespoke engagement rings. “It was our first animal-inspired ring and, initially, we were a little worried we wouldn’t be able to capture the detail of the pincers, but everything came together in the end and the ring turned out perfectly.” More proposals of note include: a platinum Lilo & Stitch engagement ring, with Lilo hugging a solitaire diamond; a fantasy-fuelled diamond halo engagement ring with hidden unicorn horns; and a yellow gold dragon wrapped protectively around a ruby.

 

Designing your future heirloom

Other bespoke commissions are more sentimental, and Taylor & Hart can work with family heirlooms to create upcycled jewellery that carries all the memories of the past into a design that is right for the future. D’Heureux recalls one special engagement ring crafted using two old European-cut diamonds – a term that refers to diamonds cut between 1890 and 1930 – that were set in an engagement ring that had belonged to the bride-to-be’s late grandmother.

 

“I was hesitant at first to remove the stones, because I was essentially ruining her grandmother’s ring and it was a surprise – what if she wanted to keep the ring as an heirloom?” says D’Heureux, whose fears were eventually allayed by the woman’s prospective fiancé. “The stones were both around a carat each and my first thought was a Moi et Toi design. He told me that she loved pink, so I chose 18ct rose gold and pink diamonds. As a further nod towards vintage, I decided to use a crown setting for the large diamonds and added millegrain on the band. I really love how the design turned out.”

 

But what about the bride, whose cherished family heirloom had been forever changed? “She said ‘yes’,” laughs D’Heureux. “She was thrilled to have her grandmother’s diamonds incorporated into her engagement ring.”

 

And this is the magic of a bespoke engagement ring journey. Such attention to detail, as well as its open embrace of diversity in tastes, relationships, budgets and how couples want to shop for engagement rings today is what has made Taylor & Hart the go-to jeweller for a new generation of personalised proposals.

 

“As a company, we are always questioning convention, challenging our industry to do better through our business model, technology and inventive spirit,” says D’Heureux. “Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, we have been using this time to strengthen our business from within. Expect to see some transformative changes at Taylor & Hart in the next few months.”

Jewellery designer and gem collector Tayma Page Allies will be flying in from Hong Kong to give an in-depth talk on one of the most exciting gemstones of our time, the Paraiba tourmaline, at The Jewellery Cut Live next month.

 

You can join Page Allies for The power of Paraiba on February 17^th, 2020, within the plush theatre of The Royal Institution, the new venue for The Jewellery Cut Live this season, as she discusses the history, gemmological intrigues and allure of Paraiba tourmalines. Plus, its role in the gem world as a disruptor, influencer and game changer and its potential as an investment for collectors.

 

Paraiba tourmaline, an electric neon-blue gem first discovered in Brazil, only came to the market in 1990, and since then it has been delighting gem and jewellery enthusiasts. In the past five years, as the popularity of coloured gemstones has risen, the gem has become a major focus for top jewellery houses.

 

The gemstone, which can now also be sourced from Africa, is incredibly rare, with the original Brazilian mines already depleted. As such, the prices for Paraiba tourmalines have skyrocketed, making them ever more exclusive and illusive.

 

Page Allies is a writer, educator, jewellery designer and gem collector whose passion for colour has led to a successful 30-year career in jewellery. The British entrepreneur is based in Hong Kong, where she runs a successful jewellery brand Tayma and is credited with being the first to introduce coloured gemstone fine jewellery to the Hong Kong market.

 

A newer venture for Page Allies is the launch of Tayma Gemalista, through which she sells loose gemstones from her vast collection built up over the past three decades. Included within that are many scarce Paraiba tourmalines.

 

“I’m a collector, and I’m always looking for the unusual, the rare and the collectable,” says the designer, a Brit who was born in Malta and spent her childhood in the Caribbean and West Africa before settling in Asia. “It’s just what appeals to me and my passion. It’s what makes my heart skip a beat.”

 

The talk is part of boutique contemporary jewellery show The Jewellery Cut Live, held in the same venue on February 16th & 17th, 2020, during London Fashion Week. Tickets to the talk will include entry to the jewellery show.

 

The Power of Paraiba with Tayma Page Allies will take place at 2.30pm on February 17^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). Book your ticket here

 

All Paraiba tourmaline jewellery featured by Tamya 

What do jewellery and books have in common? Quite a lot, believes Annoushka Ducas, which is why she’s launching her very own virtual book club in association with Penguin Books.

 

Ducas, founder and designer of jewellery brand Annoushka, is a passionate reader. Like many of us, she has sought solace and escapism in books during these turbulent times and had the idea to bring her two passions together. As she says, both books and jewellery are “treasured like talismans and passed between loved ones”.

