ORA Pearls has opened its first store in Chelsea located at 304A Fulham Road, London. The chic store design and interiors reflect the brand’s identity as a fashion-focused modern approach to pearls.
ORA Pearls was founded by pearl expert and designer, Bibi Southwell. Bibi personally selects the pearls at the sources, ensuring the finest quality, and every piece is hand crafted by the designer herself in her studio in Chelsea. Her vision is to create simple designs that do not overshadow the innate beauty and timeless character of nature’s most natural gem. Her focus on fresh, minimalist and elegant design achieves the perfect balance between modern and classic.
Bibi was recently featured by Anthropologie as a leading British jewellery designer, with an accompanying exhibition of her pieces in their King’s Road store.
“We’re very excited to be launching our first flagship store in Chelsea. ORA Pearls is a quintessentially Chelsea brand, so we’re delighted to have our first retail space in the borough we call home.” Bibi Southwell, designer and brand founder.
Visit Ora Pearls on stand V30 at IJL 2019, 1 – 3 September at Olympia London. Find out more about the show and keep up-to-date with registration news at www.jewellerylondon.com
Functionality and beauty – this is the design ethos of young designer Zeemou Zeng, whose unique designs with their exquisite craftsmanship truly do live up to that ethos. The brand specialises in fine jewellery, fashion accessories and crystal ware.
Zeemou founded the company in 2017 and has been going from strength to strength ever since. He was selected for a coveted place as one of four IJL Bright Young Gems in 2018 and has since been busy building on the success from the show. He was also awarded the Gold Award in the category of Fine Jewellery at this year’s GCDC Awards.
We caught up with the man behind the brand, Zeemou Zeng, and spoke about inspiration, trends and how becoming a Bright Young Gem helped launch his jewellery career.
How did you find out about Bright
Young Gems and what made you want to apply?
I saw the Bright Young Gems stand at IJL few years ago and thought it was a great opportunity to showcase my jewellery collection to an international audience, have the chance to interact with other amazing designers, meet potential stockists and buyers, discuss the potential of my collection, and to learn from professionals in the industry.
What would be your advice to other recent graduates or final year students who are thinking of entering Bright Young Gems?
My advice would be to really think about your plan after graduation – would you like to take jewellery design as your future career? If yes, BYG is really for you, it is a platform that will really help to break you into the jewellery industry by making connections with people in the industry and it will also offer you lots of exciting opportunities. Think about what you want to achieve and try to maximise the opportunity. The IJL team is always there to help you whenever needed.
How do you think Bright Young Gems helped with where you are now? Did it help you on your journey to success?
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BYG was my first experience of showcasing my jewellery collection, it was an unforgettable and fantastic experience! I would say BYG helped me launch into the jewellery industry, made me realise what I am good at and also what needs to be improved. It really did help move my career forward!
What are your top jewellery trend tips for the approaching spring season?
I think modern and unique pearl pieces are going to be very popular this spring! From delicate pearl hoops to ear cuffs and sculptural bracelets, pearl jewellery goes with almost any outfits. I like rings and earrings a lot, and I do think these pieces are the must-have for a woman’s wardrobe.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
Personal experiences – from stories that I have heard in the past to the things that appeal to me day-to-day. I believe all of these experiences and impressions will return and become part of my designs in an unexpected way. I like jewellery pieces that make a statement but can be worn every day. Both functionality and beauty are cornerstones of my design philosophy.
Which celebrity would you love to see wearing your jewellery?
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
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Finally, how is your jewellery industry career or brand progressing and what are you hoping to achieve in the future?
The past year running my jewellery brand has not been easy but has been a very enjoyable journey so far. I think everything is on the right track now. Next steps, we are looking to expand our sales channels and grow our distribution. We – the team is growing – will work harder and always try our best to deliver even more beautiful pieces to our customers.
May marks the
launch of award-winning Designer brand Lucy Quartermaine into prestigious
retailer Ernest Jones. Lucy’s luxury silver designs have launched into five
Ernest Jones stores across the UK including Westfield, Thurrock, Leamington
Spa, Cambridge and Leeds.
Ernest Jones Westfield
A selection
of Lucy’s contemporary and iconic designs will be available including notes
from her Drop, Splash and Waterfall collections. Showcasing her incredible
brand and style throughout, the elegance and luxury status of each design truly
highlights the values of esteemed retailer Ernest Jones. After trading on
British high streets for 70 years, Ernest Jones is a highly reputable store
offering beautiful jewellery from 180 stores up and down the country.
Ernest Jones Leeds
The Lucy
Quartermaine team visited each store training the teams on their brand
guidelines, story and inspiration. Lucy herself also attended each store to
tell her story of where her brand begun, how it has evolved and where she is
today. The training was greatly received, and all are excited to be launching a
new and unique designer brand.
Lucy commented,
I am thrilled to be working with such a wonderful retailer and was honoured to
be chosen as one of their new designers. I was overwhelmed by the positive
response from each team in stores whilst training and I am looking forward to
the coming months.
Renowned high-quality brands such as Rolex and Patek Philippe outperform among investments in rare vintage watches, while provenance can give further impetus to value.
At the Christie’s “Rare Watches” auction in Geneva on May 13, Rolex and Patek Philippe again saw robust demand from collectors around the world, with many lots fetching prices well above pre-sale estimates. Provenance gave a further boost in the sale of an extremely rare and highly attractive stainless steel and pink gold Rolex that had once belonged to artist Andy Warhol. It sold for a hammer price of 380,000 Swiss francs (CHF), well above a pre-sale estimate of 200,000 to 300,000 CHF.
“Provenance can enhance value of high-quality rare watches — and the sale of the Rolex that formerly belonged to Andy Warhol, is a case in point,” said Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s chief auctioneer in the sale. “Rolex’s did particularly well throughout this sale: they are very popular among young people also,” he told IJL.
Patek Philippe also flourished in the auction, a reflection of the extraordinary craftsmanship and longstanding and illustrious history of the brand. One standout result was the sale at Christie’s of a large and fine 18K white gold automatic Patek Philippe wristwatch for a hammer price of 50,000 Swiss francs (CHF), at the top end of the 30,000 to 50,000 CHF pre-sale estimate.
Among other brands, Richard Mille has emerged as a top performing rare watch brand in the auctions market, Kadakia said. At the Christie’s sale, a very rare and impressive 18K pink gold and titanium automatic semi-skeletonized flyback chronograph Richard Mille wristwatch garnered 110,000 Swiss francs (CHF), versus a pre-sale estimate of 80,000 to 140,000 CHF.
Sotheby’s “Important Watches” Sale
At the Sotheby’s sale in Geneva on May 12, vintage icons won the day, with two 1950s showstoppers by Patek Philippe taking centre stage and Rolex Daytona’s from the 1970s confirming their star status. The sale was led by a superb example of the highly sought-after Patek Philippe reference 2497, featuring a rare case made by Emile Vichet, which realised 980,000 CHF, a record for this reference in pink gold.
Some
1,100 watch aficionados from 70 countries participated in the Sotheby’s Geneva
“Important Watches” auction, which brought a total of 9.1 million CHF, with 81
percent of the lots sold and almost half of them achieving prices above their
high estimate.
“These are golden eras and golden models for vintage watches,”
Sam Hines, Global Head of Sotheby’s Watches.
IJL Watch District
Visitors to IJL 2019 can shop leading watch brands at the Watch District, a destination point at the front of the show complete with its very own bar where business can be done in style.
Disclaimer: Any opinions of the author expressed in
this article are his own and should not be considered as investment advice.
