The Royals’ rock star
In the Sixties, Andrew Grima was a favourite with Royals and film stars alike – and now, 50 years on, his most collectable designs are up for auction. Caroline Leaper reports
In the Sixties, following a decade of ladylike clothes and neat little diamond suites, Andrew Grima’s approach to jewellery design was considered revolutionary. Giant, semi-precious stones dominated in his collections, set in their raw, natural forms among complex, textural gold structures. Every Grima piece was crafted by hand, their mounts designed to make virtues of jagged facets and inclusions, often scattered with seemingly haphazard diamonds. It was irregular, artistic, and offered a whole new kind of decadence.
“He captured the spirit of the moment – his jewellery was edgy and exciting as it was so different from anything before” says
Jean Ghika, jewellery director at Bonhams. “He understood it was a real departure from the cocktail jewellery of the
Fifties and he let his imagination run wild.”
The fruits of that imagination are currently lending their vibrancy to the auction house’s vault on London’s New Bond Street, thanks to a bumper delivery of the late jeweller’s designs.
“We’ve had a few of his pieces before, but I have never seen this many at once,” Ghika explains, laying tray after tray of boulder pendants and cocktail rings, with stones like boiled sweets, on to a table for inspection. 55 pieces by Grima, one of British jewellery’s most collectible names, will be up for auction on Sept 20, and Bonhams’s estimates (around £18,000 per piece) may be modest once bidding begins.
“Andrew Grima changed the face of jewellery in Britain,” says Carol Woolton, British
Vogue’s jewellery editor.
“Before him, fine jewellery looked exclusive, formal and unattainable. It was the first time people could see a personality behind a jewellery brand and they were as attracted to the man as they were to the jewellery.”
The flamboyant designer drove an Aston Martin and sketched ideas on the back of menus. He became friends with the Snowdon set, joining Earl “Tony” and Princess “Maggie” at the epicentre of the London arts world.
His exotic-looking shop on Jermyn Street became a hub on the Swinging London scene. “The shop was so modern, people hadn’t seen anything like it,” says Woolton of its design, which had spyholes for passers-by to look through. “Vogue editors had lunch there every week and he was in every shoot because they loved him as a character.”
As well as making pieces for the royal family, Grima was savvy enough to mingle with the pop culture figures of the day. Ursula Andress wore his jewellery in
She; Jean Shrimpton sported an enormous aquamarine on the cover of Vogue in November 1965.
“He had the royal warrant, so he was very much a jeweller for the establishment, but he also managed to straddle the fashion world, with film and pop stars wearing his work,” Ghika says. “That was a very difficult thing to do, especially when you had traditional society patrons.”
Grima’s route into the industry was unconventional, and many praise his lack of formal training for his ability to design without boundaries. Born in Rome in 1921 and raised in London, he spent his early 20s fighting with the Royal Warwickshires in Burma. Demobbed in 1945, he took a secretarial course where he met his first wife, Helène Haller, and went on to work at his father-in-law’s jewellers until 1961, when he presented a collection of his own at Goldsmiths’ Hall.
Francesca Grima, the designer’s daughter from his second marriage to Jojo Maughan-brown, was inspired to follow in his footsteps. “I grew up in the business,” she says. “My father was 59 when I was born, and he didn’t want to change his lifestyle. I’d meet stone dealers who would come to our house. I’d play with the gems and pick out ones I thought were pretty… he would listen and sometimes choose ones I liked!”
Aside from his daughter, who continues to design under the family name, Andrew Grima’s influence has been felt by several generations, with names from Theo Fennell to Alex Monroe citing him as an inspiration. Ghika says that many modern-day jewellers have already inquired about the auction, and have booked to see the pieces in the flesh (a public preview opens on Sept 17).
“The minute I found out about the auction I booked to go down and have a look with my design team,” says Monroe, who founded his eponymous brand 30 years ago. “I cannot wait to see them. I look at him as the James Bond of jewellers – I thought he was the coolest guy. Jewellery is often thought of as an add-on, but he was a big fish and if you create pieces as well as he did, you deserve the recognition.”
“Timeless” is a word that many who admire Grima’s work use but, as Ghika says, if it was futuristic at the time then it is no wonder it still feels modern. “Really innovative, good design does stand the test of time,” she says, “there’s nothing here that doesn’t still look wearable.”
And there lies the key; for all the drama and fantasy of these designs, they are pieces made to be worn and enjoyed. The Duke of Edinburgh bought his first carved-ruby, gold and diamond brooch from Grima for the Queen in 1966. Her Majesty wore it with tweed jackets and silk dresses
– as she still does today.
Bonhams’ sale of Grima jewellery is on Sept 20. Details: bonhams.com