 

For the next three months the #annoushkabookclub will select a Penguin Books novel and invite Annoushka’s digital community to join in. Anyone can be part of the book club by simply ordering a hard or digital copy of the book, and joining in the conversation online using the hashtag.

 

A month after the announcement of each book, Ducas will take to Instagram Live to host a live chat with the author of the books about the novel, as well as discussing other topics like “jewellery, life and everything in between”. Members of the #annoushkabookclub are encouraged to tune in and will have the opportunity to put their own questions to both the author and Ducas.

 

The #annoushkabook club will kick off today with Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, winner of last year’s Booker Prize. The award-winning fiction raises questions about race and feminism as it follows the lives of a diverse group of mostly black British women, which intertwine in ways both big and small.

 

To celebrate the launch of #annoushkabookclub, the jewellery brand will be giving away 10 copies of Girl, Woman, Other, signed by Ducas, today. For details on how to enter, head to the Annoushka Instagram page.

 

If you love independent jewellery design, then iconic London department store Liberty is your Mecca. Its ground-floor jewellery hall is filled with quirky designs, trending styles, names to know and vintage finds, and the woman in charge of making that happen is Ruby Beales.

 

Liberty jewellery buyer, and certified magpie, Ruby is one of those women who wears jewellery well. Spend any time at all chatting with her and you will find your gaze dropping to take in her eclectic totem of bracelets, on-point ring game or layers of necklaces. She is the queen of the stack.

 

Ex-fashion PR and former accessories buyer at Net-a-Porter, Ruby made the leap to Liberty and its famous jewellery hall in 2019. “Having worked as a buyer across all of accessories, I decided that I wanted to concentrate solely on jewellery and the job at Liberty came up; it felt like fate,” she says. “The best part [of the job] for me is seeing the workshops of the designers I work with; quite literally where the magic happens. When I visited Shaun Leane’s atelier in Mayfair the first time, I came away feeling so inspired. It blows my mind how clever and creative they are.”

 

A key part of Ruby’s job is to be an arbiter of taste, and as such she is constantly evaluating which jewellery brands to bring into the store. “I look for great craftsmanship, ethically sourced materials and sustainable production,” she says of her thought process when seeking out jewellery designers to add to the line up at Liberty. “In terms of aesthetic, it has to have that sprinkling of magic. It’s hard to explain, but it has to have the ‘Liberty je ne sais quoi’; the feeling that you have discovered something – something unusual and exciting.”

 

Though this past year has rocked many a retailer, Ruby says that the jewellery department at Liberty has forged ahead, hinting that we should expect to see new collaborations, brands and exclusive jewels at Liberty in 2021. “We haven’t let a global pandemic slow us down,” says Ruby, whose personal lockdown survival plan has included walks in the fresh air, regular intakes of colour, Fleetwood Mac and “the occasional” nip of gin. That, and continuing to support her beloved Norwich City Football Club, of which she has been a season ticket holder for the past 23 years, “for her sins”.

 

As a certified jewellery influencer at one of London’s best spots for contemporary jewellery, Ruby is often someone we turn to for advice on the next-big thing in jewels – which is why she is on the judging panel for The Jewellery Cut Live in association with Fuli Gemstones Bursary. But what’s in her personal collection, and which designers would come top of her fantasy shopping list? Time to find out.

 

 

What was the first piece of jewellery you ever received? 

“An antique opal Moi et Toi ring from my parents. This is probably when my obsession with vintage pieces and antiques was born.”

Most recent jewellery acquisition?  

“My most recent piece is a reworked vintage Wedgwood signet ring from British brand Ferian. I love everything about this brand; it’s so charmingly British, but at the same time modern. Each setting is made from recycled gold and is adjusted to fit the vintage jasperware cameo. I’m quite a sentimental person and Wedgwood always reminds me of my grandma and mum as they wore the original pieces when I was younger.”

If money was no object, what piece of jewellery would you buy? 

“I have a lot on my wish list at the moment, so it would be pieces rather than piece. I have an obsession with enamel and I would love a big Georgian Bague au Firmament ring. Made popular by Marie Antoinette, it literally translates as ‘Ring of the Heavens’. The combination of deep-blue enamel or glass with glittering diamonds was named so because of its similarity to the night sky. There’s something about that celestial combination that I find irresistible. There’s also an antique diamond plaque ring on the Kojis counter at Liberty that has been haunting me for months. Otherwise, I would love to collect a piece from each of my favourite brands at Liberty – Polly Wales, Sia Taylor, Selim Mouzannar and Alice Cicolini – like a hall of fame to commemorate this time in my life. One can but dream.”

Is there a particularly sentimental piece of jewellery in your collection?

“I would say a sapphire and diamond Art Deco-era ring, which I fell in love with one day in a jewellers back home in Norwich. Unbeknown to me, my parents went back and bought it but saved it for many years, presenting it one Christmas Day, late in the evening. I was so shocked they had had it all that time. They can obviously keep a secret better than I can.”

