Read Mark C. O’Flaherty’s thoughtful Meet the Most Famous Jewellery Designer You’ve Probably Never Heard Of. You won’t be disappointed. Mark is a well-informed writer in the luxury arena. He has been a DJ, music photographer and fashion show producer, and today writes about design for the Financial Times, Robb Report, Elle Decoration and World of Interiors.
Don’t miss his other work for us in Time for Men to Shine, Brand Magic, London in the House, and his latest feature: In Defence of Cufflinks. Nothing says elegance and style more than a snappy pair of cufflinks paired with a complementary signet ring. Discuss.
Does jewellery matter now, asks Carol Woolton, who, as author, jewellery historian, stylist, curator and contributing jewellery director of British Vogue, is well-placed to be examining the issue. The answer is, of course, “Yes”. When Carol wrote Why Jewellery Matters Now for Omnēque we were all just entering these crazy and unsettled years. Her look at why, in times of crisis, we always turn to jewellery starts at the very beginning, with the Neanderthals – no better place to start.
And if you are open to letting a little magic into your jewellery and into your life, check Carol’s Welcome to the Modern Aura for lessons of talismans past and present.
We love colour at Omnēque. Who doesn’t? But should you need convincing, i-D’s Fashion Features Director, Osman Ahmed, goes beyond “the big three” (rubies, sapphires and emeralds) to take a look at the place of Technicolor gems in the contemporary jeweller’s lexicon. Read more in Rainbow Elation.
If you want to sate your passions with the colour classics, however, then we have those covered, too. Joanna Hardy, gemmologist and jewellery specialist, writes about her love of all three in Green Energy, Turn Up the Heat with Rubies, and Sapphire: a Hard Gemstone to Beat.
Jewellery historian Vivienne Becker will put all your loves and passions into context, from the hip and heritage of gold in Gold Rush: from Heaven to Hedonism to Art Deco as the original, pure modernist expression in Modernist Mastery and Dare to Dazzle.
Omnēque is all about provenance. Our jewels have stories to tell, and Vivienne, who is an award-winning writer and the author of more than 20 books on jewellery design, encourages each and every one of us to look at the tales our pieces of jewellery have within them. Her Ring in the New Year encourages us to invest in a ring that embodies our hopes and dreams; and explore dreams further in her feature on Swarovski – Crystal Amaze.
“Nothing compares with finger-rings for symbolism and significance. The ring has been with us for around 4,000 years, an almost universal object, supercharged with meaning.” These are the opening words by James Fenton in his foreword to Diana Scarisbrick’s beautifully researched “Rings: Jewelry of Power, Love and Loyalty” (Thames & Hudson, 2007). We love rings at Omnēque, and recognise their power, significance and beauty. Which is why writer, broadcaster and critic Rowan Pelling wrote Rings of Attraction for us, and asked the intriguing question, “Do you own your much-loved rings, or do they possess you?” Rowan also examined the new jewellery landmarks in Breaking the Rules.
Annabel Davidson also knows the power the ring. Annabel is Editor of Vanity Fair’s annual jewellery special and is jewellery expert to Telegraph Luxury. Her writing has appeared in Robb Report, the Evening Standard, BA High Life and more. In The Real Deal, Annabel says don’t let an advertising slogan from the 1940s influence your decision on your “forever” ring, let your eye make that choice. And in Be Stirred: Cocktail Rings Reign, she celebrates the big, the bold and the beautiful.
Provenance is the focus for Jemima Sissons’s What’s In a Name, where she examines signed vintage jewellery, and why there’s always room in the jewellery box for both signed and unsigned. Jemima, who is Editor of the lifestyle and culture magazine Sphere and also contributes to Condé Nast Traveller and Robb Report, was bang on trend with her Join the Chain Gang and Charms School. But for those who just want to breathe new life into their old jewels, Jemima has also examined the value of remodelling for us in When the Remake Draws the Applause.
Kate Spicer, the writer, journalist and documentary filmmaker, also finds value in a remodelled piece of jewellery in Once Again, With Feeling. She urges you find the phoenix is your jewellery collection and reinvigorate that dreary heirloom with a bit of metaphorical fire. But perhaps, before you plunge into the project, take her fun-filled Find Your Jewellery Tribe quiz. It could help you decide on your next move.
There’s no harm in thinking outside the box, however, as Maria Fitzpatrick, writer and contributing editor to the Financial Times’s HTSI magazine, illustrates in her article Thinking Outside & Inside the Box. This is one tradition we think should never go out of fashion.
Finally, a little fairytale appeal: tiaras may not be to everyone’s taste, but as Lucia van der Post, columnist and former editor of How to Spend It, says, there’s still a place in our modern democratic age for this classic piece of headwear in her Tiara Incognita. Now that’s thinking outside the box.