‘I had wanted to design a high jewellery piece for men for a while, and I thought about my brothers. What would they wear? Would they like something bright, or would they go a bit more, you know, subtle?’ When she first came upon the magnificent cushion-cut grey spinel that now reigns supreme in her latest high jewellery design, Lily Gabriella initially tended towards the quieter option.
‘Grey is a very chic shade,' says the Mayfair-based Brazilian designer. ‘It goes with everything. Spinels, of course, come in so many colours, but grey is hard to come by, and I was really taken by the strong shape and translucent qualities of this one. Grey can be dark or moody, but even considering its substantial weight (7.34ct), this stone feels light and smoky.' With the stone in place, Gabriella started thinking about the jewel design.
Lily Gabriella heralds the return of the lapel pin
A flick through her collection of art-history books found the designer homing in on colour and form. ‘I noticed that grey was often used as a neutral to offset contrasting colours in art deco architecture, when it was paired with green, blue, and also pink. Then I came upon photographs of Miami's art deco at night.'
The idea of using lapis lazuli presented itself, and Gabriella's creative outlook brightened. 'Its vibrant, blue hue just feels very deco to me, and that made me think about all that South Beach neon, the Miami Vice movie and the 1980s TV show, when slim pins, on ties or on lapels, were a big trend.'
The jewellery design, to which Gabriella has given the working title ‘Memphis Pin’, sees its rare, white-gold-set gem teetering over a gold-flecked crescent of lapis lazuli, cut through with a tiny track of gold, invisibly set with pink sapphires.
‘I am a stickler for detail, but I don’t enjoy perfection’
Lily Gabriella
It reflects a wider shift in the men’s fine jewellery revival, now tending towards the reserved proportions of vintage styles. You might see it as a natural reaction to the lumbering cluster brooches and heavy pearls that permeated film-awards seasons a couple of years ago. At this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards, actor Jeremy Allen White’s demure Tiffany & Co diamond 'Bird on a Rock' brooch, with its one pink sapphire, delicately pinned to his cream YSL suit, was a fine example.
Gabriella’s sleek ‘Memphis Pin’ ups the style game: 'I wanted to do something modern and clean, with not too much stuff on it, things hanging off, or rows of diamonds, or anything like that. Maybe that came from the architectural references I was looking at. The deco buildings in New York, for instance, used the half-crescent shape at their edges.’
Perhaps that’s why her sizeable spinel sits on the cusp of its lush, lapis half-moon, because, despite all the symmetry, that central stone is not, well, central. ‘It’s a bit off balance,’ Gabriella admits. ‘I am a stickler for detail, obviously, but I don’t enjoy perfection, so I thought I’d have a go at challenging gravity with this big, square spinel. I liked the idea of being a little playful, because I think this is one of my favourite stones that I've ever worked with.’
Lily Gabriella Fine Jewellery, 73 Burlington Arcade, London W1J 0QR
