Irthly Jewelled Adornments
Ancient skills and new technologies come together in a collection of beautifully cutting-edge designs inspired by the wonders of nature and the desire to cherish them.
The son of a master jeweler – and an avid student of Chinese and European philosophy – designer David Alvarado creates jewelry that is both representative of his worldview and beautifully cutting-edge in its interpretation of Art Deco influences. When he launched Irthly Jewelled Adornments, Alvarado set himself the notable goal of pairing luxury art design with ethical responsibility towards our environment. Inspired by the pregnancy of his wife – an event that led the designer to meditate on birth and the origins of all things – Alvarado focused on palm ivory, a sustainable and ethical alternative to conflict-ridden animal ivory. All the collection’s pieces are made with recycled metals, predominantly gold and platinum, high-grade conflict-free diamonds, and fairtrade gems. The integration of these elements with seeds of vegetable ivory was a complex, delicate challenge that took years to develop. A painstaking mix of old and new technology allowed Alvarado to bring out the wonderful power of this seed, realizing in the process that each piece, as an organic thing, evolves along with the person: no other jewelry can be so intimately connected to its owner. Irthly Jewelled Adornments’ new collection will be unveiled at Christie’s on December 10. It will highlight how interconnectivity and our awareness of it should be as precious as anything we treasure. As the butterfly effect teaches us, small events may have large dramatic effects. The bee’s delicate ecosystem is one very real example: as the bee population things, there is real potential for disastrous outcomes. “My BeeEffect™ Collection will be an elegant way to treasure our awareness of how intimately connected we all are,” says Alvarado. “My hope is that the more we treasure and share our awareness of our codependent existence, the more our ethical practices improve.”