A little something: Hanging out with Yael & Tal

Yael & Tal is a playful jewellery brand founded only last year by Israeli jewellery graduates Yael Serfaty and Tal Salomon, who created a collection inspired by the way photography captures split-second moments, but that I adore for its sense of the everyday.

When I saw their work the phrase that came to mind was 'hoi polloi'. Not because I thought low of their designs but because they gave me a sense of the banalities of life - something rarely celebrated in jewellery. Whether it is a lone figure eating lunch on a park bench, a person sitting thinking about life or cosying up with their other half, I'm intrigued by the strangely voyeuristic feel of their jewellery.

It makes me want to take a closer look, or invent some kind of who, what, where and why story for the little characters that feature. In fact, it's like you're wearing the Borrowers.

Designer: Sophie Bille Brahe

I have to thank a friend of mine (she knows who she is!) for introducing me to Sophie Bille Brahe's work, and getting me down to London Fashion Week - more of that to follow - in time to get around the Exhibition and the British Fashion Council's Rock Vault space earlier this week. It was there that I managed to catch a glimpse of Sophie's work before the doors closed at 7pm and I wasn't disappointed, not even with just a momentary chance to view her work.

It's designers like Sophie, a graduate of London’s Royal College of Art, that bridge the gap between fine jewellery and avant-garde design. She's one of a handful of talents pushing their way into the UK jewellery scene and someone I'll be keeping an eye on this year. 

Her designs have won her accolades from fashion magazines worldwide and, in her own words, adorn inspiring women. It is her Scandinavian background that also paves the way for her sharp design set - a cross-over of clean lines and architectural shapes with more natural forms such as birds or those with celestial connotations. Beautiful. 

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Palais des Escaliers ring in 18ct gold with diamonds

Palais d’Émeraude ring in 18ct gold with emerald and diamonds

Pavillon Fenetres ring in silver with a single diamond

Lyra ring in 18ct gold with diamonds

Petit Hibou and Petit Hibou Pirate necklaces (cute!) in 18ct gold with a diamond

Rideaux Simples and Rideaux Louise ear cuffs in 18ct gold and diamonds

Designer: Alice Cicolini

Ms. Cicolini's name has been buzzing around in my head for a while. Her jewels keep popping up here and there so I thought it was about time that I featured her work on Like Gold Dust. She takes inspiration from the architecture, patterns, colours and textures of the Silk Route between Europe, Africa, India, Arabia and China. 

Alice Cicolini's work is handmade using detailed and beautiful Persian enamelling techniques, as well as atypical materials such as ebony, chrysophrase and carved gemstones designed to look like lotus flowers. While Cicolini has become recognised in recent years as a jeweller (she graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2009) she is also a highly regarded author and has curated a number of international exhibitions. Just looking at her jewellery conjures up an images of faraway lands and with inspiration including Uzbekistan's richly tiled temple roofs, the wallpaper patterns seen along the Silk Route and the motifs of Turkey and China.

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Memphis Ring from the Designers' Guild collection in silver with pink tourmaline.

 Necklace from the Jodhpur collection made with Brazilian crystal and rose quartz, pearls and chrysophrase beads.

Tile Ring from the Silk Route collection made using gold, lemon topaz and peridot stones.

Ebony ring, necklace and earrings from the Temple collection made 18ct gold, ebony, diamonds and rubies.

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A little something: Sugar skull necklace by Basia

Those of you who know me will know I have worn a Zoe & Morgan sugar skull style ring every day for a couple of years now. It's a men's ring but with a little re-size it's become a part of me, and I only take it off to sleep (its thorny shank, based on a rose stem, makes it a little spiky when you want to get cosy).

Imagine how thrilled I was then, when last week I met up with my gorgeous work mates from my old stomping ground EC One, and was given this sterling silver beauty by Basia, one of EC One's long-term superstars, who's just got herself a job at Asprey. Complete with ruby eyes and a cheeky smile I haven't taken him off for more than a week. And I don't plan to. Thanks Bas!!

