Other noteworthy styles include layering long necklaces, The Great Gatsby or art deco-inspired pieces like pearl tassel necklaces and earrings, Paraiba tourmaline, gemstone slices, matte and shiny metal combinations, mother-of-pearl backed stones, cat’s eye gems, enamel blossoms, and leaf designs.
Sarah Ho—founder and creative director of SHO Fine Jewellery, which exhibited at About J—says wearability and longevity are top of mind when she’s designing.
To achieve that, Ho designs her collections according to different chapters of her life, a reflection of how she sees her clients also looking back on meaningful moments in their past. Her ‘Origami’ collection is based on growing up in Macau and countless hours spent folding sheets of paper into animals, flowers, and other figures.
“The bigger picture here is this is my autobiography that I’m writing through jewellery,” Ho explains. “People always hold on to things that are important to them, so why can’t that idea be translated into design? What’s more beautiful than having jewellery tell the story about parts of someone’s life? Everyone can relate to things like that.”
Relating to the plight of the world’s artisanal and small-scale gold miners is one area of design that is gaining more steam, particularly with the recent announcement that a steadier supply of fairmined gold is now available in North America.
Stephen Webster, a first-time exhibitor at About J, says consumer interest is growing in fairtrade gold as more consumers become aware of it.
“There’s sort of a process from the consumer’s point of view,” Webster tells Jewellery Business. “They know what fairtrade is, but they don’t know about fairtrade gold. Once you tell them what it means, they want it.”
About 15 million artisanal and small-scale miners around the world—including women and children—produce 200 to 300 tonnes of gold each year.
“When gold came down $500 since last September, it helped hugely because I was absorbing 15 to 20 per cent [of the extra cost associated with fairtrade gold],” Webster says. “In some ways, it ought to cost the same, but I think 10 per cent is reasonable. I can do it because it’s not a huge part of my business. The younger generation wants to use anything that is associated with responsibility, muchmore than my generation.”
VicenzaOro ‘Winter’ runs from Jan. 18 to 23.
* Paolo Mantovani has since resigned as president of the Vicenza fair.
