Carrie Bradshaw was responsible for a number of questionable fashion trends during Sex and the City’s heyday, but arguably one of her better sartorial choices was the Carrie necklace. Would-be fashionistas everywhere suddenly wanted their own slice of (affordable) Carrie couture, and jewellery designers quickly caught on. While name necklaces are enduringly popular, like all trends, they’ve evolved. These days it’s more about individual, often customisable initials over full script names and words such as the fun, circus-inspired Hoopla collection by Annoushka Ducas – designed to be worn as pendants or earrings – or the graphic, Art Deco-style Stripe Alphabet range by Lily Kamper. LA jeweller Maya Brenner became an overnight sensation when Meghan Markle was spotted wearing one of the designer’s ultra-fine gold chains adorned with a diminutive ‘M’ and ‘H’. For more statement looks, luxury headband atelier Lelet NY has released a range of rose gold-plated alphabet hair slides. Even French fashion house Chloe has jumped on the bandwagon with a launch of surprisingly edgy initial rings. The brass trinkets (£180 a pop) look chic worn solo or – for a real statement – they could be sported across several fingers to spell out a word.
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The inventive Victorians showed their affections with discreet messages embedded in acrostic (or sentimental) jewellery to avoid the suspicions of their beloved’s pesky chaperone. The most ingenious way was to spell out words of devotion using a secretive precious stone alphabet. A piece of jewellery set with lapis lazuli, opal, vermeil (the old name for hessonite garnet) and emerald, for example, spells ‘love.’ Brooklyn-based jeweller and vintage lover Erica Weiner has created her own modern acrostic collection with a full alphabet of colourful gemstones to spell out words of the wearer’s choice. London designer Jessie VE has gone one step further with a range of bespoke rings embedded with secret words, numbers or messages in diamond braille.
Written in the stars
Fashion and jewellery designers have been looking to the stars this year, with celestial-inspired prints and symbols as far as the eye can see. Birthstones and zodiac symbols are a subtle form of personalisation popular in modern jewellery. The Lucky Zodiac range by Italian fine jeweller Carolina Bucci features zodiac symbols finely crafted in grey diamonds, set on a mother of pearl disc in either woven bracelets or sovereign-style rings. Designer Brooke Gregson takes a slightly different approach to the zodiac symbols by mapping out individual constellations in diamonds across a brushed 14ct-gold disc. The aforementioned Jessie VE has also created bespoke constellations (pictured above) in large, curvaceous rings and ear cuffs available in 18ct rose, yellow or white gold and diamonds that are simply out of this world.
A modern heirloom
Engraving is one of the oldest – if not the oldest – forms of personalisation, and is arguably an art form in itself. Never is this more apparent than in traditional signet rings, which are usually branded with a family crest or coat of arms. While often associated with aristocrats, signet rings actually predate heraldry itself – the earliest known were engraved with hieroglyphics and buried alongside their regal owners in ancient Egypt. Rebus Signet Rings (pictured above) in London’s jewellery capital, Hatton Garden, is renowned for impeccable hand-engraving techniques, creating, from scratch, bespoke miniature works of art. While the online name database makes finding your family motif a doddle, the real selling point of Rebus is its bespoke service. In recent years, Rebus founder Emmet Smith has noticed more clients eschewing traditional family crests in favour of creating their own. Commissions have ranged from the standard – animals, flowers, initials – to the surreal: cricket bats, fighting angels and origami bears. Clients collate a moodboard based on their interests before meeting Smith and the team to develop a bespoke design, which is hand drawn and then painstakingly engraved in gold (yellow, white or rose) or platinum.
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