‘You know, it wasn’t a difficult experience,’ says Dominic Jones of presenting his vision for 886 — the Royal Mint’s first jewellery and lifestyle brand — to the Treasury. ‘They totally got where I was coming from.’ For the award-winning London jewellery designer, who has produced custom pieces for the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Rihanna, that vision began with a visit to the Royal Mint’s museum in Wales. ‘There, I decided that I wanted to work around the idea of creating functional and wearable gold bullion,’ he explains.
Named after the year the Royal Mint was founded, 886’s debut collection includes genderless pieces that speak to discerning minimalists. ‘It’s the kind of jewellery you can wear, sit with someone at dinner for hours, and then only at the end of the meal they’ll realise they’ve been staring at it all evening,’ says Jones. The collection includes T-bar chains, timeless bands, simple ear studs and elegant cuffs.
