42 DEPARTURES STYLE
42 DEPARTURES STYLE CREATIVITY REQUIRED Outside the Box Jewellery designer Jessica McCormack speaks about her approach and inspirations as well as what has changed in the past year. How do clients react to your incredible town house? Hopefully, they can relax and take time to think while discussing their needs, perhaps inspired by the books and artworks. The workshop is our jewel in the crown – originally for repairs, it has been expanded, and now we make a lot here. Our craftsmen are young, but they use all the old Georgian and Victorian techniques, helping to keep British jewellery-making alive. Everything is done by hand: we don’t use CAD. Do you also remodel old jewellery? We’ve had a lot of recent requests: during lockdown, people looked out old pieces they didn’t like but which maybe had great stones. It’s lovely to Left: New Zealand-born McCormack in her Mayfair town house; above: a bespoke locket, featuring a dog portrait give them a new lease of life. We turned one client’s diamond-line necklace into a fringe bracelet, to wear down the hand or on a bare arm. It looked so good that I wanted to use it as one of our regular designs and, luckily, she agreed – of course, she has the original! Another client’s old emerald and cushion-cut diamond ring is now a pair of mismatched Gypset earrings. How has the pandemic affected clients’ design choices? They are being very thoughtful and considered, wanting versatile items to wear in different ways, like our Party Jackets, where we make a simple piece – often an engagement ring with a single great stone – and then add a detachable diamond surround to bling it up for special occasions. Many of our
COURTESY JESSICA McCORMACK, ADAM DUKE (INTERIOR) current pieces are love tokens – but not always what you’d expect. We’ve done several miniature portraits of dogs painted on mother-of-pearl, for lockets or rings, and one client had her dog engraved on the metal side of an emerald ring. Somehow, animal portraits work better than people. What are the most popular bespoke items with clients? About 70 per cent of our pieces are rings. I’m being selfish here – I love them. You can’t enjoy looking at a necklace or earrings while you’re wearing them, but you can admire a ring or bracelet all the time. And, naturally, they’re a top sentimental choice. How did you come to jewellery design? My father was an auctioneer and Clockwise from left: sapphire eternity ring; McCormack’s art-filled townhouse salon; enamel snake wrap ring in lilac, a piece from McCormack’s collaboration with The Haas Brothers art dealer, so I grew up with antique objects and fascinating curiosities. When I started work, at Sotheby’s in New Zealand, I was already collecting vintage costume jewellery, but seeing Art Deco Cartier pieces or antique Russian jewels sparked my design imagination. I design rather than make, though I had a blowtorch at home. What inspires your designs? I love antique elements – the subtle gleam of old-cut diamonds and the blackened silver that was often used to mount diamonds even on gold pieces, and the geometry of Art Deco style. The trick is making it all look modern and wearable. As a New Zealander, I like practical, casual things. My aim is highly crafted, beautiful jewellery for everyday wear. What do your recent design collaborations bring to your work? People from different disciplines bring a fresh, creative and very inspiring eye. The link with fashion designer Emilia Wickstead was obvious but was very interesting because she wanted to use pearls, which I never had – I was very happy using them to create together. The latest collaboration with The Haas Brothers was different: I know and love their art but they knew nothing about jewellery. Their style is very different from mine, but our creative process really gelled. The designs were a natural progression, if a bit crazy, and quite a bold step in yellow gold. But new directions and surprises put the fun in my designs. jessicamccormack.com – As told to Avril Groom DEPARTURES 43
