Country & Town House - Watches & Jewellery 2023

The Cult of the Individual

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

Type XX 2057

The Breguet Type XX has accompanied the most experienced pilots since 195 4, landing on the wrist with perfect precision. Make History with us.

Snowflake collection Necklace, platinum, white gold and diamonds.

Contents

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

NEWS

30 ALL THAT GLITTERS

Francesca Fearon brings you the latest from the jewellery world

38 ON THE FACE OF IT

Timothy Barber keeps a watchful eye

41 MAKING WAVES

Meeting the new face of Oris, Yusra Mardini

SHOPPING

46 DEEP DIVE

Pearls get a bold new look

48 SNAKE BITE

Serpent shapes steal the spotlight

50 ALL TIED UP

We need knots and bows

52 POSH PUNK

Counterculture gets a chic makeover

54 BACK TO THE FUTURE Revival watches

56 S QUARE DANCE e new watch shape to wear

ON THE COVER

The Bloom Twins wear Bulgari. Left-hand model wears Bulgari: Serpenti necklace; B.zero1 Rock bracelet; Serpenti earrings; index finger, B.zero1 ring; middle finger, Serpenti ring; ring finger, B.zero1 Rock ring; body, Victoria Beckham. Right-hand model wears Bulgari B.zero1 rock chain necklace with studded pendant; dress, Cecilie Bahnsen

TEAM

Fashion director: Nicole Smallwood;

Photographer: Christine Kreiselmaier;

Videographer: Cory Kreiselmaier;

Make-up: Sarah Jagger @ Stella

Creative Artists using Équinoxe de CHANEL and CHANEL Hydra

Beauty Micro Crème Yeux;

Hair: Louis Byrne @ Premier Hair and Make-up using L’Oréal Professionnel;

Manicure: Christine Huseyin @ David Artists using OPI Nail Polish & Herlum London

JENNIFER LAWRENCE

411 Oxford Street, London

J12 Cybernetic watch in black and white ceramic and steel

Editor’s LETTER

In a luxury business where smaller brands often get absorbed by big conglomerates, as an independent magazine we thought that this issue should look at the great individuals of our highly crafted world.

In jewellery, the image of the designer/ craftsperson working alone still holds, and great names from past and present, from Suzanne Belperron to JAR, tend to be wolves who walk alone. With watches, not so much, as its more industrial process often takes a team, yet there are still those with a strikingly individual mindset both in design and strategy.

We gave our expert writers, who are lucky enough to know these exceptional individuals, a free hand in their choice. Melanie Grant who, as a curator and designer as well as a writer, is a jewellery individual herself, picks those who have never been afraid to nd their own way even when advised against (p70).

Simon de Burton, whose knowledge of the watch world runs from the most historic brands to young

start-ups, identi es individuals who have made the di erence in recent decades (p68). And Tracey Llewellyn picks those who have perhaps the hardest job of all – women upping the game in the still male-dominated watch industry (p72). It is changing (but not fast enough), guys!

O ur beautiful high jewellery, photographed by Christine Kreiselmaier on the multi-talented Bloom Twins, styled by C&TH ’s Fashion Director Nicole Smallwood , shows how people who look very similar can still be truly individual (p58). And our sumptuous watch shoot by Matthew Shave and Ursula Lake will amaze you with the idiosyncratic variety of its dials and movements (p86).

Other features also go against the grain. Ti anie Darke writes amusingly and informatively about the new experience of renting high jewellery (p80), while Shane C Kurup persuades us wittily that all jewellery is now everyday wear for every man (p75). We also like to take on controversy, looking at how the best created diamonds, now present on the Place Vendôme –the beating heart of Paris haute joaillerie – are becoming seen as true luxury (p82). And we also examine whether ethically and sustainably produced precious metals now carry a premium for concerned consumers (p76), as there isn’t yet a manmade equivalent (we’ll be the rst to tell you if there ever is). Alongside, our news (from p30) and shopping features (from p46) are packed with items to make your jewellery and watch collections even more individual.

To thine own self etcetera – and enjoy!

The Spencer Twins wear Barcelona

The Spencer Twins wear Barcelona

CONTRIBUTORS

MELANIE GRANT SHANE C KURUP TIMOTHY BARBER

The individual in the industry you admire most? Mark Hearn, former Chairman of Patek Philippe, mentored me before he died in 2021 and he had a brilliant mind. He taught me how to think bigger.

The recent piece with the most WOW factor? Wallace Chan's Legend of the Colour Black shoulder brooch, which is a towering titanium jewel with the world's biggest brilliant cut black diamond and crystal carved into the shape of the human brain. It's bonkers .  Any trend or innovation predictions for 2024? Knowing the origin of precious stones and gold will be more important and men will be wearing more flamboyant jewels.

Favourite destination for watches or jewellery? Symbolic & Chase and FD Gallery for high jewellery; Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery and Didier for artist's jewellery; Somlo for vintage Piaget, Omega and Patek.

The piece with the most WOW factor? The GirardPerregaux Laureato in rose gold is my grail watch at the moment. In my opinion, this mid-70s watch design is a sleeper hit which has been ripe for a revival and this edition is the most polished of the new Laureato releases. Any trend or innovation predictions for 2024? There’s a shift towards 80s styling. With men’s jewellery, pearl necklaces feel like they’ve reached saturation point, but coloured precious stones in rings, earrings and brooches are now piquing the interest of magpie-eyed men. Favourite destination for watches or jewellery?

I have a habit of rummaging through the bric-a-brac of elderly street traders in the cities of southern Europe. I once found a 1970s Tissot PR14 in a plastic bag in the old garment district of Athens.

TRACEY LLEWELLYN

The individual in the industry you admire most? I have been lucky enough to write about Rebecca Struthers, and call her a friend, for more than a decade. She, along with her husband Craig, never fails to amaze me with her energy, generosity of spirit, knowledge, creativity and all-round brilliance. She always makes me feel that anything is possible and makes me want to push myself in my own career. Any trend or innovation predictions for 2024? I think we will see less unisex watches. For me, the big push towards 'genderless' watches in recent years has led to a lot of middleof-the-road timepieces. I also hope we will see more men wearing timepieces made for women – we have already seen The Weeknd wearing a Piaget Possession and Neymar Jr. wearing a Rolex Lady-Datejust. Both looked amazing and hopefully this is a trend that will continue.

The individual in the industry you admire most? Lewis Heath, founder of anOrdain. From nowhere to a 25-strong Glasgow workshop making enamel-dial watches with global demand – a staggering achievement.

The recent piece with the most WOW factor?

The Jumping Hours Rising Sun by boutique brand Andersen Genève, with a spectacular golden guilloche dial.

Any trend or innovation predictions for 2024?

On the plus side, the return of elegant round watches on straps rather than bracelets. On the downside, 'watchtok' (on TikTok) is now very much a thing...

Favourite destination for watches or jewellery?

Subdial.com – a British start-up bringing a totally fresh approach to the pre-owned market.

Taking the Path Less Travelled, p70

On The Face of It, p38

On The Clock, p72

Unchained Male, p75

ALL THAT GLITTERS

Francesca Fearon brings you latest dispatches from the jewellery world

EYES WIDE OPEN

GRAFF’S SUNRISE ARIA

Gra ’s passion for yellow diamonds knows no bounds. Some of the most spectacular stones are gathered in the aptly named Sunrise high jewellery collection. Unleashing the beauty and drama of these stones is acclaimed South African soprano Pretty Yende who wore Gra ’s sunny yellow diamonds to perform at the King’s coronation and then sang an aria or two for the collection’s Paris launch. gra .com

Arriving from America is a new demi- ne jewellery brand, Ryenn’s Eyes, which draws its pieces from a designer collective and will appeal to a wide spectrum of tastes. Modern and e ortless to style, the range spans chainmail-style cu s, geometric rings, quartz and apatite pendants and a selection of sculpted and textured earrings that are sensuously tactile, all made in high-quality vermeil. ryennseyes.com

BOODLES’ TWIN FACES

Twins are now officially a thing, as our cover shoot shows.

Sisters Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza Spencer, daughters of Earl Spencer and nieces of the late Princess Diana, share the same closeknit relationship as the Wainwright family, who have run Boodles for six generations. Its most recent team members, twins Honour and Geordie Wainwright, have helped enlist the glamorous Spencers on a great campaign for their equally gorgeous and appropriately titled high jewellery collection, A Family Journey. boodles.com

THE STONE OF HEAVEN

A NEW STAGE

Van Cleef & Arpels’ prestigious School of Jewellery Arts in Paris, where enthusiasts can be immersed in all aspects of jewellery’s history and savoir faire, has opened a grand new exhibition space, library and shop. In the heart of the theatre district, the neo-classical mansion Hôtel De Mercy-Argenteau debuts, fittingly, with an exhibition of the stage jewels of the Comédie Française. lecolevancleefarpels.com

Cherished by the Chinese and possessing an aura of mystery, jade has been an Asprey speciality since the 1920s. e nest examples of jewellery carved from a rare archive of imperial jadeite will be showcased in a second Asprey shop about to open at e Peninsula, London. e new hotel’s jewellery retail gallery will also be home to Moussaie , Margot McKinney and diamond specialist Mouawad. asprey.com

Rings from new name-to-know, Ryenn’s Eyes

Soprano Pretty Yende; Graff yellow diamond necklace

Asprey jadeite and diamond ring

A René Lalique brooch, which belonged to Sarah Bernhardt, will be on display at Van Cleef & Arpel’s new exhibition in Paris

NATURE’S RARE JEWELS

RACING COLOURS

Buccellati’s name is synonymous with a particular style of intricate engraving and honeycomb gold and silversmithing, beautifully expressed in its latest Macri Colour collection, but the brand is now being namechecked in racing circles as the new jewellery partner for Goodwood Racecourse. A lovely excuse to get a thoroughbred modelling in Mayfair. buccellati.com

FROM ROUGH TO SMOOTH

Rarely can a customer choose a rough diamond and then commission the complete jewellery making process –from cutting to co-design and setting the stone into a ring or pendant. Tasaki now o ers this haute couture personalised experience to its customers, working with certi ed De Beers diamonds. To accompany the nished order there’s also a personal visual record of the process from rough to nished jewel. tasaki.co.uk

