The onset of Autumn can conjure a warm emotional glow designed to hook us back into a back-to-school feeling of new terms, new shoes, and, of course, new pens. And so it is for the New York jeweller Eva Fehren, whose Chroma collection celebrates that ubiquitous classroom classic, the highlighter pen. ‘My go-to colours are mostly black and white,' she says of her everyday look, 'But I was born in the 1980s, so these neon brights are probably a nod to my childhood and the fun that goes with them.’
Now, in the spirit of new-termism, the designer has added 10 new designs to Chroma. These include charms, rings, chains and hoops in highlighter shades of yellow and coral-red, rendered in neon enamel and powder-coated stainless steel.
The super-neon chains are a particular favourite but, as Fehren points out, achieving such bold levels of brightness was a gnarly endeavour: ‘It took us quite a while to figure out how to achieve the chains so that the individual links maintain that neon vibrancy,' she confesses. 'In the end, we powder-coated them with a custom yellow.'
Another nice touch is the combination of the Highlighter pieces with Fehren’s signature blackened gold and white-diamond chains and charms. ‘I like playing with juxtapositions of grit and glamour and I thought that the blackened-gold and dainty, geometric diamonds would offset the searing brightness of the highlighter tones really well', she says of her design thinking.
As with all things Eva Fehren, the collection crackles with the tough-tender contrast that underlines the designer and artist's core vision, only this time with a provocative pop of brilliant neon. 'I don't know about the UK but in the US a yellow highlighter pen is a must have in primary school – I guess I've never gotten over it!' the designer joyfully admits.
