As we prepare to marvel at the amazing floral displays at the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which gets underway this week, it’s the perfect time to inject some flower power into your own jewellery box.
If you’ve steered clear of floral jewels in the past for fear of looking twee or old-fashioned, this season’s modern spin on the traditional motif will definitely change your mind.
Pinned onto the lapel of a crisp white blazer, the Chaumet brooch from the new Hortensia Voie Lactée high jewellery collection is a stylish and elegant way to wear florals. The Hortensia collection pays tribute to Empress Joséphine’s love of flowers by immortalising the beauty of the hydrangea in bouquets of coloured gems and dazzling diamonds. Whereas the previous collection featured pink hues inspired by the rosy glow of dawn, here the fresh, nautical colour combination of blue sapphires and milky white chalcedony is incorporated into jewels that mimic flowers bathed in pale moonlight on a clear summer’s night.
The ephemeral lightness of a beautiful, sun-dappled spring morning is brought to life by Boodles in its new Blossom collection, where diamonds sparkle like morning dew on rose petals crafted from white or rose gold. A feminine and youthful aesthetic runs through the floral-style jewellery, which incorporates a plethora of options from sautoir necklaces to hoop earrings and cluster rings, which form a sparkling spray of blooms on the finger.
Brazilian jewellery designer Fernando Jorge is renowned for his stunning, contemporary pieces, often set with coloured gemstones sourced from his home country. In the Orchidea cuff bracelet from the Bloom collection, a burst of pink, lilac and purple bud-like gems, including rare lavender jadeites, Brazilian kunzites and amethysts, encase the wrist like elegant rambling flowers. Fernando says: “This one-of-a-kind piece was inspired by the Brazilian orchid, but instead of a figurative depiction, it mimics the flower’s alien crescents and curves. Each stone is set like a flower bud, by an 18 carat gold structure that grows around and embraces the wrist organically.”
Another Brazilian jewellery designer, Carla Amorim, brings a modern twist to the traditional daisy chain where a garland is created by threading flowers together by their stems. Presented at this year’s Baselworld, the new Forest collection includes these floral earrings that combine a contemporary minimalist design with pretty, diamond-set blossoms.
Architect-turned-jewellery designer Dina Kamal also presents a fresh take on floral jewels with a collection inspired by the flower motifs commonly found in Georgian jewellery. Based in Beirut, her new range of pinky rings entitled The Flower Series features ornate, stylised blooms where perfectly proportioned pearl or diamond petals encircle a black onyx disc or square.
Dedicated to the beautiful hidden gardens of Milan, the iconic Secret Gardens collection by Pasquale Bruni has been expanded this spring to include Petit Garden. Leaves and petals crafted from white or rose gold, and sprinkled with pavé diamonds like pollen, are set asymmetrically onto earrings, rings and bracelets. The rings come in a variety of designs and can be stacked on the finger to create your own bejewelled garden.
Flowers are a perennial source of inspiration for jewellers and, unlike the real things, these beautiful florals will continue to bloom even when summer fades.