GOLDSMITHS’ WOVEN HERITAGE

Goldsmiths’ Fair is the ideal hunting ground for new independent creators. This year’s showcased the fine silver filigree work of 2023 graduate Edwin Charmain, an Indonesian-born designer-maker. He is descended from a textile-producing family which coincidentally is also the heritage of Megan Brown, a jewellery textile artist whose great-great grandfather set up a jewellery and weaving company –an inspiration for her designs. See their work at thegoldsmiths.co.uk

JEWELLERY ARCHAEOLOGY

In a eld on her clan’s Scottish farmland, where Camerons have lived since 1502, ethical jeweller Ellis Mhairi Cameron and a local metal detector unearthed fragments of jewellery that had lain untouched for centuries. As a homage to her ancestors, the rediscovery of these artefacts has led to her new collection – ‘molten’ gold and soft yellow baguette diamonds that recall the rustic aesthetic of the buried clan pin, locket and brooch. ellismhairicameron.com

WORKS OF ART

Elie Top’s CV includes working for Yves Saint Laurent and Alber Elbaz at Lanvin before launching his own jewellery line in 2015. His latest collection of crocodile and serpent motifs is coming to PAD London for the first time this October. Also debuting is So-Le Studio, by Marie Sole Ferragamo. She upcycles leather off-cuts (note the family name) into hand-woven designs with glittering brass shavings for sculptural jewellery, showcased by gallerist Elisabetta Cipriani. elietop.com; so-le-studio.com; padesignart.com

LINKED IN

Molten gold seemingly ows through the veins of Italian craftsmen, whose expertise is displayed in Gucci’s bold new Horsebit jewellery and watch collection, based on its signature motif. gucci.com

CHANEL AT THE V&A

When the diamond industry was in dire straits after the 1929 financial crisis, it commissioned Gabrielle Chanel to design a collection to revive their fortunes. She was the first couturier to work with diamonds and the V&A’s blockbuster show this autumn, Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifesto, features one of the rare surviving pieces from her Bijoux de Diamants collection, unveiled in 1932. The Comète brooch highlights one of the deeply superstitious designer’s favourite themes, the celestial world, and still inspires the house’s jewellery. vam.ac.uk n

Gucci Horsebit cuff with diamonds and malachite

A woven bangle by Megan Brown

Chanel Comète brooch, on display at the V&A

The Legacy collection takes inspiration from ancient Scottish jewellery

Elie Top brings his sinuous designs to PAD London

One of the design options on offer from Tasaki’s Timeless Message couture experience.

Say hello to the world’s first and only diamond made entirely from the sky.

We make diamonds using four natural ingredients, the sun, wind, rain and something we have too much of, atmospheric carbon. In doing so, our technology turns a negative into a positive.

Now that we can mine the sky, we never need to mine the earth again.

Beauty.

ON THE FACE OF IT

What’s ticking in the world of watches? asks Timothy Barber

ROLEX DRESSES UP

It isn’t every year, or even decade, that Rolex launches an entirely new collection – the last was the Yacht-Master in 1992. at makes its new dressstyle watch, the Perpetual 1908, signi cant enough; but look beneath the beautifully elegant surface, and you see that with this one the Crown really has branched out. Slim and classical in the best tradition of such watches, the 1908 has a highspec new movement which, for once, Rolex has put on full display with a high degree of nish. Dress watches have rarely been core for sportsoriented Rolex, but now it’s delivered a model with serious panache. rolex.com

A BRIGHTER SHADE

Respected German maker Junghans is normally a paragon of understatement with its austere, Bauhaus-in uenced watches. ree cheers, then, for the colourful glow-up it has given its minimalist Meister Fein, with new editions in modishly unisex shades of blue, emerald green and mauve, with dials and straps to match and a row of tiny diamonds arranged in a discreet row at 12 o’clock. junghans.de

TIME TRAVELLING

Authors Alexander Barter, a historian and vintage watch specialist, and Daryn Schnipper, long-term head of Sotheby’s watch department, trace the evolution of watches through a hundred key timepieces in this new book. From an Elizabethan astrolabic pocket watch to modern day auteur FP Journe, via John Harrison’s legendary H4, Winston Churchill’s world timer pocket watch and the Omega Speedmaster that went to the moon, it’s an absorbing overview from two world-class experts. One for enthusiasts, collectors and history fans alike. (Prestel, £49.99)

DIVE IN

It’s 70 years since the diving watch as we know it arrived in the form of Blancpain’s legendary Fifty Fathoms, a moment the brand is marking with a stunning 555-piece limited edition it’s calling ‘Act 3’ (acts one & two came earlier in the year). It’s inspired by versions made for the US military in the 1950s, with a case formed from a gold and copper composite that references some rare original versions that were made in a bronzelike alloy. (blancpain.com). Or go for Swatch’s version of the Fifty Fathoms, which follows the hype of last year’s MoonSwatch collab with Omega. Reimagined in Swatch’s bioceramic material, the ‘Scuba Fifty Fathoms’ comes in five bright colours inspired by… sea slugs, powered by Swatch’s mechanical movement, Sistem51. (swatch.com) Omega, meanwhile, has overhauled its own beloved dive watch, the PloProf. This burly curio from the 1970s was celebrated for its asymmetric case with a large push-down button for locking the bezel, and was originally made for professional deep-sea divers. The new version features a shadowy blue dial, steel alloy case and 1,200M depth rating, along with all the bells and whistles of Omega’s best-in-class movement technology (omega.com).

GLASGOW SMILE

Inspired by the Memphis movement, this Modul A watch marks a new chapter for Paulin, the Glasgow-based specialist in playful design watches that recently merged with fellow Scots achievers anOrdain, crafters of sought-after enamel dial watches. Available in either hand-wound or quartz-powered versions. paulinwatches.com

Omega Seamaster PloProf, £13,500

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 70th Anniversary Act 3, £POA

Junghans Meister Fein Automatic, €1,390

Rolex Perpetual 1908, £18,500

Paulin Modul A watch, £825 for mechanical, £375 for quartz

Swatch x Blancpain Scuba Fifty Fathoms, £340

BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUM

Louis Vuitton’s refresh of its agship wristwatch, the Tambour, could serve as a useful guide to current watch trends. Introduced in 2002, its notable feature is a voluptuous case shaped like a drum (‘tambour’ in French), now slimmed down and sporti ed in the fashion of a highluxe 1970s-style bracelet watch. e complex sector-style dial mixes vintage and sporty details, while the reverse shows a new, nely made in-house movement. Casual and versatile in stainless steel, it’s nevertheless distinctly high-luxe, with price point to match. louisvuitton.com

FRENCH FANCY

In 2021 Hermès made a triumphant entry into the saturated market for luxury sports watches with its terribly chic H08, notable for its softened-square case, stylish numerals and typically unconventional esprit. is year, Hermès has doubled down with a handful of new versions featuring zingy colour accents, rubber straps and lightweight cases made from a stone-e ect composite of glass bre and aluminium powder. hermes.com

CARBON CAPTURE

Carbon fibre, the high-resistance, ultralight material of racing cars, golf clubs and bicycle frames, is back in fashion for watches. First seen in the mid-90s, its resurgence is thanks to a range of new aesthetic possibilities with the material, seen in three new models from mainstays of toptier watchmaking. The mottled look of Girard-Perregaux’s Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech is achieved by mixing carbon fibres with titanium powder, forming micro-layers stacked in random orientations, then milled and hand-finished into an eye-catching case (girard-perregaux.com)

With Ulysse Nardin’s Freak X Ops, the carbon fibre is fused with olive green epoxy resin to give a tactical look to the Freak, the brand’s highhorology wunderkind (ulysse-nardin.com)

Bulgari, meanwhile, gives carbon a lustrous marbled appearance, along with details in gold to create an opulent, Romanesque aspect for its Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar (bulgari.com)

MAURICE LACROIX GOES TRIBAL

Maurice Lacroix’s Aikon watch is a modish, versatile take on the bracelet watch trend, with a highly esoteric twist in its latest incarnation, Urban Tribe. Ostensibly inspired by city architecture, it sports laser-engraved motifs playing across the case and bracelet and evokes this feeling in the intricate structures of the fullskeleton dial/movement. Limited to 500 pieces, the Aikon Skeleton Urban Tribe is a statement-making timepiece in the city or anywhere else. mauricelacroix.com

CRITICAL CHRONOMETER

Bernhard Lederer may be the greatest watchmaker even many experienced collectors have never heard of. His astonishing Central Impulse Chronometer (CIC) may change that –a vastly complex, historically important distillation of the ideas of Breguet, George Daniels and John Harrison, with an artisanal movement that has to be seen to be believed. Sixthgeneration family jewellers Pragnell are to be commended for getting behind Lederer and several other noteworthy independent horologists, and are now stocking the CIC, of which only 100 versions will be made. pragnell.co.uk n

Louis Vuitton Tambour in steel, £17,500

Hermès HO8 watches, £4,730

Lederer Central Impulse Chronometer, £POA

Ulysse Nardin Freak X Ops, £29,700

Bulgari Octo Finissimo CarbonGold Perpetual Calendar, £POA

Maurice Lacroix

Aikon Skeleton Tribal, CHF 3,990

Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech, £22,700

MAKING WAVES

Oris supports an impressive roster of environmental and social endeavours, though few with so dramatic a story as its newest collaborator and rst female ambassador, Yusra Mardini. From a family of swimmers in Damascus, coached by her father, she turned professional at nine and in her early teens was already the second fastest woman in Syria, she tells me proudly but with no hint of boastfulness at Geneva Watch Days where her Oris partnership was launched.

