Representing the Spirit - Why Designer Jewellery Is More Than Just a Bracelet

What is it about designer jewellery that sets it apart from mass produced shop bought stuff? Is it its exclusivity? That plays a part but there is something more going on.

Jewellery designed with purpose and flair aims to embody a particular spirit. So when you find a good jewellery house you can feel a unifying personality behind the work. This makes each piece come alive in a way that mass produced jewellery never can.

Essentially this is because mass produced jewellery is designed to appeal to the broadest common denominator, whereas designer jewellery is made to answer a passion in the breast of the designer.
This is particularly evident in vintage style jewellery, designed using modern materials to express the spirit of an earlier age. Where strong adventurous women expressed themselves often despite the restrictions of the social mores in which they lived. Their lives were lives of adventure, often spent travelling to far flung climes to keep a family together while the husband and father worked for the Empire; or providing friendship and support to generations of children and grandchildren.

These women were the mainstays of their families, the wellsprings from whence the whole feeling of family unit and spirit emanated. Little wonder then that the designer jewellery created to continue their legacy has such a strong feeling attached to it.
The very fact of designing jewellery with a strong indication of an earlier age in its look and feel, indicates a powerful sense of belonging. It conveys an idea of an unbroken lineage of spirit. And that's why you will never find a mass produced piece of jewellery with the same freight of emotion as a piece of great designer jewellery.

The great thing about modern jewellery designed with its eyes on the past is that it takes all that was best from earlier design periods, without being beholden to them. So you'll find modern designer jewellery is sophisticated and stylish Designer Jewellery without being overbearing. It's complicated without being too finicky. And it uses affordable, quality materials that will last for generations without making it the province only of the rich.

Ultimately, what is a piece of jewellery? It's a statement, yes, and it's a decoration. But it is also a charm, a talisman in the most ancient sense of the word. It's there to carry a legacy from mother to daughter, from grandmother to granddaughter. Modern designer jewellery conveys a sense of family history, of belonging and association.

From pearl necklaces and charm bracelets to vintage lockets, modern jewellery designed by houses that have a coherent raison d'etre is as enthralling in form and overall pattern as the pieces from which it takes its inspiration.