“I have two pieces that immediately spring to mind – one that was created for a wedding (in fact, for my wedding) 10 years ago, and another that “walked down the aisle” this year. The first piece is incredibly close to my heart; a diamond hairpiece with a detachable brooch bow that was inspired by a bouquet of flowers. There’s also a pear-shaped little diamond pendant. It took me about 350 hours to make – quite a project but a labour of love! My wife, Nicole, wore this on our wedding day in 2012.
The aim was to create a piece that could be worn casually, all the way up to black tie. I was inspired by the tremblings that I saw in the Bulgari and Cartier exhibitions while travelling Europe, so I included these in the design, handmaking individual springs that would enable the piece to shimmer as it moved. That was almost a decade ago, and I still have clients who are inspired by the piece.
Very recently, I undertook an even bigger challenge for a wedding, handcrafting a diamond and pearl tiara that could be disassembled to create a necklace. There are a total 580 diamonds in the final piece, with a weight of 40.25 carats. It took over 650 hours to create. It doesn’t get much more memorable than that!”