At 15, she says in near-perfect English, ‘I rebelled and stopped swimming. en our house was bombed in the war,’ and in 2015, aged 17, she and her elder sister, another talented swimmer, ed by way of Beirut and Istanbul but then had to enlist a people smuggler for the short crossing to the Greek island of Lesbos.

eir dinghy failed some distance o shore so she and her sister swam the boatful of refugees to safety and then took nearly a month to walk and bus to Germany, where they claimed asylum.

ere were sports facilities at the camp where she lived and she started swimming again ‘because its familiarity made me feel safe’. e following year, she competed for the Refugee Olympic

Team at the Rio Games as the fastest refugee woman, and again at Tokyo. ‘It was scary once I was competing on an equal footing with the best-known names in the sport.’ She has now retired from swimming, is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and aims to improve the lives of the world’s growing numbers of refugees. Her story also inspired the 2022 Net ix lm e Swimmers, in which Yusra was the stunt double for the swimming scenes. She has set up the Yusra Mardini Foundation, which advances access to sports and education for refugee communities and individuals around the world and on which Oris approached her to o er help – nancial and practical – under its ‘Change for the Better’ initiative. ‘We make watches for people who believe we have a common responsibility to look after our world and each other,’ says CEO Rolf Studer, an attitude that Yusra shares.

‘I was interested in watches through my father and boyfriend, and my love of jewellery’, she says. ‘I treasure Oris’s values of a ordable, realistic luxury, and caring for the planet, given that we are already seeing climate refugees.’ She hopes to change the world for the better and with Oris’s support and her combination of con dence and charm she very likely will. oris.ch; ymf.squarespace.com n

How Syrian refugee and Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini became an Oris ambassador

The Yusra Mardini Foundation is now an Oris Sustainability Partner

Oris Aquis Date with motherof-pearl dial, £2,000. oris.ch

UP in LIGHTS

How Julia Roberts became one of the world’s few true movie stars – with serious staying power

Ever since she rst appeared on our screens in 1988 rom-com Mystic Pizza – and became a household name just two years later in Pretty Woman – Julia Roberts has been one of Hollywood’s most successful and beloved movie stars.

With her megawatt smile and her warm southern voice (Julia originally hails from Georgia) dominating cinema for over three decades, and countless awards under her belt (including an Academy Award for Erin Brockovich), Julia has a lasting power that few can match. She was the world’s highest-paid actress throughout the majority of the 1990s and the rst half of the 2000s, and named most beautiful woman in the world ve times by People magazine.

Her lifelong love of lm-making is celebrated in a new campaign of short movies called Chopard Loves Cinema. Director James Gray, known for lms such as Ad Astra and e Immigrant, is behind the shorts, which show Julia behind the scenes, laughing with crew members, and posing for shots by renowned photographer Alisdair McLellan.

‘Julia Roberts is that rare thing: a genuine movie star,’ says Gray. ‘She also happens to be a person with a tremendous sense of humour about it all, and

somehow, she hasn’t let her legendary status go to her head. I always jump at any chance I might get to work with her. We are pals, with a real respect and a ection for each other. I always consider my day made if I’ve made her smile. And the work is always a pleasure, if for no other reason than the fact that the camera is as big a fan of Julia’s as I am!’

Gray’s lms and McLellan’s portraits are accompanied by magnetic behindthe-scenes shots by photojournalist Greg Williams, who has made a name for himself in the lm industry for his candid portraits of stars. Capturing the spontaneity of the actress in action, he explains: ‘I’m quite often looking for joy and I try to create a joyful experience. Working closely with Julia on this campaign was in many ways the perfect assignment because she is such a joyful person.’

Julia’s 30-year-plus career continues this autumn, with new psychological thriller Leave the World Behind arriving on Net ix on 8 December. She’s also producing and starring in drama Little Bee for Amazon Studios, based on Chris Cleave’s 2008 novel and due to be released in 2024. True Hollywood stars don’t come much bigger than this.

Julia Roberts is Chopard’s global ambassador n

Julia Roberts wears Chopard Ice Cube rings and Alpine Eagle watch © Greg Williams

Julia Roberts in Chopard

© Greg Williams

Haute Joaillerie earrings in ethical 18ct white gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds; Haute Joaillerie ring in ethical 18ct white gold featuring a 5.01ct heartshaped diamond, set with brilliants;

Haute Joaillerie bracelet in ethical 18ct white gold set with emerald-cut diamonds; Alpine Eagle 36mm timepiece in ethical 18ct white gold fully set with diamonds

Stylist: Elizabeth Stewart

Hair: Serge Normant

Make-up: Genevieve Herr

DISCOVER MORE AT OUR LONDON FLAGSHIP BOUTIQUE AT 1A OLD BOND STREETfope.com

DEEP DIVE

Pearls are getting a bold new look, says Mary Sanderson

1 Tasaki Danger Fang necklace, yellow gold, Akoya pearls, diamonds, £26,600. tasaki.co.uk. 2 Bibi Van Der Velden Rock Pool bracelet, 18ct white gold, diamonds, Keshi pearls, £85,800. bibivandervelden.com. 3 A Sinner in Pearls Rhinestone and freshwater pearl necklace,  £160. asinnerinpearls.com 4 Ti any & Co. Schlumberger Inverted Petals ring, 18ct yellow gold, platinum, diamond, natural saltwater light pinkish brown pearl, £POA. ti any.com 5 Alighieri Fragment of Light earrings, 24ct gold-plated bronze, freshwater baroque pearls, £350. alighieri.com. 6 Sandy Leong x Gem elds lariat necklace, 18ct recycled yellow gold, pearls, emeralds, $6,300. gem elds.com.

7 Yoko London Bubble earrings, Akoya and South Sea pearls, diamonds, 18ct white gold, £POA . yokolondon.com. 8 David Morris Miss Daisy Akoya pearl ring, 18ct white gold, diamonds, £14,500. davidmorris.com 9 Mizuki earrings, 14ct gold, Akoya pearls and diamonds, £2,400. netaporter.com. 10 Completedworks When Worlds Collide II earrings, recycled sterling silver, 14ct yellow gold vermeil, freshwater pearl, cubic zirconia, £285. completedworks.com. 11 Otiumberg Double Pearl earcu , 14ct gold vermeil, pearl, £110. otiumberg.com. 12 Melanie Georgacopoulos Twist necklace, 18ct yellow gold, peacock freshwater pearls, white freshwater pearls, $5,320. melaniegeorgacopoulos.com.

13 Akansha Sethi earcu s, 14ct gold, freshwater pearls and diamonds, £3,500 for two. akanshasethi.com. By Mary

Sanderson

Be

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SNAKE BITE

Slithery and sensuous, serpents are stealing the spotlight

1 Stephen Webster Master & Serpent brooch, titanium, 18ct yellow and white gold, diamonds, emeralds, green agate, white mother-of-pearl, £60,000. stephenwebster.com. 2 Bernard Delettrez silverdome ring, pale blue zircon, £365. bernarddelettrez-uk.com 3 Venyx Asclepius Muzo necklace, 18ct white and yellow gold, diamonds, Muzo emerald, £10,300. venyxworld.com. 4 Jessie omas snake ring, 18ct yellow gold and blackened gold, £POA. jessiethomasjewellery.com. 5 Bulgari Serpenti Viper bracelet, 18ct rose gold, demi-pavé diamonds, £9,950. bulgari.com. 6 Selim Mouzannar Basilik earrings with yellow and white diamonds, $13,860. selimmouzannar.com. 7 Harry Winston Blue Python earrings, platinum, sapphires and diamonds, £POA. harrywinston.com. 8 Ana Khouri white diamond necklace, 18ct Fairmined white and yellow gold, £POA. anakhouri.com. 9 eo Fennell Large Venym ring, 18ct yellow gold, tsavorites, rubies, £7,995. theofennell.com. 10 Elie Top Snake earrings, 18ct yellow gold, distressed silver, emeralds, yellow sapphires, £POA. elietop.com. 11 Prada Eternal Gold bracelet, 18ct yellow gold, £POA. prada.com. 12 Marei New York Black Opium Hayya Serpentine earrings, 14ct black rhodium-plated white gold, blue sapphires, diamonds, onyx beads, enamel, £68,950. mareinewyork.com.

By Mary Sanderson

4

ALL TIED UP

Sort your knots from your bows

3

18ct white gold, diamonds, Paraiba tourmaline, £POA. dior.com

2

6 Kiki McDonough Classics crossover open rope bangle, 18ct yellow gold, blue topaz, £1,900. kiki.co.uk

7 Sophie Keegan Rope twist necklace, £POA. sophiekeegan.com

8 Gra Tilda’s Bow diamond bangle, £23,500. gra .com

9 Philippa Herbert Bow earrings, 9 or 18ct gold, natural or lab-grown diamonds, from £2,900. philippaherbert.co.uk

11 Hancocks Vintage Regatta necklace by Verdura, 18ct yellow gold, diamonds, £39,500. hancocks-london.com

10 Boodles Ribbons earrings, platinum, Ashoka-cut diamonds, £8,800. boodles.com

12 Van Cleef & Arpels Snow ake Noeud clip, platinum, white gold, diamonds, £POA. vancleefarpels.com

13 FOPE Prima diamond and 18ct gold ring, £8,400. fope.com. By Mary Sanderson

1 David Morris Beaux Double Bangle, 18ct white gold, diamonds, £13,400. davidmorris.com

Chanel Fine Jewellery Ruban Ring, 18ct white gold, diamonds, £15,600. chanel.com

Anna Hu Love Knot earrings, 18ct white gold, diamonds, £8,000. annahu.com

Cece Jewellery Ahoy Sailor ribbon ring, 18ct yellow gold, enamel, diamonds, £3,900. cecejewellery.com 5 Dior Joaillerie Print Necklace,

POSH PUNK

Counterculture gets a chic makeover with these drool-worthy designs

1 De Beers e Alchemist of Light Frozen Capture earcu and stud, 18ct white gold, rock crystal, diamonds, £POA. debeers.co.uk 2 Repossi Antifer 8 Rows Ring, black gold, pavé diamonds, £23,850. repossi.com 3 Pomellato Lirica necklace, 18ct rose gold, diamonds, £POA. pomellato.com

4 Recarlo Face Cube bracelet, 18ct white gold, black diamonds and natural diamonds, £POA. recarlo.com 5 Cartier Clash de Cartier earrings, 18ct rose gold, diamonds. £11,100 (from November). cartier.com 6 Eéra Mini Piercing, 18ct gold, fuschia PVD, pavé diamonds, £8,800. net-a-porter.com