A little something: Katie Hillier paperclip necklaces

I first spotted these playful necklaces about a year or so ago, following the launch of the now ubiquitous paperclip rabbit necklace. Katie Hillier's irreverent style has seen her designing accessories for everyone from Marc Jacobs to Luella. She's even been involved in Victoria Beckham's new handbag collection (yes, please). I love the little sausage dog pendant, being a huge fan of those little dogs. Now available in silver and with new designs including the tortoise and the hedgehog, I've fallen very much head over heels! <3

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Katie Hillier

Silver and blue topaz hound necklace

18ct gold and champagne diamond bumblebee necklace
18ct gold and navy diamond tortoise necklace

Like Gold Dust video - Merle O'Grady 'Navette' necklace

So here goes... My first ever video for LGD. It's an unedited, filmed-in-my-bedroom cracker of a first attempt, and I'm really pronouncing my words haha. I'm sure things will improve along the way! Anyway, enough about the filming, press play and watch my brief introduction to Merle O'Grady's lovely Navette pendant, from her SS11 Poolside collection. This beauty is made from sterling silver, howlite, Swarovski crystal and perspex. Lovely!

ps. I picked Merle as one of my 'ones to watch' for Adorn London earlier this month. Have a read here.

Alex Monroe's 12 Days of Christmas

What a lovely idea! After hearing on the grapevine what Alex Monroe and co had planned for the run up to Christmas I was super excited to see the beginning two days of Alex Monroe's 12 Days of Christmas advent calendar. Playing on the classic song but switching a few of the details around, the little AM workshop have been super busy putting together an ascending number of goodies in their 'trunk show' style. That is, when the pieces are gone, they're gone; making them even more must-have. The first day was of course a Partridge in a Pear Tree necklace. And not just any old necklace; it featured a solid 18t gold Pear, its chain draped over a handmade silver tree, complete with fallen golden pear.

 

And the second day...? Two Turtle Doves necklace, perched on a little branch in gold plated silver. Sold out of course...

I really cannot wait to see what will happen over the next ten days. What will Nine Ladies Dancing be?! At least we're safe guessing about Five Gold Rings though, eh?

Interview: Ros Millar

I first saw Ros Millar's jewellery at New Designers, an absolute treasure-trove of upcoming, just-graduated design talent. Next, she appeared as an entrant and later a top ten finalist in EC One's graduate jewellery design competition EC One Unsigned, meeting Ros in person at the Unsigned winner's party. Today, Ros is busy with a new collection, open studio days and is seeing ever-growing interest in her jewellery - most recently she was involved in City jeweller Little 15's evening of events for Vogue's Fashion Night In. I caught up with this lovely lass to find out more about her collections and future plans...

Three stacking rings from Ros' Growth Collection, set with natural brown diamonds

Your jewellery has a clear style to it, and I love that it's a step away from the cute, vintage-style of a lot of jewellery designers are doing. Tell me a little about your jewellery-making history and style...

I first studied jewellery at Ulster university for about a month during my foundation year and absolutely loved it... So I scrapped all my intentions of going to study Fashion and moved to Sheffield to study Metalwork and Jewellery. There I found the techniques which suited me best and were easy to work with - cuttlebone casting in particular. Taking this technique as a base I do most of my designing after. When I left university in 2009 I moved to London and started an internship with Melissa McArthur and then with Fannie Schiavoni, as well as freelance work. Finally I set up my studio and began to design for myself again.

Sounds brilliant, a great progression and some great designers to be working with. You're originally from Northern Ireland where you grew up and studied; do you think your work takes any influence from your early surroundings?

I grew up in a place called Bangor on the coast of Northern Ireland.  It's so beautiful... And I do believe that it does have influence on my designs - the fact that they are very organic!

