Pearls of wisdom wins award
A unique handcrafted pearl bracelet made by a Hamilton goldsmith has won top honours at an Australian jewellery design competition.
Lynaire Kibblewhite’s piece, which creates an optical illusion of pearls moving in water, was selected over other designers in the Australian and New Zealand market to win the pearl category at the Jewellery Design Awards, at the 2017 International Jewellery Fair in Sydney.
Pearls have always been Kibblewhite’s gem of choice.
‘‘There’s no other gem like it in the world. They started finding pearls about 3000 BC and they didn’t have to do anything to them.
‘‘They were automatically beautiful,’’ she said.
Kibblewhite’s winning bracelet, Dancing Light, features 10 regal-looking goblets made from 9 carat white gold which each hold a coloured pearl sourced from Australia, Fiji, Tahiti and the Philippines.
She said the win was testament to her ‘‘obsession’’ with South Sea pearls.
‘‘Usually it just catches my eye,’’ she said.
Kibblewhite buys her pearls in pairs or strands. Like Dancing Light, she prefers to create pieces that are one of a kind.
‘‘The idea behind this piece of jewellery was to use light to enhance the beautiful pearls.
‘‘There’s enormous power and romance behind the history of pearls which have been coveted for over 6000 years. No two pearls produced by an oyster are ever the same,’’ she said.
Kibblewhite experiments with different materials and metals to transform pearls from being exclusively traditional to being everyday accessories.
If she were to align herself to any style, it would be Italian.
‘‘I want to move away from people stereotyping them with the 1950s. Coco Chanel made them really hip, then they moved into being less hip and far more formal,’’ she said.
Having now been judged the best piece of pearl jewellery in Australasia, the winning bracelet has yet to find a permanent home.
‘‘The piece is definitely for sale. I would love someone to enjoy wearing it, as much as I have had the pleasure in creating it.’’
Kibblewhite hopes the win will help give her brand greater exposure and she plans to hold private exhibitions and create a ‘‘pop-up shop’’ in the near future.