7 Adler Fan’tastic earrings, 18ct pink gold, diamonds, £16,000. adler.ch 8 Messika 18ct white gold, white and yellow diamond Ultimate Party choker, £POA. messika.com 9 Illustrated Jeweller A rmation ring, solid gold with clear quartz and lab-grown diamonds, from £4,000 theillustratedjeweller.com 10 Eva Fehren Continuum VII ear climber, 18ct blackened white gold, pear-shaped diamonds, £16,250. harrods.com

11 Pragnell RockChic hoop earrings, 18ct yellow gold, diamonds, £6,200. pragnell.co.uk 12 Gucci Link to Love ring, 18ct white gold and rubellite, £2,820. gucci.com 13 Matilde Jewellery Mosaic earrings, 14ct yellow gold, lab-grown diamonds, £520. matildejewellery.com. By Mary

Sanderson

BACK to the FUTURE

Influential mid-century designs inspired these revival models

1 Audemars Piguet x 1017 ALYX 9SM Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph, £77,700. audemarspiguet.com

2 Angelus x Massena LAB Chronographe Médical, £19,900. angelus-watches .com

3 Zenith Defy Skyline Boutique Edition, £7,900. zenith-watches .com 4 Breguet Type XX Flyback Chronograph, £16,400. breguet.com 5 Carl F Bucherer Heritage Chronometer Celebration, £16,500. carl-f-bucherer.com 6 Mont Blanc Heritage Monopusher Chronograph, £4,400. montblanc .com 7 Oris Divers Sixty-Five, £2,000. oris.ch 8 Raymond Weil Freelancer Pop Chronograph, £3,495. raymond-weil .co.uk 9 Tudor Ranger, £2,680. tudor.com 10 Piaget Polo Field, £11,800. piaget.com 11 IWC Ingénieur Automatic 40, £10,500. iwc .com 12 Doxa Sub 300 Beta Sharkhunter, £6,950. doxawatches .com . By Amy Wakeham

YEARS

Embrace performance with the iconic Newport collection, inspired by yachting spirit.

Travel through time with elegance, power and precision.

Available at exclusive retailers around the country

SQUARE DANCE

Throw some shapes with this year’s release of striking square watches

1 Bell & Ross BR 05 Chronograph, £5,500. bellross .com

2 Herbelin Antarès Carré, £495. herbelin .com

3 Swatch Bioceramic What If?, £91. swatch.com 4 Cartier Tank Louis Cartier, £POA. cartier.com 5 Ti any & Co HardWear in rose gold with pavé diamonds and black lacquer, £27,000. ti any.co.uk 6 Hermès Cape Cod Chaîne d’ancre, £2,920. hermes .com 7 Rado True Square Automatic Skeleton, £2,600. rado.com 8 Dolce & Gabbana So a steel watch with diamonds, £1,750. dolcegabbana .com

9 Longines Mini DolceVita, £3,450. longines .com 10 TAG Heuer Monaco Rccing Blue Chronograph, £8,050. tagheuer.com

11 Harry Winston Precious Emerald, £POA. harrywinston .com 12 Nomos Glashütte Tetra Die Wildentschlossene, £1,860. nomos-glashutte.com . By Amy Wakeham

MINDS

How do you wear yours? The Bloom Twins show us how it’s done

FASHION DIRECTOR NICOLE SMALLWOOD PHOTOGRAPHER CHRISTINE KREISELMAIER

GRAFF

Left: Duet white pear shape and round pavé diamond earrings set in white gold

Dress Alberta Ferretti

Right: Tribal white pear shape, oval and baguette diamond earrings set in white gold. Tribal white pear shape, oval and baguette diamond necklace set in white gold

Waistcoat The Deck

BOODLES

London Royal Parks earrings set with pear shape tsavorites and diamonds in 18ct SMO pink gold.

Left hand ring finger: Barcelona ring set with an oval shape pink sapphire in 18ctt SMO yellow gold.

Left hand middle finger: Lake Como ring set with a cushion shape aquamarine, purple sapphires and diamonds in platinum and 18ct SMO yellow gold.

Left hand index finger: Dublin ring set with a cushion shape green tourmaline, diamonds and green enamel in 18ct SMO yellow gold.

Right hand index finger: Copenhagen ring set with a cultured South Sea pearl and diamonds in 18ct SMO yellow gold.

Right hand middle finger: Rome ring set with a pear shape ruby in 18ct SMO yellow gold.

Right hand ring finger: Provence ring set with an oval cut tanzanite and brilliant cut purple sapphires and diamonds in 18ct SMO yellow gold.

Dress Olivia Von Halle Silk flower Vintage

DIOR JOAILLERIE

Couture necklace in white gold and diamonds.

Couture earring in white gold and diamonds.

Top Toteme

HARRY WINSTON Twins wear: Fifth Avenue Arch necklace, ring, bracelet and earrings with sapphires and diamonds set in platinum

Left: Top Toteme

Right: Swimsuit Medina

GUCCI Allegoria sautoir necklace in yellow gold with amethyst, garnet, enamel and diamonds. Allegoria soft ring ring in yellow gold with heart-shaped spinel and diamonds

Hat Lock & Co Blazer Philosophy di Lorenzo Seraphini Trousers Toteme

TIFFANY & CO.

Schlumberger Three Leaves ear clips with diamonds. Necklace in platinum and 18ct gold and diamonds .

Index finger: Schlumberger

Sixteen Stone ring with diamonds. Middle finger: Schlumberger

Vigne ring with diamonds.

Ring finger: Schlumberger

Two Bees engagement ring in platinum and 18ct gold

Skirt (overhead) David Koma

Dress Emilia Wickstead

CARTIER

Grain de Café necklace in 18ct yellow gold and diamonds. Grain de Café earrings in 18ct yellow gold and diamonds. Grain de Café rings in 18ct yellow gold, and diamonds.

Top Toteme

PRAGNELL

Left: Lukusuzi emerald cut aquamarine pendant necklace with diamond surround in 18ct yellow gold

Right: Masterpiece Honeycomb diamond pendant necklace in 18ct yellow gold

Dress Cult Gaia

TEAM

Videographer: Cory Kreiselmaier

Make-up: Sarah Jagger @ Stella

Creative Artists using Équinoxe de CHANEL and CHANEL Hydra

Beauty Micro Crème Yeux

Hair: Louis Byrne @ Premier

Hair and Make-up using

L’Oréal Professionnel

Manicure: Christine Huseyin

@ David Artists using OPI Nail Polish & Herlum London

Fashion Assistant: April McCarthy

DOP: Jake Lewis

Lighting Director: Thomas Rigade

Photographer’s Assistant: Kiran Mane

Digital Operator: Victor Gautier

Models: Bloom Twins @ Models 1

self To THINE

beTRUE

In this issue, we celebrate the individualists transforming the watch and jewellery industries. SIMON DE BURTON, MELANIE GRANT and TRACEY LLEWELLYN meet the men and women reshaping their worlds in their own unique way

WATCH THIS

Simon de Burton meets the masterminds of modern watchmaking

The 21st century renaissance of traditional watch making has been astounding: until the mid-1990s creating beautifully crafted timepieces in the old-fashioned way remained a minority interest after the ‘quartz crisis’ threatened to kill o clockwork for good.

Paradoxically, the success of the utterly democratic Swatch – plastic-cased and quartz-powered – produced money needed to revive ailing grand names and return mechanical watchmaking to the fore.

Since then, helped by the internet, luxury watches have boomed, in both sales and the number of makers, as historic ‘maisons’ are joined by contemporary independents at the mid-to-high end and young brands o ering well-made models for under £1,000. Watchmaking has only grown strong through individual players who are now recognised for their gamechanging contributions in di erent areas: Jean-Claude Biver breathing life into Blancpain (the oldest surviving name) before turning Hublot from a loss-maker into a global horological phenomenon; Max Büsser spotting a market for radical designs in low numbers and founding MB&F to create far-out watches for the few, working with exceptional makers; or Oris CEO Rolf Studer putting his a ordable brand at the vanguard of watchmaking’s sustainability crusade.

Here we shine the spotlight on seven more making their mark, equally diverse in aims and methods.

1 THIERRY STERN

Many regard Patek Philippe as the most prestigious watchmaker – and CEO Thierry Stern as possibly the industry’s most important individual since he took over from his father, Philippe, in 2009. Stern has instigated the creation of a new $600m manufacture building and pushed output from about 40,000 watches in 2010 to a believed 70,000 today. Neither move has failed to prevent demand vastly outstripping supply. One example of 170 $53,000 steel-cased Nautilus sports watches with ‘Tiffany blue’ dials, made to mark the jeweller and Patek’s long association, fetched $6.5m at auction. Despite achieving his aim of attracting younger, hipper buyers, Stern has dramatically streamlined Patek’s retail network from 750 stores to little more than 250 today. The thinking is to make more watches available to the better-performing outlets and, since UK turnover alone has risen from £60m when Stern took over to £185m today, it looks like he’s done the right thing.

2 RICHARD MILLE

Frenchman Richard Mille founded his brand, in collaboration with Audemars Piguet, in 1999 after setting up watchmaking for jeweller Mauboussin. His vision was to make watches engineered to Formula One car standards, with highly shock-resistant movements, ergonomically designed cases and open dials revealing intricate mechanisms. And the price? That was irrelevant to Mille, but they were always going to be expensive. Very expensive. In 2001, his first trading year, Mille sold 17 – at CHF 200,000 apiece. Now he produces about 5,500 watches per year, some of which cost more than £1m. And yes, there’s a waiting list. With his audacious business plan, uncompromising attitude, and cutting-edge materials and techniques, Mille is a superstar with products coveted by the (very) rich and famous. But, despite a stratospheric rise to success, Richard Mille – man and brand – maintains a playful side.

Look at the RM 88 ‘Smiley’ tourbillon launched this summer, adorned with miniature sculptures of ‘happy’ symbols such as parasols, rainbows, pineapples. Oh, and hanging from its yellow rubber strap is a playful price tag of £1m.

3 NICK & GILES ENGLISH

In 2002, when Nick and Giles English made initial plans to found Bremont, their mission was to reinvigorate the British watch industry both by assembling timepieces and making as many components as possible in the UK. Twenty-one years later, they seem well on the way, with Bremont now headquartered at The Wing, an avant-garde manufacturing facility near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. The 35,000sq/ft building is a state-of-the-art, eco-efficient and fully integrated ‘manufacture’ capable of producing up to 50,000 finished watches annually –considerably more than any British watch brand since the demise of Smith’s in Cheltenham over 50 years ago. Last year the brothers unveiled Bremont’s first series-produced watches powered by in-house movement ENG300. We’d say that’s ‘mission accomplished’.

