Discover Today’s Most Boundary-Pushing Independent Jewelers

In her first book, journalist Melanie Grant makes the case for high jewelry as art. Here are the contemporary makers leading the pack

Elegant necklace with intricate blue and purple gemstone design, featuring unique swirling and angular shapes.
Photo: Courtesy Neha Dani

When Melanie Grant was approached to write her first book, she strove to challenge one prevailing question: Within the hierarchy of art, why is jewelry considered to be less than? Having been exposed to all things rare and visually exquisite as the luxury editor for The Economist’s 1843 Magazine, Grant developed a particular passion for all that glitters. Her new tome, Coveted: Art and Innovation in High Jewelry (Phaidon), however, beautifully illustrates that more than mere adornment, bijoux can be just as groundbreaking, awe-inspiring, and significant as blue-chip paintings or sculptures.

Three years and 150-plus interviews in the making, Coveted brings together the most artistic, jaw-dropping jewels, crafted by historic houses and cutting-edge designers from around the globe, presented in five key themes: Abstraction, East Meets West, Diamonds, Inspired by Nature, and the Female Age. Here, the author discusses jewelry’s artistic merits, what is fueling the industry’s boundless creativity, and the independent talents who should be on every collector’s radar today.

Purple book cover with gold text "Coveted" and subtitle "Art and Innovation in High Jewellery" by Melanie Grant.
Melanie Grant’s Coveted: Art and Innovation in High Jewelry (Phaidon). Photo: Courtesy Phaidon

How important was it for you to feature established high jewelry brands and makers while also championing emerging talents?
It was crucial. I own around 150 jewelry books, and most are either brand books about the big houses or a book of ten or 20 pieces from independent designers. I thought it was important to discuss the merits of everyone in a very democratic way, so I can talk about somebody who produces two pieces of jewelry a year, or I can talk about Cartier. Right now, the most cutting-edge designs are primarily coming from the independent sector, and as a collector, I’m always interested in someone I don’t know who changes everything.

Intricate artwork of a vibrant, colorful peacock feather design on a dark background.
Wallace Chan, Hera Brooch and Ring, 2019. Aquamarines, black opal (14.61ct), crystal, emeralds, fancy-color diamonds, fancy sapphires, lapis lazuli, opals, padparadscha sapphires, and tsavorite garnets in titanium, and the Wallace Chan Porcelain. Photo: Courtesy Wallace Chan

In your opinion, when does jewelry become art?
It’s a feeling. You know the difference between something that is commercial or mass fine jewelry, versus when you’re standing in front of something that is art, you feel overwhelmed. When I go and see a piece that is one-off, museum quality, took ten years to make, and the artist probably makes eight pieces a year, it has a deep profound meaning to me and to the person who made it. It’s something that changed how I saw design and will remember for my lifetime.

“As a collector, I’m always interested in someone I don’t know who changes everything”

Melanie Grant

There’s so much diversity in jewelry right now. In the spirit of Art Deco and the 1920s and 1930s, what trends or movements do you think will be distilled from the 2010s or 2020s?
It’s hard to see it when you’re in it. You look back 20 or 30 years after Art Deco, and you say, “That was Art Deco,” but at the time it felt like something completely different. Modernism is still with us in many ways because its legacy is not toeing the traditional line of design. One hundred years ago, high jewelry meant diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, in a very particular setting; now it can be a pebble with an opal upside down. It can be anything, which is also why I say it’s closer to art because art can be anything.

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Six of Today’s Most Boundary-Pushing Independent Jewelers

John Moore, Verto necklace (2015)u00a0nDiamonds in extruded silicone, gold, and oxidized silver with magnetic claspnu201cJohn Moore makes massive solid-silver bibs with silicone and sometimes diamonds. Theyu2019re like a high-jewelry version of Slinkies. When he was becoming a designer, a lot of people didnu2019t understand his vision and thought he was making something that wouldnu2019t sell. Now heu2019s selling out of galleries and doing so well. People who create art canu2019t be safe. They have to be in uncomfortable spaces to do anything different.u201d u2014Melanie Grant

Photograph by Courtesy John Moore

Nak Armstrong, Encrusted Ruched Roman Helmet ring (2018)nAndalusites, aquamarines, imperial topaz, labradorites, pink sapphire, reclaimed pink and white diamonds, and spessartite (32.64ct) in recycled white gold; private collectionnu201cNak Armstrong is really underestimated as a jewelry designer. He does this pleating design with different stones in all these colorways. Itu2019s so delicate.u201d u2014Melanie Grant