Have you kept wearing jewellery during the lockdowns? 

“Why, of course. What’s the point in keeping it in the jewellery box? Some pieces I wear every day, like my grandmother’s wedding ring and my teeny Aurum + Grey ‘R’ necklace, which is so discreet it goes with everything. Then I decide what mood I am in and go from there. If I’m feeling cheeky, it’s my Rubies Boobies necklace from Anissa Kermiche. If I need a bit of a perk, then something colourful from Roxanne First. Always mixed in with antique pieces.”

Which jewellery designers are catching your eye right now? 

“My love for Alice Cicolini’s work knows no bounds. We have just developed an exclusive capsule together, which launched in Liberty this month – think neon enamel with juicy bright tourmalines and garnets. It’s just what we need to see right now, colour and cheerfulness. Seb Brown, who is sold exclusively though Liberty, is also a favourite of mine. I really admire how his personality shines through his work. The unique combinations of stones and cuts, and the way they’re set so no two are alike is an alchemy that creates incredibly special pieces. And last but not least, I am having a bit of a Melissa Kaye moment right now. Anyone who knows me, knows about my love of neon [and, so Melissa’s collection of neon enamel gold jewellery]. Her pieces are impeccably designed – she used to be in engineering before jewellery – and her diamonds are just so clear and sparkly.”

Los Angeles jewellery designer Emily P. Wheeler is ready to play dress up. After spending most of the past year in isolation due to the pandemic, and even having to cancel her own wedding, she is more than ready to have some fun; a sentiment that is very much reflected in her new collection.

 

Titled Dress Up, as an ode to the playful and joyous spirit she hopes will grip us all as vaccinations increase and restrictions ease, the collection is an explosion of colour.

 

“Colour is one of my main inspirations for design and my entire collection is very colourful,” says the jeweller, who often adds diamond accents to her jewels to elevate the playful hues. “When designing a collection, I always create a colour palette once I have an idea of the direction I’m going. That palette can be pulled from a variety of places including an era, a place, a thing, or a memory. To me, colour has a similar nostalgia to scent or music.”

The Emily P. Wheeler Dress Up collection is certainly tugging on nostalgia, with some of the jewels named after Disney princesses and villains. The Little Mermaid’s Ursula gets a shout out with a pair of rose gold, dark Australian opal, morganite and blue-grey spinel earrings named after her. Princess Aurora, better known as Sleeping Beauty, is encapsulated in earrings with bright gems looped with white enamel bezels including heart-shaped yellow beryl, Brazilian tourmaline and Madagascan palm citrine.

 

As well as generally spreading joy and chasing the joie de vivre that has seemed so lost to us all of late, Emily found inspiration for this playful jewellery collection in other art forms. The Pop Art movement, Harajuku and artists including Betsy Enzensberger and Stephanie Roberts all captured her attention during the creative process, she says.

 

Another source of inspiration – which might seem unusual for a fine jewellery designer – was children’s costume jewels, although the clue is there in the Disney names. This gives Dress Up a dual meaning: get your glad rags on, but perhaps do it in the spirit of your younger self, elbow deep in the dressing up box.

“After 2020, no one wants to take themselves or fashion too seriously,” says Emily. “I believe luxury is even more elevated with a sense of playfulness. I respect a style that is a creative mix of high and low, as opposed to someone who just buys a whole designer outfit and wears it as they’re told to. A diamond tennis necklace is way more fun and unique with puffy white or pink enamel. The only thing I’m serious about is quality.”

Jewellery mega-influencer Liza Urla has written the book on jewellery street style. Literally.

 

A prolific jewellery editor, curator, brand ambassador, speaker and consultant, she has run her Gemologue blog since 2009. Last year, she published a companion book, Gemologue: Street Jewellery Styles & Styling Tips, which offers an indulgent snapshot of her 10-year archive of gorgeous jewel pics and captivating stylings.

 

Known for her work in taking fine jewellery into the digital realm, and celebrating the real-world style of jewellery consumers, Urla shared some of her knowledge with an exclusive audience at The Jewellery Cut Live in February. Here are four of her personal philosophies and top tricks for developing your own jewellery style.

 

1. Ditch the set

The dutifully matching jewellery parures of yesteryear are no longer in fashion, says Urla. Today, the idea is not to create a strictly homogenous look with your jewels, but to wear pieces together that complement each other and create synergy.

 

2. Mismatching is the way forward

There’s no need to restrict yourself to one designer, style, metal, or colour when assembling a jewellery look, according to the jewellery influencer. Embrace the trends of stacking and layering, and take the opportunity to cluster jewels that play off each other and spark exciting contrast. Mix costume jewellery with fine, wear two earrings of different lengths, and don’t be afraid to mix your metals and stones with less precious elements such as acrylic, wood and shells.

