Compressed Spring 2026 Issue - Flipbook - Page 33
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What comes first in your design process most
often: the setting or the stone?
The stone, followed by the setting. I design during the
making process, sculpting the piece in wax intuitively
rather than working from a drawing or sketch. I let the
designs almost reveal themself to me as I work.
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Is there a piece you’ve designed recently that feels
especially personal or special to you?
I’m working on a collection using sapphires from
Sri Lanka in several forms: raw, semi-cut, and fully
faceted. It centers around a sense of discovery and
unveiling beauty, and it’s an especially personal collection as I traveled with my family to source the stones
from the mine.
Vintage and antique jewelry, particularly in
engagement rings, has hit the mainstream. How do
you think your designs fit into this trend?
We use a lot of antique, hand-cut diamonds, which are
imbued with that wonderful sense of history and story,
in our contemporary settings. This gives our designs a
new life for that wearer, while still having a story to tell.
We love antique jewelry, but it often has had a life and
lived a generation or two, so you just have to be careful
about wear—and especially stone settings, which can
become delicate over the years. We do a lot of resetting
of family heirlooms for clients. The provenance and
story of the gems is a huge inspiration, and this is carried forward into what we create.
GEMANDJEWEL.COM
Tomlinson’s
workbench
3. Asymmetric
Sapphire Encrusted
drop earrings in 14k
yellow gold; £2,680
($3,560)
4. Rahasa Sri Lankan
Sapphire Cluster ring
in 14k yellow gold;
£4,200 ($5,580)
5. Aquamarine and
Diamond Encrusted
pendant in 14k
yellow gold; £1,580
($2,100)
6. Diamond
Encrusted studs in
18k yellow gold;
£780 ($1,040)
7. Mixed Sapphire and
Diamond Tumbling
Cluster ring in 14k
yellow gold; £3,850
($5,120)
The interest in antique diamonds has really
increased since I started working with them over 20
years ago. People like the idea of the history, the fact
they are hand-cut and have a human feel and that they
represent recycled material taken from the earth. We
do really well with champagne diamonds too, but have
seen an increasing interest in pale yellow and off-white
recently as well.
If your jewelry could speak, what would you hope
it says to the person wearing it?
Just enjoy me—I’ve been created for you to treasure
and mark your journey or a moment in your life.
SPRING 2026
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