COLUMNIST / JANET FITCH
| Phira Jewellery
Jane Adam’s aim is ‘to treat aluminium as
a precious material, combining it as an equal
with silver and gold’. Louise O’Neill’s work is
characterised by purity of form, made from
high carat golds and precious and semi-precious
stones. Suzanne Potter formulates wearable
sculptural jewellery in precious and base metals,
red paint, mother of pearl and reconstituted
corals. Joanne Thompson’s designs are
created through experimentation with ancient
chainmaille patterns, beginning with fine gauge
silver wire, using a time consuming intricate
unit construction technique. (www.caa.org.uk)
Caroline Broadhead is a creative visionary
whose career spans 45 years as a jeweller,
textile artist and designer. Until her retirement
in 2018 Caroline was BA Jewellery Design
Course Leader and Jewellery and Textiles
Course Director at Central St. Martin’s where
she is now Professor Emerita. This year the
Lethaby Gallery there held a highly acclaimed
retrospective exhibition of her work, and
now her newest work can be seen in a solo
exhibition, Surface Tension, at Marsden Woo
Gallery, SW1, from 9 May -29 June.
semi-precious stones. The Spiked collection
emphasises the spike’s protective quality and
the latest collection, Intersections, is based on
interactions that occur randomly to us and in
the universe.
(www.mariakotsoni.com)
House of Ava is a British jewellery house
creating jewellery with a distinctive minimalist
modern style, committed to being 100%
cruelty-free and vegan – the jewellery and
packaging are entirely animal derivatives
free. (www.houseofava.co.uk) Phira London
is a handmade jewellery brand launched in
2016 dedicated to promoting equality by
designing gender-neutral jewellery using
durable materials and sustainable production
methods. The Jamestown signet rings in
925 sterling silver and 18c gold feature semi-
precious stones with healing properties like
calming white howlite, lapis lazuli, black onyx
or tiger eye.
(www.phiralondon.com)
British jewellery brand Victoria Hyde,
launched in 2016, had great success at
Baselworld in March with their lovely summer
British jewellery brand Victoria Hyde, launched
in 2016, had great success at Baselworld
in March with their lovely summer perfect
watches, the watch faces echoing the flowers and
butterflies of London’s many parks
| Victoria Hyde
| LCW Studio – Daphne Krinos
20
‘The body, the person the idea of self is
fascinating, and I’ve used jewellery, clothing,
chairs, shadows and reflections as a means of
discovering something about ourselves.’ The
new body of work sees the artist returning to
the chair form, and demonstrating her diverse
practice by incorporating intricately beaded
pieces. The Gallery also hosts a discussion
event with Caroline Broadhead on
her work and the exhibition on 10
May. (www.marsdenwoo.com)
(www.londoncraftweek.com)
Maria Kotsoni is a
jeweller, and graduate of
Central St. Martin’s BA
in 3D Design (Jewellery).
Living and working in
Nicosia, Cyprus, Maria
introduced her outstanding
collections to the UK market
for the first time this year since
setting up her own label in 1998.
Her fine collections are in 18k gold,
hallmarked by the Cyprus Assay Office,
with diamonds and coloured precious and
MAY 2019 | WWW.JEWELLERYFOCUS.CO.UK
perfect watches, the watch faces echoing the
flowers and butterflies of London’s many parks.
The brand is young at heart and affordable and
this year is planning further expansion and aims
to gain stockists across the UK and Ireland.
(www.victoria-hyde.com)
In Jerusalem, the Museum for Islamic Art
has a fascinating exhibition - Jewelry Making:
Past and Present, a rich collection of Islamic
jewellery and artefacts, some dating from the
7th century, alongside 45 newly commissioned
works by contemporary artists. From 30 May –
16 November 2019. (www.islamicart.co.il)
| Victoria Hyde