Designing Our Two Toned Swirl Pendant

Hello readers,

Today I thought I'd give you an idea of how we come up with some of our designs. Currently in the studio we have a pendant which I personally cannot speak enough about; it's our Two Toned Pendant, known to the team as Swirl pendant.

Inspiration taken from Lucien Gautrait (top), Georges Fahrner (bottom)

The idea for this particular piece came from looking back at the history of jewellery design, especially from the Art Nouveau era (also known to the French as the La Belle Époque period or the beautiful era). A lot of these elaborate pieces of jewellery were made using precious metals, all with a common theme in mind. These design ideas often came from nature, using plants and flowers as inspiration, to give femininity to a number of different luxurious objects. Some famous jewellery designers from that period were Lucien Gautrait, Georges Fouquet and Theodor Fahrner . We took inspiration from those great artists along with glass designer Réne Jules Lalique. Looking at their stunningly, elegant pieces we decided we would like to pay tribute to this fabulous era, by designing a pendant inspired by that time and adding our own modern twist to it.

Our Two Toned Pendant was made using curved lines, inspired by the natural shapes of sea waves, rambling vines and the overall essence of nature.

Initial sketches

We first designed this pendant by sketching. Once we were happy and had decided on our final design, we then went on to use C.A.D software to work out accurately the dimensions and settings of the piece. This allowed us to make any minor adjustments before casting. Once the pendant was cast it was then filed and polished ready for the stones to be set. After the stones were set we then polished the entire piece again for a highly polished finish.

Work in progress on our CAD software

This pendant has been made using precious metals such as 18ct yellow and white gold and then, to add a touch of elegance and sparkle, we added graduated round brilliant cut diamonds along one of the sides. With the aim of drawing the eye to the gorgeous natural yellow sapphire at the centre of the piece. We were so happy to come across this stone as it is truly stunning and even better to see in person! We also have another pendant of the same design but on a smaller scale, using rose and white gold and a pretty round brilliant cut diamond, set in the centre. It can be made using any colour precious metal and with a round centre stone of the customers choice.

Finished, rendered CAD images

Join us next time for more news about what designs we are currently, or have previously, enjoyed working on and for more interesting facts about the jewellery design world.

We'd love to hear from you in the comments if there is anything you'd like to learn about in the world of jewellery.

All The Best,

The Jewellery Studio Team