4 MICHEL NAVAS

Those with a passing interest in watches may never have heard of Michel Navas, but to horophiles he’s a living legend. In the game for over 40 years, he has worked with blue-chip names such as Patek Philippe and Gérald Genta and collaborated with Franck Müller on the insanely complicated movement of the Noughties-defining ‘Crazy Hours’ watch. In 2004, Spanish-born Navas decided to monetise his skills as a designer of complicated movements by setting up the design and production business BNB Concept – ‘N’ for Navas and the Bs for fellow co-founders Enrico Barbasini and Matthias Buttet. Navas and Barbasini then set up La Fabrique du Temps in 2007 and created the Laurent Ferrier tourbillon and micro-rotor winding mechanism. After five years, they were approached by luxury goods giant Louis Vuitton, which wanted to up its watchmaking game and, through LFDT, could buy a ready-made reputation. Navas remains in charge and has put Vuitton on the map as a leader in complex, imaginative automaton watches. And, as the ‘new’ Tambour demonstrates, we ain’t seen nothing yet…

5 GEORGES KERN

This cornerstone of the Swiss watch industry started 31 years ago with TAG Heuer before, in 2002, becoming CEO of IWC, where he spent 15 years transforming it into one of Richemont’s most successful dial names. In 2017, he resigned as Richemont’s ‘head of watchmaking’ to become CEO of Breitling, then recently bought by private equity group CVC Capital Partners in a $900m deal. Kern has streamlined Breitling, upped its appeal to a younger audience by recruiting celebrity ‘squads’ in surfing, athletics, aviation and exploration, and eschewed trade shows in favour of revealing new models at independent spectaculars. Deals with hip motorcycle-associated brands have enhanced Breitling’s cool factor, and provided action man Kern with a new hobby alongside his love of cycling and cinema.

6 ROGER W SMITH

George Daniels was perhaps the greatest watchmaker of the 20th century – and now his only apprentice, Roger Smith, seems to be taking over the mantle, living and working on the Isle of Man, where he moved 25 years ago to work with Daniels. In 2001, early in the mechanical watch revival, Smith founded his own dial name to perpetuate ‘the Daniels method’ – making watches entirely by hand, finished traditionally with characteristic features such as frosted movement plates and silver, engine-turned dials. Smith has no ambition to make more than ten watches per year, because he wants every one to be perfect. He was chosen by the Cabinet Office to produce a one-off watch for the Government’s ‘Great’ campaign showcasing British skills; he has been awarded an OBE for his contribution to art and science; he has scooped a Walpole award for outstanding British craftsmanship and his order book is full for at least the next six years. This suggests perfection may, indeed, have been achieved. Why else would someone have paid £3.8m for Smith’s Pocket Watch Number Two at a Phillips auction in June, setting a record for a British-made watch?

1 Thierry Stern and Patek Philippe Aquanaut Self-Winding, £49,530. patekphilippe.com

2 Richard Mille and RM 88 Automatic Winding Tourbillon Smiley, £POA. richardmille.com 3 Nick and Giles English and Bremont Supernova, £7,995. bremont.com

4 Michel Navas and Louis Vuitton Tambour Fiery Heart Automata, £POA. louisvuitton.com 5 Georges Kern and Breitling Top Time BO1 Triumph, £6,250. breitling.com 6 Roger W Smith and Series 2, £POA. rwsmithwatches.com.

TAKING THE PATH LESS TRAVELLED

Melanie Grant meets the unique designers transforming the jewellery industry with their individual points of view

In Robert Frost’s poem e Road Not Taken, he stands before two pathways in a yellow wood. One feels familiar and inviting, the other devoid of footprints and undisturbed. He ponders both before taking the road less travelled and his poem has become a poignant metaphor for individualism. Frost won four Pulitzer Prizes with his ability to use rural settings to examine deep philosophical themes. He could have succumbed to lack of aspiration but instead pursued his love of poetry. is individualist thinking, rejecting comfort zones and social expectations, enabled him to become a pioneer. e jewellery artists who make their mark are equally individualist. ey have all gone into the yellow wood without a map and discovered themselves, whatever the consequences.

e cost of precious materials in jewellery, combined with hiring skilled craftspeople to execute a singular vision, can crush a dream. Worse still, it can turn a jewel destined for greatness into an ‘investment vehicle’ – but not if you are James de Givenchy. In his twenties he was commissioned by powerful collectors such as Nan Kempner, who gave him the freedom to be himself as well as valuable guidance. Yet it was collaborating with Sotheby’s Diamonds that inspired him to start a workshop and take control of his creativity. He experimented with steel, leather and ceramic, making a rubber necklace with diamond buttons that he was told ‘ruined the stones’. But his

designs sold out and he learned a valuable lesson: ‘Individualism is about doing things my way. Not so much on my own but standing alone in the way I look at things.’ Wildness of this kind cannot be taught and cannot be diminished by those with less imagination.

Wallace Chanwas considered a family disgrace when, at 16, he left a gemstone carving apprenticeship in Hong Kong to start his own practice. He was intent on carving intaglios and Greek mythological scenes in rock crystal, leading to his invention of the Wallace Cut, where a single face etched inside a stone has multiple re ections. Like de Givenchy, he was reprimanded for devaluing the stones and he went to an auction house who sent his work to the jewellery, and then the art, department when they couldn’t decide where to put him.

‘My eagerness to belong was in con ict with my desire to break free,’ he says. ‘Half a century of experience has taught me… at the end, only history will give me my place.’ In September, he exhibited more than 150 unique jewels at Christie’s London in his largest European exhibition to date.

Being unique atVan Cleef & Arpels, which is led by CEO Nicolas Bos,comes with the responsibility of educating the next generation of mavericks to become something more, via its L’Ecole, School of Jewelry Arts (now expanding to Shanghai and Dubai). e sculptural Escale Antique ‘Rome’ bracelet from its new Le Grand Tour collection recalls the 18th and 19th centuries, when edgling individualists would go travelling, broaden their minds, and nd their true calling. However, surviving nancially while creating something the world may not yet be ready for is rarely taught at school.  ‘To be totally free is di cult,’ muses Christian Hemmerle, whose family business has created designs that shift the spectrum of gurative jewellery for 130 years. ‘We don’t answer to the stock market, we’re not doing it for the balance sheet and I believe this is part of our success. If you always create with an eye on pro tability, then the greatest jewels would never be made.’ Hemmerle’s matchstick

FROM TOP: Nicolas Bos, CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels; Escale bracelet for its from its new Le Grand Tour collection; Christian and Yasmin Hemmerle; earrings by Hemmerle

earrings in iron and patinated bronze with rubellite tips follow its carved jade Leibniz biscuit earrings and a brilliant series of mushroom brooches with a cult following. Balance sheet be damned.

Ideas are at the root of it all. Claire Choisne, Creative Director at Boucheron, recently crafted a massive hair ornament bow from magnesium – ten times lighter than gold – a bejewelled pocket and a gargantuan optical illusion necklace for her More is More collection. She designs two high-jewellery collections a year – the rst archive-inspired but the second fully indulging her creativity without limits, with company support. ‘We are living up to our reputations as the rule breakers of the Place Vendôme,’ says CEO Hélène Poulit-Duquesne.

Having a vertically integrated business makes the economics easier to control even if awless diamonds are riskier to play with, according to FrançoisGra :‘We are diamond artists and our experience, plus an unrivalled inventory of stones, ensures that our designers and master artisans are free to experiment.’ Experimentation leads to avant-garde thinking, which is everything.

From whopper diamonds to ancient artefacts, Glenn Spiro has exuberantly embraced both within a design language that is resolutely his, but which grows more eclectic as time passes. Spiro’s Old World Collection, showing at this year's PAD London (10–15 October), is an ode to the medieval modern aesthetic, with peppery antique wood, fat glossy amber beads and

spicy citrine. He makes this evolution look easier than it really is, which is dangerous for those starting out. Collectors will always need the exquisite talents of the master jeweller because as the world gets smaller, the thirst for undeniable originality grows stronger, but they need to be brave.

‘ ere are two types of people e ones who want the Rolex everybody has and the ones who want what no one has. ese are my clients and those of everyone else who does what I do,’ says de Givenchy. The majority of jewellers trample down the picnic route towards humdrum design, which is why these artists are so special. ey rebel against the basic economic principle of making something everyone loves in favour of making something they love. In 1923, Frost wrote another poem, entitled Nothing Gold Can Stay, where he asserts that precious things are eeting and temporary by nature. Jewellery immortalises the power of individualism, sealed forever in gold and stone, and for that I’d gladly walk to the ends of the earth.

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE LEFT: Claire Choisne, Creative Director at Boucheron; Boucheron's Tie the Knot hair bow; Wallace Chan at work; Glenn Spiro amber necklace; Glenn Spiro; Graff yellowand-white diamond necklace and earrings

TIMES CHANGE

Tracey Llewellyn meets the women making waves in the world of watches

Women have had a big influence on horology – from Elizabeth I, who reputedly wore the first wristwatch, a bejewelled 1572 New Year’s gift from the Earl of Leicester, to Marie-Antoinette, an 18th-century Breguet devotee, collector and early influencer. Today, women outspend men on watches: a 2021 Allied Market Research survey found that, with timepieces more than $1,200, 54.4 percent of buyers were women.

Yet visiting any watch manufacture or exhibition shows that men dominate. IWC’s CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr told e Telegraph last year that women aren’t returning to the industry after having families. ‘It’s not IWC, it’s the industry,’ he said. ‘We need to see what we are losing and what we could gain. We may think there is no issue, but when you speak to the people a ected, you realise there is a problem and it needs to be a topic of conversation.’ e imbalance is (very) slowly being redressed, but women must be tough individuals to ght to the top. Here are six of these determined trailblazers.

