And that 1920s drive towards innovation, along with a determination to push boundaries, particularly resonates with today’s individual designer jewellers. Take Rome-based Fabio Salini, who has worked for more than 25 years to find an entirely new and relevant expression for jewellery, and one that is aligned with contemporary art. His explorations led him through experiments with all sorts of materials to enable his technically complex compositions of geometric three-dimensional forms, full of movement, light, colour and texture. The key to elevating this medium to an art form, he believes, is the underlying concept or message. Thus, his Specchio, or Mirror creations invite the viewer to look more closely, think more deeply and reflect.
For Athenian designer Nikos Koulis, the rule-breaking audacity of art deco has always guided him on his search for a stylistic identity. ‘I’m constantly intrigued by the idea of taking a classic pillar from the past and redefining it on my own terms,’ he says. Working to soften austere lines and introduce fluidity to architectural purity, he experimented with black enamel, using a Greek technique that also allowed him to set diamonds with lightness. The result, he says, was a blend of ‘art deco with a contemporary edge and the essence of my heritage’.
In London, Lily Gabriella loves the ‘bold structure, refined geometry and fearless elegance’ achieved by the 1920s designers: but ‘rather than replicate, I draw on the spirit of deco – its clarity, confidence and timeless modernity – which feels as relevant today as ever’. The original motif of her Spira ring has spiralled into the stylised Supernova earrings while she has reimagined those old clashes of colours by mixing a pink rhodolite garnet with bright green tsavorites in her chic Cardinal bangle, or a deep pink tourmaline with lapis lazuli on a cocktail ring.
