BRITISH WHIMSY

Her designs are organically designed, based on her whims and moods. We have a chinwag with British designer Solange Azagury-partridge

Jewels & Time: What inspires you? Solange Azagury-partridge: It depends. At the moment, I’m just scribbling down notes of different ideas and there’ll be a moment where I focus on one and just develop it. It could be anything—what I’m reading, doing… Sometimes, it’s a technique of jewellery I want to explore.

J&T: You use a lot of coloured stones in your jewellery. Do you feel like they speak to you? SAP: Yes, stones and colours are everything. People think diamonds equal jewellery but there are hundreds of ways of expressing jewellery. Colour is very important in my life. I like to find ways of expressing it. I’m not obsessed with clarity and quality to be honest. I think stones have to appeal to you like people do. You can see a whole tray but there’s always one that catches your fancy; they’re like characters. J&T: How do you personally view jewellery? SAP: It has to feel accessible and you have to enjoy it when you wear it. I think jewellery becomes welded to your persona that’s why it’s significant. People don’t change their jewellery all the time; they wear it and it becomes their signature piece.