1 CAROLE KASAPI

Carole Kasapi is a haute horology legend. She earned two degrees in movement development before working with innovative firms. Winning a prestigious award in 1997 for a system later developed into Ulysse Nardin’s iconic Freak, she was snapped up by Cartier where she helmed watchmaking for nearly two decades. In 2020, she joined TAG Heuer and heads its movement design and development. She describes herself as a problem-solver. ‘I’ve always had a curious mind and desire to understand how things work. The allure of horology and the potential to blend technical innovation with artistic design kept me focused on movements.’ While always keen to acquire skills and make an impact, now she says: ‘My aspiration goes beyond individual accomplishments. Knowledge transmission is very close to my heart, giving back to the community. I give lectures and organise an annual girls’ day in Geneva, to promote women’s roles in the industry.’

2 TILLY HARRISON

The daughter of Richard Mille’s EMEA CEO, Tilly Harrison spent every summer working in his offices until she graduated. She then spent four years with David Morris before moving back to Richard Mille. During lockdown, she became interested in the brand’s secondary market performance. ‘I was being asked by clients to recommend dealers but couldn’t as nobody has access to components or authorised watchmakers. There was a pre-owned gap for us to fill. Other brands were already doing it but mixing pre-owned with new pieces. We only make 5,000 watches a year, so we wanted to focus on discontinued models.’

The first Ninety opened in London in 2021, with branches added in Geneva and the Middle East. Harrison is now moving to Dubai to become MD of Richard Mille Middle East. ‘Ninety is my baby and I keep it close,’ she says. ‘But women in business are having their moment in the Middle East and I am ready to take on the challenge.’

3 STÉPHANIE SIVRIÈRE

Stéphanie Sivrière came to watches through a love of jewellery, and heads design for fine and high jewellery, and watchmaking at Piaget. ‘We are, at heart, watchmakers who became jewellers and I did the reverse,’ she says. ‘Every day, our team switches from one to the other. Once you can do this, you can work anywhere. It gives you the precision and meticulousness to do anything.’ Sivrière took a prestigious five-year jewellery course and joined Piaget in 2002 as a jewellery designer, creating collections such as Wings of Light. An advocate of rare artistic crafts, she manages a ninestrong studio team, splitting her time between workshops and artisans. On creativity, she says that ‘finding the time to isolate oneself to think about a new collection is the hardest part, but once your idea takes shape there is nothing like this feeling’.

4 ALISON FORRESTAL

Female watch CEOs are a rare breed. There are a handful in Switzerland, while in the UK the top job at Time Products – Sekonda, Limit and recently relaunched Accurist – belongs to Alison Forrestal. She joined the company in 2020, bringing management and business experience from the drinks, online retail and publishing industries. The relaunch of Accurist last year was momentous, with an accessibly priced collection that addresses current trends. Unsurprised by its success, Forrestal says, ‘I focused on trying to understand our consumer and the shifts impacting the overall watch market. Accurist’s sub-brand Old England was worn by Twiggy, Princess Anne and The Beatles, and ‘the ‘magic’ was in its 75-year-old archives. Its experts spent hours helping me learn the industry’s nuances.’ However, nothing should detract from a newcomer breathing new life into famous old names. She advises anyone looking for a new direction to pick what you enjoy and to do it to the best of your abilities. ‘Then,’ she says, ‘opportunities will find you.'

5 MEGAN YOUNG

For Megan Young, a ‘normal’ week covers all the operational aspects of running a workshop and servicing centre. In between, she works at the bench, problem-solving tricky repairs or sourcing new equipment. Describing herself as ‘a fixer’, she left school at 16 to pursue watchmaking in Geneva and worked across Europe before setting up Harrods’ first watch workshop. In 2019, she moved to the pre-owned sector with online platform Xupes. When Chrono24 took over last year, she had the opportunity to design and build The Watch Atelier, one of the UK’s fastest growing independent service centres. She says: ‘[We] hope to grow The Watch Atelier into a global presence where we develop and train aspiring professionals to master their craft and become future leaders.’

6 REBECCA STRUTHERS

‘Renaissance woman’ is the only appropriate term for Rebecca Struthers. One of a tiny group (including her husband and business partner Craig) who can hand-make a watch from scratch, she also restores them. No wonder she says the best part of her job is how varied it is. ‘Some days I’m restoring a vintage 1930s Cartier or 18th-century pocket watch, others I’m goldsmithing, making cases for our new watches. In the evenings, I’m reading or writing watch history. You never know what projects will come next.’ Struthers studied jewellery and silversmithing at Birmingham City University but an ‘epiphanic moment’ led her to a subject that encompassed her joint passions for art and science. ‘I love the balance between design and engineering,’ she says. ‘Knowing which areas you can play with and where you’re restricted – that’s much more fun and challenging than working in a field with no limitations.’ She originally planned to join the army and study medicine, but says that ‘the tortuous way’ science was taught at school put paid to that: ‘I’m not complaining though. I love what I do.’ n

1 Carole Kasapi and TAG Heuer Carrera Automatic Chronograph, £5,600. tagheuer.com 2 Tilly Harrison

3 Stéphanie Sivrière and Piaget Essentia High Jewellery watch, £POA. piaget.com 4 Alison Forrestal and Accurist rectangle ladies watch, £199. accurist.com 5 Megan Young

6 Rebecca Struthers and Struthers The Kingsley watch, from £48,000. strutherswatchmakers.co.uk

The CHYPRÉ FragranceFamily

Unchained MALE

This bold new age of men’s bijouterie is for every man, says

As a late 30-something, I grew up when man bling wasn’t a thing. Gold chains were for hip-hoppers, earrings for rockers and delinquents. My 1950s-generation mother might have disowned me had I rocked up with a gold hoop in my ear. Luckily for her, this sometimes-wayward son has never (yet) been harpooned at the piercing parlour.

In a memorable episode of nineties sitcom bemoans the gift of a bracelet from his atmate Joey, calling it ‘a reject from the Mr T collection’. It re ected a longheld view that male hardware was about function, not fashion. Fast-forward and with dress codes blurring as we dive deeper into a brave new era of men’s style, jewellery has become more universal than utilitarian.

Take the chain necklace, which has emerged as the ultimate chest garnish thanks to Cartier poster boy Paul Mescal in lockdown hit Normal People

It blends into everyman mode, whether nestled between the placket of a polo, the open collar of a silk shirt or peeking from the neckline of a white tee. Equally versatile is a clean-cut pendant from 886 e Royal Mint, with added green kudos for being forged from recycled X-ray plate silver.

e signet ring has come full circle from the moneyed to the masses, and a black onyx or jasper example from Giovanni Raspini is tasteful yet unobtrusive, while Noel’s white-gold ring with its full band lapis lazuli makes a quiet statement.

For chaps keen to convert to bijouterie more tangibly, a chunky chain or bracelet, like those in Annoushka’s Knuckle range, is a solid investment. As the name suggests, the 14k-gold collection is inspired by nger joints, with each piece skilfully engineered and given an anti-tarnish nish to keep it gleaming for years.

Perhaps the most surprising development is that brooches have dusted o their dowdy image on men’s lapels. While the most outré, like Chanel’s Plume brooch, are black tie fodder, a novelty number, like the Van Cleef & Arpels’ boat clip, is the modern answer to a regimental pin. Even Chaumet’s CEO, JeanMarc Mansvelt, regularly sports a diamond pin on his sober daytime suiting.

Attitudes to earrings have also shifted. While punky designs from the likes of Maria Tash and Pearls

Before Swine are best for the young

and restless, a tasteful white gold and emerald stud from 42 Suns now feels no more of an elephant in the (board)room than a burly Audemars Piguet O shore.

Beaded bracelets can also be seen twined around many male wrists. For the 40-plus urban dad hiding one behind his cu at his City desk, it’s a reminder of carefree days spent in Ko Pha Ngan; for the Gen-Z boy, it hints at worldly exploits to come. Tateossian and Elhanati o er well-crafted examples far removed from tourist kitsch. For something sleeker, solid bangles in pink or white gold from Dior and Ti any pair uently with tailoring or casualwear, anywhere. Maybe Chandler should crack out that bracelet again. On that note, I’m o to the piercing parlour... n

Heavy

PHOTOS:

LAURA JANE COULSON

FROM TOP: Annoushka Knuckle

Link necklace in 14ct gold, £11,500. annoushka.com; Chanel

Plume brooch in 18ct white gold and diamonds, £55,000. chanel.com; Giovanni Raspini Jack onyx ring, £175. giovanniraspini.com; Chaumet Bee My Love brooch in 18ct yellow gold and diamonds, £POA. chaumet.com; 886 The Royal Mint T-bar pendant in sterling silver, £245. 886.royalmint. com; Dior offers a cool jewellery collection for modern men, dior.com; Van Cleef & Arpels Lucky Summer Boat Clip, £6,750. vancleefarpels.com; Elhanati Isha jade bracelet, £1,800. elhanati.com

TOUCH The Midas

AVRIL GROOM digs deep to uncover

and the jewellers that use them

Halfway up a mountain, in an unobtrusive building blending in with the local rock, a silver-gauntleted, masked gure is carefully pouring a stream of smoking, ery liquid into a small beaker. No wonder the ancients believed in alchemy - after a few minutes’ cooling, there emerges an inch-wide button of pure, yellow gold, as bright and rare as the sunshine outside. is is Highlands Scotland, in a national park where, at the country’s only commercial goldmine, environmental impact, community bene t and traceability are as key as the metal, which becomes scarce but not inaccessible jewellery, handcrafted in Hamilton & Inches’ Edinburgh workshop.

In Wales, there is di erent alchemy. At the Royal Mint’s new HQ, jewellery is made from gold created in the UK through a high-tech, room-temperature process that transforms the interiors of discarded mobile phones and laptops. Silver is distilled from redundant X-ray plates and other medical material. Even the plastic that entombs these elements is resurrected. is is the rst commercial jewellery project in e Mint’s 1,000-plus year history, but it and Scottish gold are two sides of the same coin.

