Food-influenced charms
The hamburger. An enduring staple of American fast food and a much-loved addition to menus across the globe. Not an item one would usually associate with the glistening world of jewellery, but for Singapore-based designer Nadine Ghosn, it has proven to be the ultimate muse to inspire her playful talismans, rendered in solid gold and colourful, vibrant combinations of gemstones.
Her bestselling jewel, the Veggie Burger, is a shiny stack of six rings – including a gem-dusted ‘gluten-free’ top bun and a burger patty – that puts a high-end twist on everyday food with diamonds, sapphires, tsavorites and rubies. “I loved the idea of taking an ordinary universal food that reminds us of our childhood: the famous burger. It was an unexpected fine piece of jewellery at the time because it was stackable and colourful. We all can relate, and it often puts a smile on our faces,” says Ghosn. “The stackable component – so people can customise their burger – was an arduous manufacturing practice, to make sure they fall in the right place once stacked.” Ghosn, who founded her namesake brand in 2015, has long brought a light-heartedness to the fine jewellery space with collections inspired by different foods, like her edamame, sushi and croissant charms, as well as her YOUtensils line, that applies a golden touch to the humble fork, spoon and disposable straw. Today, she is one of a handful of jewellery-makers working up appetites with food-inspired designs that riff on the work of artists like Hayden Kays and Andy Warhol by translating commonplace objects into precious trinkets, while paying subtle homage to heritage jewellers like Carl Fabergé, whose exquisite, bejewelled eggs have delighted and intrigued since the 19th century.
Mish Tworkowski, the founder of the US-based label Mish Fine Jewelry, is a leading name in the niche market today. Playing with size and scale, Tworkowski dreams up tasty jewels like his Strawberry Flower collection, which brings precious expression to his favourite fruit, the strawberry. On earclips, bracelets and pendants, every detail of the strawberry, from its dainty seeds to its stalk, has been replicated in gold, lending each design a delightfully tactile and vibrant appeal.
Much like Tworkowski, Dolce & Gabbana has paid recent homage to the delicacy of berries with one of its most spectacular jewels to date. The Cherries set, unveiled as part of the Italian fashion giant’s Alta Gioielleria offering, includes a high jewellery necklace and bracelet modelled with two ruby-encrusted cherries and yellow gold leaves. Enamelled by hand, the pieces recreate the atmosphere of an enchanted forest with a lustrous pavé of emeralds, rubellite tourmalines, peridots and rhodolite garnets set into twisted gold wire.
Meanwhile, for Rosh Mahtani, the founder of the London-based jewellery line Alighieri, creatures from the sea provide ample inspiration. Sculpted in bronze and plated in the brand’s signature 24-carat gold, her Gone Fishing earrings celebrate the wonders of the seaside with a shimmering gold fish suspended on a single hoop. Other delicacies include Alighieri’s Olive earrings (pictured), which replicate the oval fruit in freshwater baroque pearls from London’s Hatton Garden, and the Flickers of the Sea necklace, a bronze fishbone pendant on Indian cotton cord.
And who could forget the candy-coloured creations of Rosie Fortescue? Founded in 2015, the London-based demi-fine jewellery brand specialises in failsafe jewels that can be styled from day to night, like her silver pendants and mix-and-match charm hoops that hug the lobe with gem-set treats, from sweets to zirconia-studded chillies.
With its mood-boosting colour palette and talismanic qualities, the trend for food-inspired bijou speaks to a shelving of old styling rules and traditions. In 2024, jewellery should spark joy, and as our love of playful treasures shows no sign of abating, we can expect many more delectable trinkets to infiltrate our jewellery boxes in the coming years.
Jewellery courtesy Alighieri Jewellery