What is the concept of the Union ring?
For me, jewellery is story-telling. The Union tells the story of two individual lives coming together to form a union, a new journey. The rose gold beads in the band are continuous and unbroken, but not uniform. They graduate, peak with the diamond, then descend again. Each bead represents a milestone in the life of the betrothed couple. There’s a sense of balance and continuity to the design. The balance comes from the calibration between the warm pink gold that we chose for the setting and the pristine white solitaire diamond. The diamond is, of course, the focal point but it is exquisitely bezel-set and supported by the rich metal, another good union.
What’s the importance of Ten/ten for you?
Ten-Ten Botswana is all about opportunity and inclusion. It’s an important initiative because it puts the spotlight on emerging designers and will undoubtedly infuse a sense of artisanry and craftsmanship into the engagement ring market. It also provides an opportunity to showcase what Africa brings to the table in terms of luxury and design. Southern Africa is the source of the vast majority of the world’s supply of diamonds, yet diamonds are not synonymous with Africa. When one thinks of diamonds and fine jewellery one’s mind goes to imperial Russia or Place Vendome in the heart of Paris, rather than Africa. I’d like to play a small part in changing that perception, by shining a light on the beauty of Africa’s resources, from its diamonds and raw materials to its abundant design talent and human capital.
What is the concept of the DiMe Siempre ring?
Dime means tell me in Spanish – but an intimate kind of “tell me” – like tell me something you wouldn’t tell anyone else in the world. That’s the name that I chose for our rings that have a special message. When DeBeers asked us to make a commitment ring with a center stone I jumped at the opportunity and the challenge of finding a home for a stone within this piece. We call it DiMe Siempre – tell me forever. I realized that I had to turn the piece entirely around and turn what we consider the closure on the piece into the mounting – like a jeweled evening bag. Then we really had some fun with how the piece would close and open into an infinity sign of course….so it’s the stone, the beautiful message that someone will write in it, the infinity sign upon opening and the fact that most of that is locked into someone’s ring…. a secret between two people.
What’s the importance of Ten/ten for you?
I loved learning about the thoughtful development of mining in Botswana, I loved how this project forced us to think about our design in a new way (by quite literally turning it around) and I loved the opportunity for more people to experience our work – this was a privilege.
a piece of jewelry 