Since the advent of created gemstones, the claim to sustainability of natural versus man-made has been a battleground (see page 82). Now attention has turned

to precious metal, which in the past has sometimes been a murky area. Consumer attitudes have accelerated change. Clients who like to know their gemstones’ journey may want them set in ethically produced, traceable metal. at demand has reached critical mass – the World Gold Council estimates that 28 percent of gold is now from recycling, of which ten percent is from e-wasteand technology is advancing quickly to satisfy it. Scottish gold has been known for hundreds of years but Scotgold’s operation near Loch Lomond is something new. Mining in such a sensitive area - and it is a proper mine, tunnelled into a cli with machinery and blasting, and some smelting on site - was controversial but achievable in a country with strict environmental and working conditions rules. It may close in a decade and eventually leave no trace. With noise and access limits, wildlife is undisturbed. Already the spoil heaps are indistinguishable from natural drumlins – grass-covered hummocks of glacial moraine. By precious metal standards this is sustainable. With 100 sta , the mine has created local jobs and training for entrants to the industry such as senior underground geologist Rachael Paul, who began with work experience. e smelted gold goes to 263-year-old rm Betts in Birmingham, to be made into an 18-carat alloy that is assayed in Edinburgh and then enters the workshops for the nal alchemy of design and craftsmanship.

the best new sources of ethical and sustainable metals,

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Designs from Oushaba, which sources its metals from e-waste; mining for gold in Scotland; geologist Rachael Paul, who works at the mine; The Royal Mint is making jewellery from discarded mobile phones and laptops; Hamilton & Inches 18ct Scottish gold and diamond Fleur de Lys pendant, £1,595. hamiltonandinches.com

In traditional areas standards are less clear-cut, especially at artisanal and small-scale mines with safety and pollution concerns. However, change has snowballed since the rst Fairtrade and Fairmined initiatives in 2011. Now the Betts family and partners have set up the Single Mine Origin (SMO) initiative in West Africa. ‘It’s not an easy place to work’, says MD Charlie Betts, ‘but we were frustrated with small mines’ exploitative reputation. Ninety percent of the gold workforce is in small or artisanal mines and we can make a di erence.’ is means total transparency from mine to jewel for the client, and local bene ts – decent wages, education, healthcare, and training – for a post-mining future. ey work with one mine in Mali and one in Ivory Coast with plans for two more by year’s end, all in di erent countries, says Betts, ‘because you never know when political instability may mean suspending operations somewhere’.

Brazilian designer Fernando Jorge – known for his bold but uid, airy shapes – visited the Ity mine in Ivory Coast that supplies him.

‘I learned how they reduce environmental impact and bene t communities’, he says. ‘Most important was connecting with the people and witnessing how my decisions a ect them, which has had deep, lasting e ects on my work’. Satis ed customers Christie and Rosanna Wollenberg of B Corp-certi ed, accessible brand Otiumberg say they ‘love that all details, from the mine to our workshop, are on a QR code. We support innovative ideas that improve the industry.’

Also using Ity SMO gold is British-Ghanaian jeweller and V&A curator Emefa Cole, whose bold, new collection, Worth Its Weight, is made from it.

‘Ivory Coast borders Ghana, which made me feel connected – it’s not just accessing the metal but the human stories behind it and its traceability to West Africa where gold has historic signi cance,’ Emefa says. Pieces were sensationally previewed at this year’s Met Gala by actress, co-host and fellow Ghanaian Michaela Coel.

Because of its scarcity and high ratio of value to volume, gold is relatively small scale to process and therefore controllable. Chopard was the rst global luxury

brand to commit to ethical gold, starting with Fairmined artisanal gold from two South American mines in 2013. It is now entirely ethical – 60 percent mined, the rest from certi ed recycling, including its own scraps. Its re nery converts gold grains into bars of its favoured alloys; the impressively precise operation is surprisingly small size. Small scale has advantages for individual designers, who can research trusted suppliers and track their transparency on blockchain, though circumstances can change. Stephen Webster was an early adopter of Fairtrade gold but switched in 2021 to recycled, ‘because of its lower environmental impact, though we still support Fairtrade and o er it for bespoke work’. Limited-edition collaborations are in SMO gold while all silver is recycled, and platinum (on request) comes from a certi ed re nery harvesting medical and vehicle material.

Goldsmith Eliza Walter founded Lylie in 2017 using only e-waste gold, but customer demand for reshaping family pieces has changed her business model. She now o ers to recycle clients’ own redundant gold, collected in a re-usable bag and processed by her supplier. Clients do not expect their ‘own’ gold back but its value is set against their commission.

Conversely, Gillian Carr is out and proud on e-waste with her Oushaba collection, launched this year using tiny circuit boards and other components integrated into gold traditionally worked by Sicilian goldsmiths. e combination of visible high-techery with ancient craft makes for interesting, not immediately recognisable aesthetics reminiscent of the high jewellery, tech-inspired Jack pins in recycled gold and ceramic by Boucheron, owned by Kering, luxury’s leader on sustainability.

Not that recycling is problem free. For her Kinraden collection Danish architect and jeweller Sarah Müllertzuses recycled medical and e-waste silver and recycled Tanzanian mpingo blackwood from broken instruments that can be faceted and polished, for clean-lined, accessibly priced pieces. Gold versions are an upward leap - she only uses 18-carat ‘because the process of recycling to lower gold content takes far more energy’.

Worry persists about the ethics of pre-recycled materials, but times change. Ruth Tomlinson uses recycled gold for ancient-looking encrusted pieces with antique stones, ocean diamonds found on the seabed and ‘polished’ by wave action, and now semi-polished, traceable Gem elds rubies from Mozambique. Her trusted supplier uses 90 percent jewellery scrap, and audits its supply and resulting pure gold to check its sources. Meanwhile, luxury created stone brand Courbet, which rubs shoulders with the great names on Paris’s Place Vendôme, uses entirely recycled, e-waste gold. ‘We decided that mined gold is inappropriate, and e-waste is less environmentally damaging, which is our priority’, says co-founder Marie-Ann Wachtmeister.

Progress runs from the new willingness to support artisanal mining’s economic and social bene ts on one side to technology’s ever-evolving processes and eye on integrity on the other. Hopefully, a golden future awaits, but Mullertz warns: ‘Everyone wants to create circularity in this industry, but today’s young are the rst generation looking at an uncertain destiny. is is urgent.’ n

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Chopard Happy Hearts Golden Hearts ethical gold pendant, £4,250. chopard.com; Fernando Jorge Blaze earrings in 18ct SMO yellow gold and citrines, £25,000. fernandojorge.co.uk; Michaela Coel wearing Emefa Cole earrings; Stephen Webster x Machine Gun Kelly Gossip ring – Edition 3 in recycled silver, £750. stephenwebster.com

JOIN US ON WEDNESDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2023 AT THE FABULOUS LE MANOIR AUX QUAT'SAISONS, A BELMOND HOTEL, OXFORDSHIRE FOR...

ZERO JOURNEY TO

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

... An unforgettable day with RAYMOND BLANC live in conversation, a CHAMPAGNE reception, a delicious vegan LUNCH, a COOKERY DEMO, a PRIVATE GARDEN TOUR, thought-provoking conversations with SPECIAL GUESTS around how luxury and sustainability must go hand-in-glove, plus an exciting GOODIE BAG filled with ethical gifts to take home afterwards.

Tickets are £275 and there are only 40 spots available, so don’t miss out!

Scan to book your tickets, to secure your spot or visit: bit.ly/44tAG9H

Thanks! It’s RENTED

Nowadays, Tiffanie Darke hires her sparkles

There is nothing known to curse jewellery more than a safe. e moment your grandmother’s ruby bracelet disappears into that black box, well, how long does it take to come out again? If you’re like me, you can forget about it for months.

Owning expensive jewellery is nerve-wracking. Not just for its monetary value, but because we invest so much emotional value in it too – an investment that must be safeguarded. But what if a new model were to enter the market? What if, like Cinderella, we were to let our fairy godmothers take care of safekeeping and we were to borrow our diamond glass slippers for the night?

Bond Street jeweller Garrard is giving it a go.

is summer it launched its rst rental collection: a tight curation of diamond and pearl tiaras, bracelets and necklaces aimed at the bridal market (‘something borrowed and, adding a few discreet sapphires, something blue too…’). You pay a fraction of the price to enjoy wearing a vintage tiara down the aisle, plus you can reclaim the hire cost against the purchase of any Garrard

item over the next year.

‘If you want something special for your wedding, rent for the day and buy your forever piece afterwards,’ says Garrard CEO Joanne Milner. ‘For your rst anniversary, perhaps. ere’s so much one-time-use bridal product, it’s nice you can rent something special and not feel you’ll never wear it again.’ e logistics are designed to be frictionless: you pay the insurance, but the cover on a one-day loan will not cost the earth; and your security deposit is only 15 percent of the retail value. e bracelets and necklaces are borrowed for a four-day period, but the tiaras arrive early in the morning with their own security guards, and are whisked away before the stroke of midnight but after the photos and rst dance.

Covett is a jewellery platform launching a shared-ownership model.Its customers are independent women with the means to treat themselves rather than wait for Prince Charming.

‘A customer buying a £15,000 diamond bracelet only needs to spend £2,500 for her share,’ reports founder Cynthia Morrow. ‘It’s a thrill every time it comes.’ For her share, the customer owns the bracelet for 72 days a year, booked in advance. Covett also has rental subscriptions that allow up to ten rentals a year for £1,440. With brands such as eo Fennell, Bentley & Skinner and Picchiotti on o er, that’s tempting. ‘People still fear the responsibility of wearing something expensive. We undertake all insurance, maintenance and transport costs, so you can just enjoy it,’ says Cynthia

If the idea appeals, you don’t have much to lose. My three-day rental of Garrard’s diamond fan necklace elicited some very admiring glances (yes, I’m the type to sling on a diamond necklace for lunch). Fashion rental sites are also getting into the game – nd Kiki McDonough at Hurr, and Tiffany at By Rotation. Cinderella shall go to the ball! n

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Hire the diamonds for your big day from Garrard; Covett’s subscription model, from £360 a year, gives you access to these earrings from Theo Fennell; a Garrard necklace; Myriam Soseilos ring and earrings from Le Ster, both on Covett; rent this Kiki McDonough ring on Hurr

HAND of GOD

There is nothing so beautiful and bewitching as a diamond, its dazzling charm entrancing humanity for millennia. But there’s also nothing quite as complicated as humanity’s history with diamonds – one that has been bloody and blurry, and often exploitative of both the earth and human beings.