Ros' Double Stud stacking rings

And how did you find studying in Sheffield, with its history of industry, engineering and the Yorkshire countryside so close by? 

I loved Sheffield, I really miss it.  I think that it was the perfect place to study and really concentrate on finding my design style.  In terms of the countryside - I am lucky that my current studio is based in the Essex countryside in a place called Felsted. Soon though I'll be embarking on a new studio in Greenwich where I will be moving in with two other designers (Emma Yeo and Rose Sharp Jones). I hope it will help being surrounded by other designers and being closer to Hatton Garden!

Your Growth Collection features stacking rings in silver, oxidised silver and rose gold - how do you make these rings?

All my pieces are cuttlebone cast at some point in the design process.  Once cast, I then decide which features of the ring to leave textured, and which parts to clean up and make smooth.  The cuttlebone gives an organic texture to each of the rings.  It's important that all rings fit together well so that they can be stacked easil and be worn comfortably. 

They're great, especially the ones with serious height to them! Tell me a little about your new collection...

I'm working on a new collection now - I am so excited about it.  I feel that having had this year since university, I can show in this collection how I have developed and grown as a designer.  I plan to play with colour again (move away from the black oxidisation and rose gold plate) but I definitely want to keep the cuttlefish bone grain within all my pieces again. I want to develop this process more, to make it my signature style as a designer.  As well as developing new collections I will always enjoy to make one-off pieces, I think that these help with the designing for new collections and vice-versa.

Pebble and Growth stacking rings

Do you have a favourite jewellery designer or someone you look up to?

My favourite jewellery designer is Ruth Tomlinson; I have followed her career and work since being at university myself. I love her techniques [Ruth uses porcelain, gemstones and glass] textures and use of colour... I think she's legendary when it comes to electroforming!

I also have a favourite 'fashion jewellery' designer - Fannie Schiavoni. She really inspired me to work hard and to design my own jewellery when I interned with her having just moved to London. I think that her background in fashion helps give her jewellery pieces edge - they are so bold and well made!

Are there anyone designers you'd love to collaborate with?

Good question!!! I would really love to collaborate with another designer who wasn't necessarily a jewellery designer, I think it would be great to see how I could push myself and having the influence of someone with a different design mind... It makes me a little excited to be moving into a studio with two different designers from different design disciplines.

And finally - that age old one - where do you see yourself in 5 years' time?

Recognised!!!

A selection of rings from the Growth Collection

What a sweetheart, eh?! A big thank you to Ros for her brilliant answers and photos

A little something: Elisa Solomon jewellery

Cute cute cute. Having another little browse at Cat Bird recently I spotted a delicate black diamond ring by Elisa Solomon; checking out more of her work I was hit with a real sense of the 1960s; flower power and free love, cute handmade rings with multicoloured gemstones and playful shapes.

 
Think butterflies, hearts, daisy garlands. In fact, reading more about Elisa and her style, she explains "[my] designs reflect the pure belief in love, freedom and kindness of the 60s... These symbols are a subtle reminder of what is important to focus on in daily life". Though she's based in New York (and our nearest stockist is in France!) I can definitely see the appeal this side of the pond. Looks like I'm feeding my sapphire addiction again... Oops!

Silver Butterfly ring set with pink and orange sapphires

Yellow gold Peace necklace set with multicoloured gemstones include sapphires, garnets, emeralds, aquamarine and iolite

Yellow gold Heart ring set with sapphires and turquoise gemstones

Yellow gold Moon pendant set with pearls, rose-cute diamonds and opals (my birthstone!)

Jewellery Street-Style at Bestival

I know, I know. Quite a weird idea considering it was a festival and (oops) almost a month ago! But here's a little round up of some of the gorgeous gals'n'jewels at Bestival this year.  With over 50,000 attendees and its annual fancy dress party taking on a 'Year of the Fantastic' theme, there were so many tremendous looks going on - big necklaces, loads of bangles - that it took me a while to choose who to approach and ask to photograph their jewellery. My highlight had to have been spotting a girl wearing a gorgeous white gold Ungar & Ungar floral ring amidst all the mud; I started asking her all about it and probably scared her half to death getting all technical. Poor thing... Anyway meet Bisi, Elly, Sophie and two other girlies from Guildford whose names I never got. Fabulous.