 

3. Don’t be lazy with your jewellery

Pre-planning looks and rotating through your jewellery collection are key to getting the most out of the jewels you have, she advises, and to achieving artfulness in grouping pieces.When stacking necklaces, lay them out first on a flat surface and put together groups of three to five that work well together and layer nicely, with lengths that give about two fingers’ width between each – try a chain extender to help achieve the desired lengths. Pair up rarely worn jewels with staple pieces to invigorate your core wardrobe and give your whole collection some time in the sun.

 

4. Pick jewels for power and allure

Urla encourages women to develop both their “alpha female” and “sensual seductress” personas through their jewellery choices, while staying mindful of the time of day. During daylight hours, a good rule is to stick to delicate or edgy pieces with clean lines. Pearls, discrete diamonds, and just a touch of colour through gemstones are good bets. You also can’t go wrong with keeping to a minimal, Scandinavian aesthetic, she believes. Evening is the time to make a real jewellery statement, spicing your look up with bolder pieces that draw attention and can be conversation openers.

 

Want to be in the room next time? Sign up for one of our talks at The Jewellery Cut Live on September 15^th& 16^th, 2019. Full schedule here.

There is a gemmological quirk that affects up to a third of diamonds – when exposed to UV lights, they glow. This intriguing colour play – diamonds most often shine neon blue, but can also emit yellow, green or orange colours – has traditionally been considered a flaw, reducing the price of highly fluorescent diamonds by up to a quarter. Yet at the Louisa Guinness Gallery in London, jewellery designer Cora Sheibani’s latest collection Glow is celebrating fluorescence with a fascinating collection of glow-in-the-dark jewels.

 

Small boxes are pinned to the walls of the Louisa Guinness Gallery, at the heart of London’s Mayfair, with temptingly clickable UV torches poking out the top of the installations. Within them, Cora Sheibani Glow jewels are displayed in all their glory, shining out luminously under the blue lights.

 

Clicking the end of the torch will cancel the UV light flow, and the diamonds and gems revert to an entirely different state. Diamonds are once again white, fluorescent rubies – the collection also uses naturally glowing coloured gemstones such as rubies, spinels and sapphires – return to red.

 

In the far corner of the room, a darkened nook beckons you in, with a peek-a-boo display that encourages you to look through cut-out shapes that give you a view of glowing jewels within. Set up in subaqueous-like displays on glistening rocks and crystals, one feels transported to the bottom of the ocean, where strange bioluminescent creatures electrify the darkness.

 

“Fluorescence and phosphorescence are a significant characteristic of certain gems, a quality that is often overlooked but I believe should be used as a design feature,” says Sheibani, who was born in Switzerland but now runs her jewellery brand from London. Indeed, a quick test used by jewellers to determine whether a ruby is from Burma is to shine a UV light on the gem to see if it glows.

 

Sheibani has spent a year gathering together enough highly fluorescent gemstones to create the jewellery in Glow. While gemstone grading laboratory GIA claims that between 25% and 35% of all diamonds present fluorescence, the strength of the natural phenomena can vary. Only 10% of such fluorescent gems would be graded as having ‘medium’, ‘strong’ or ‘very strong’ fluorescence, making the type of highly fluorescent diamonds Shebani needed for this collection very rare.

 

The playful nature of Glow is further extended by the whimsical designs that Shebani has chosen to light up with fluorescent gems. Glow-in-the-dark diamonds, rubies, spinels and sapphires are worked into rings inspired by cupcakes, brooches that take the form of rain clouds or cityscapes, bracelets that pay homage to cactus plants.

 

All of the Cora Sheibani Glow jewels play on the concept of day-to-night jewellery, with the diamonds and gems offering a classic look during the day, and then lighting up when under UV lights – making them perfect jewels to wear to an evening event. Their transformation remains a secret, revealed only at their owner’s discretion, or by a rogue strobe light.

 

Glow is the first solo exhibition to be hosted at the Louisa Guinness Gallery; a show of confidence from the artsy tastemaker Louisa Guinness in this emerging jewellery designer. “I am really thrilled to present this exhibition of Cora’s work,” says Guinness. “I have long been an admirer of her style and design skills and am a collector of her work myself. I have mostly worked with artists who are painters or sculptors; this solo exhibition adds a new layer to the gallery by extending its following and representation. With this exhibition we represent a young talented designer who speaks through her jewellery as an artist might otherwise do on canvas.”

 

 

Glow by Cora Sheibani: Jewels with Fluorescence is on display at the Louisa Guinness Gallery in London until April 30^th, 2019. The show will also pop up at the Colnaghi Gallery in New York from May 18^th to 23^rd, 2019.