Created diamonds are another chapter in the long story of our love a air with diamonds, and have exploded into the jewellery and watch markets in the last handful of years. e global lab-grown industry was valued at US$22.45 billion in 2022, and it’s forecasted to grow to US$37.32 billion by 2028.

ey’ve also been worn by countless global stars and tastemakers like Taylor Swift, Hayley Bieber and Bella Hadid both on and o the red carpet – all of whom have signi cant followers in the 18-34 demographic, who are drawn to created stones for their ethics and sustainability, as well as their lower price points. Some 37 percent of shoppers in this age group said they were likely to choose a lab-grown diamond – compared to only 24 percent of those 35 or older. It’s a trend that’s likely to have a profound impact on the jewellery and watch industries.

Many brands I speak to con rm this change in customer behaviour over recent years, exacerbated by the pandemic, with a greater focus on sustainability, as well as transparency and traceability, pointing to a new base that actively takes into account both people and planet when purchasing.

‘Customers choose a more conscious lifestyle and

products that are responsibly produced,’ observes Georges Kern, managing director of Breitling, who made the decision in 2020 to transition to lab-grown diamonds across all its new main collection. ‘Especially for luxury goods, responsible sourcing, traceability and transparency are key criteria.’ Its new Navitimer 36 and 32 models come with full provenance records. Oris, which prides itself on its carbon neutrality, launched its rst watch with created stones earlier this year.

‘It’s the rst time Oris has used lab-grown diamonds, and customer reaction has been good,’ says Rolf Studer, CEO of Oris. ‘Younger customers, especially, are very interested in the idea of lab-grown diamonds as they can be socially and environmentally more sustainable than natural diamonds.’

Independent jeweller Rachel Boston, who uses both natural and man-made stones according to her customers’ preference, has also seen a change. ‘We’ve de nitely seen a shift to a more sustainabilityoriented mindset in our customers over the last few years, and I think the rising popularity of lab-grown stones has a lot to do with this shift.’

However, she warns about the potential for greenwash when it comes to created stones, which can be very energy intensive, and involve processes that use by-products of the fossil fuel industry.

‘I can understand the appeal to many consumers but I think there can be a lot of greenwashing involved with the marketing of lab-grown diamonds, which I think is deceptive.’

A 2019 report, commissioned by the Diamond

Created diamonds are going from strength to strength. AMY WAKEHAM fi nds out what’s next for this burgeoning industry

FAR LEFT: Breitling Navitimer 32, £3,400. breitling.com;

THIS PAGE: Skydiamond modern set cushion cut engagement ring, £3,734; modern set wedding bands in 18ct recycled white, yellow and rose golds, £514 to £589; selection of micro pave eternity rings set in 18ct recycled white, yellow and rose golds, £2,893 to £5,400

Producers Association, suggested that lab-grown diamonds could have three times the carbon footprint as mined diamonds. However, the data took into account emissions created by coalpowered labs in China and India – whereas nowadays many brands create their stones using green energy.

Solar is a popular energy source for other manufacturers: Lusix, which luxury group LVMH just invested $90 billion in, makes solar-powered diamonds, as does Vrai’s Diamond Foundry in the US, which it claims is zero-emissions, and Fenton, with sunlight-powered labs in India, the US and Israel. Skydiamond is di erent again, as it makes its stones out of carbon taken from the atmosphere, in a unique process powered by renewable energy that takes place in the UK.

Other brands are also excited about the opportunity for boundless creativity of created stones. ‘Lab-grown diamonds o er exceptional design exibility,’ nds jeweller Matilde Mourinho. ‘ eir controlled growth process allows for a wider range of colours, shapes, and sizes, enabling intricate and imaginative designs. Unlike mined diamonds, which may have limitations, lab-grown diamonds o er jewellers the ability to bring virtually any creative vision to life.’

Birmingham-based jeweller Fei Liu, who is Chief Designer of Colormond, agrees: ‘ e prices of the laboratory grown pieces are so much more accessible to everyone which enables the designer to try di erent things – a great advantage for designers. Also, the spectrum of colours now available with these stones are fabulous and very interesting. With natural diamonds, the shape and inclusions of the rough are crucial in determining the shape and weight of the cut stone, but for laboratory grown diamonds you can request various cuts, shapes and sizes, which makes the impossible possible.’

However, the availability of these innovative man-made stones for independent jewellers is still low. ‘One of the downsides of lab-grown gemstones is that they are usually really standardised, and will only come in cuts and speci cations that are bound to sell,’ nds Rachel

Boston. ‘But that does mean that you won’t normally nd more unusual cuts, paler fancy coloured diamonds, and imperfect stones, all of which I personally love working with for their unique organic nature.’

Several of the brands I speak to also note the trend for bigger stones in engagement rings, fuelled by celebrities, is also prompting customers to turn to created diamonds, which can cost ten to 40 percent less than their natural counterparts.

‘Customers have grasped the concept of a shorter supply chain and fewer layers of margin,’ Marie-Ann Wachtmeister, co-founder of Courbet, a French ne jewellery house on Place Vendôme in Paris that uses created stones to create its luxury pieces. ‘ ey clearly enjoy the consequence of more of the same value created passed on to the end-user with lower prices. As a consequence, consumers tend to spend the same amount as they would on a mined diamond but go for larger stones.’

Fei Liu agrees: ‘My customers are amazed when they hear the attractive price of a laboratory-grown, one-carat diamond. ey just cannot believe they can now own something that previously was almost too expensive to hold – moreover, such a big rock! is was never possible in the past.’

New York-based diamond analyst Paul Zimnisky predicts that created stones are only set to become more and more popular over the next few years. ‘Lab-diamonds make diamonds much more a ordable to a much larger portion of the global consumer demographic. So I think we will see more and more people globally buying lab-diamonds who otherwise would not be able to a ord a natural diamond. In addition, I believe we will see lab-diamonds produced in shapes and colours not found in nature which will allow the lab-diamond industry to di erentiate from natural diamonds.’

However, he continues: ‘I believe that consumers’ willingness to spend thousands of dollars for lab-diamond jewellery is a short-lived trend. I believe that the volume of lab-diamonds sold will eventually exceed that of natural diamonds, but they will sell at just a fraction of the price of natural diamonds. Once the lab-diamond product matures, I do not really see the product competing with natural diamonds nearly as much as the relative price points will be so di erent.’

Indeed Pandora, the world’s largest jewellery retailer, has just launched a global campaign for its new created diamond range (made using renewable energy and set in recycled silver and gold, tag line: ‘diamonds for all’) starting at just £225. So does this mean the democratisation of diamonds for the masses? e future is unclear, but one thing is certain: luxury goods are always more than the sum of their parts, and there will forever be an appetite for the ner things in life.

‘Just as with cashmere or many other sought-after materials, what de nes if something is luxury or not is the quality of the material, the craftsmanship, the design, the experience and the price,’ points out Marie-Ann Wachtmeister. And, as history shows, what makes humans want to buy a diamond is more than its atomic structure alone. n

FROM ABOVE: Matilde Jewellery Leonis bangle, £1,750; Everlasting ring, £550. matildejewellery.com. Fei Liu x Colormond Clarice collection large cocktail ring, £5,700. colormond.com. Courbet Signature cushion-cut and pear-cut ring in white gold, £15,900. courbet.com

Forces of Nature

This year’s most unique watches

Bulgari Divas’ Dream high jewellery watch in rose gold with rubellites and diamonds

Bremont MB Viper watch in titanium and anodised aluminium

Patek Philippe Calatrava Self-Winding watch in white gold

Dior Gem Dior watch in steel, yellow gold, malachite and diamonds

Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch in platinum with a Cerachrom bezel

G-Timeless Dancing Bees with a 18ct white gold case set with diamonds, pink opal marquetry dial with 18ct white gold bees en tremblant and tourbillon set with diamonds, 18ct white gold bracelet set with diamonds

Gucci

WRITTEN IN THE CLOUDS

Why naturally created diamonds are becoming the choice of younger generations

Adiamond ring to mark an engagement has been tradition in Europe since 1477, when Archduke Maximilian of Austria proposed to Mary of Burgundy. However, it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that diamond rings gained widespread popularity, and sales soared.

In 2023, there’s been a new shift in the kinds of diamonds couples are seeking out to mark their engagement. According to research by e Knot, 36 percent of engaged men proposed with a created stone last year, a number that has doubled since 2020.

ere are several reasons for this swing towards younger generations choosing created stones (further explored on p82) but a core one is out of care for the planet. A fter all, diamonds symbolise everlasting love and a shining life together – things that are only possible with protecting the future of the planet as well.

One brand that goes the extra mile when it comes to creating diamonds is Skydiamond. e brand was created by renewable energy pioneer Dale Vince OBE, who came up with the idea while thinking about how to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and how to store it in the most permanent way. As diamonds are the ultimate form of carbon, this led to the simple idea

of taking carbon from the atmosphere and using it to make diamonds.

A fter ve years of research in its Cotswold-based lab, the rst Skydiamonds were born, using a unique process that fuses carbon captured from the atmosphere with harvested rainwater, which is then heated and pressurised in a process powered by sunlight and wind. As a result, each certi ed diamond – atomically identical to a mined diamond – has negative carbon emissions, something that is achieved through design, not o setting.

‘Everything we need to create a Skydiamond comes from the sky,’ says Dale Vince. ‘ e only thing we put back into the world is cleaner air than we took out.’

After launching on Earth Day in 2022, the brand has collaborated with names such as Stephen Webster and Gucci, and has just launched its collection of ve engagement ring designs with matching wedding band, and two styles of eternity rings. Couples can also create their own unique engagement rings in 100 percent recycled white, yellow and rose gold, and platinum.

Engagement rings start at £2,000. skydiamond.com n

Skydiamond rings are carbon negative, meaning they take more carbon out of the atmosphere than they produce

ways to wear: two necklaces, two pendants with sautoir

Jewellery byNUMBERS

Avril Groom breaks down Van Cleef & Arpels’ Millefiori transformable necklace, from Le Grand Tour collection

77.75cts

round white diamonds, 50.81cts

one cushion-cut morganite shades of gold, total weight 215gm

pear-shaped diamonds, 1.03cts

2,160 HOURS TO COMPLETE