Bisi - 25, Bristol
Bisi rocked the 'stacked' look with faux leather and chain bracelets from Swedish fashion retailer BikBok - a great high street find!

Elly - 23, London
Keeping things simple Elly's bespoke silver name necklace caught my eye, as did her dusky rose quartz ring from Portobello Market. Love its detailed setting.

Sophie - 22, London
Sophie's jewellery style is cute and quirky, mixing her 'S' wax-seal pendant with a crawling soldier necklace from Topman.

Girl from Guilford 1
Firstly, the ice cream totally made this look - but her striking glam-goth black feather necklace is actually a Primark steal!

 

Girl from Guildford 2
LOVED this outfit - cute shorts, amazing sunglasses. I spotted her from about 30ft away and ran over to take her pic. The necklace itself is entirely hand-beaded and from Afghanistan.

P.S. Me in my 'fantastical' home-made butterfly costume. Really works with wellies, no?!

New jewellery designers at IJL - International Jewellery London

What feels like ages ago now - waaaay back on 6th September - I headed down to IJL to take a tour around the new layout and have a good nose around the new jewellery designers showing this year. There was guaranteed to be some brilliant ones to watch, due in part to the Kickstart and Bright Young Gems sections of the show, both of which promoted emerging jewellery designers, fresh from or a couple of years out of studying. 

The Kickstart stand was fabulous - I got chatting to Daisy Knights who I first wrote about a year or so ago, and haven't seen for a few months, and was also pleased to see Momocreatura and Hannah Bedford who I've also given a little mention to on Like Gold Dust before. Alongside some old favourites were Jessica De Lotz and Akong London, two brilliant and boudary-pushing new designers who are definitely due a mention of their own here soon.

 Daisy Knights at her stand; her Lornie feather rings

Touring the rest of the stands at the show, I got chatting with Sophie Breitmeyer, at the Bright Young Gems stand, who has just entered EC One's 'Unsigned' competition for new graduate jewellery designers. Her gorgeous, sculptural jewellery caught my eye for its mix of shapes and textures; pearls, metal ruffles and chains... I was also pleased to see Hannah Livingston aglow with her recent award from Astley Clarke who are taking her under their wing as an emerging jewellery talent - her little box necklaces are definitely causing a well-deserved stir!

Sophie Breitmeyer at her stand, with her pearl necklace design entered into EC One's competition
Her gorgeous 'Archway Shoulder Necklace', below

Laura Gravestock was also her lovely smiley self, excited to hear from Swag jewellers who had an eye on her stunning Majestic collection, not to mention the fact this was her first year at the show with a stand all to herself! 

 Laura Gravestock at her first IJL stand, her classic 'Written' collection above

I also caught up with old favourite Becca (who was pleased to see me wearing my charm necklace of hers!) and had a gorgeous display, bringing her playful vintage-feel to the modern surrounds of such a contemporary jewellery show. Aside from her gorgeous new enamelled pieces, I adored her giant paper sculptures, made by her good friends and accessory designers Swash.

 

 

Becca with her vintage-styled stand and gorgeous jewellery (note the little dog and cross-bones necklace inspired by Becca's whippet, Pearl), and her irresitable little bird ornament!

A great show, with lots more that I could write about - if only I'd taken 100 more photos!! And many more people on my list to write about in the coming months - notably Phoebe Coleman, who I'll write about very soon, and new collections from ethical jewellery designers Oria...

Ps. Apologies for the really bad photo editing/colour - the light in there is super intense, teamed with the designer's own lamps it sends cameras a bit haywire!!