Photograph by © Clay Grier Courtesy Nak Armstrong

Sam Tho Duong, Frozen necklace (2013)nFreshwater pearls, nylon, and oxidized silver; private collectionnu201cSam Tho Duong started out turning discarded objects into jewelry, which I thought was wonderful, and then he started migrating to tiny seed pearls on silver. The pearls represent frozen branches. Itu2019s so odd and beautifulu2014for me that is high jewelry, that kind of handmade oddity which youu2019ve never seen anything like.u201d u2014Melanie Grant

Photograph by Courtesy Sam Tho Duong

Melanie Georgacopoulos, Corner Nacre bangle (2019)nPeacock mother-of-pearl and Tahitian pearl in goldnu201cMelanie Georgacopoulos works with pearls, which are often viewed as quite conventional and traditional. However she saws them in half, makes hexagonal cuffs, and anything you can think of that you shouldnu2019t do to a pearl, sheu2019s done. Itu2019s sacrilege and brilliant.u201d u2014Melanie Grant

Photograph by Courtesy Melanie Georgacopoulos

Roule & Co., Starburst Halo bangle (circa 2013)nEmeralds in blackened gold and yellow goldnu201cRoule & Co. has a Brutalist architectural style in which they design blackened-gold cages with stones. Christopher, one of the designers, was inspired by New York skyscrapers, as well as the Eiffel Tower, to make this blackened framework. I love cities. Everyone talks about nature, but for me the city is also beautiful.u201d u2014Melanie Grant

Photograph by Courtesy Roule & Co.

Arman Suciyan, Goddess Wing Drop earrings (2014)nBrown diamonds and orange sapphires in textured rhodium-plated silvernu201cArman Suciyan does streamlined silver modernist pieces which all slot together. They are based on the power of this otherworldly goddess. I love the fact that his jewelry is affordable but still art. Not everything has to cost a million dollars. In Turkey where itu2019s all heavy gold, heu2019s just completely different.u201d u2014Melanie Grant

Photograph by Courtesy Arman Suciyan
Black and gold modern circular necklace with layered disc pattern and small gold accents.
Intricate jeweled ring with colored gemstones and gold accents, featuring a large red circular stone centerpiece.
Artistic necklace with clusters of gray beads and organic wooden elements, resembling a nature-inspired design.
Abstract gold and iridescent bracelet with geometric shape and metallic sphere accent.
Circular gold and green geometric patterned ring on a white background.
Unique silver earrings with elongated spikes, decorated with small red stones and intricate detailing.
Black and gold modern circular necklace with layered disc pattern and small gold accents.
Intricate jeweled ring with colored gemstones and gold accents, featuring a large red circular stone centerpiece.
Artistic necklace with clusters of gray beads and organic wooden elements, resembling a nature-inspired design.
Abstract gold and iridescent bracelet with geometric shape and metallic sphere accent.
Circular gold and green geometric patterned ring on a white background.
Unique silver earrings with elongated spikes, decorated with small red stones and intricate detailing.

Why do you think the high jewelry market is surging like never before?
I think we’re on the cusp of a big creative leap when it comes to design, partly by the materials we see people are using for the first time—industrial materials like carbon fiber and titanium. We’re seeing a growing demand for that because of designers coming out of Asia using titanium for really large-scale pieces. Also, with Instagram and the advent of visual social media, high jewelry has gotten the biggest audience it’s ever had.

What can this rise in creativity out of Asia be attributed to? How are these makers challenging Europe as the heart of high-jewelry design?
Previously if you had a lot of money, you went to Paris to the Place Vendôme to buy something, but now we’re seeing Asian designers doing something completely different. That’s partly fueled by a huge amount of wealth coming out of that region and people themselves buying Asian designs. Also, after not being able to wear any jewelry under Communism, the Chinese have rediscovered their own love of jewelry. Before Communism they had a fantastic, very ancient history of jewelry design.

About seven years ago I wrote a profile on Wallace Chan, and I got letters from people saying, “Why are you only writing about him now? He’s been working for so long—why have you ignored him?” It’s not that the West had ignored him, but he came to attention through various biennales before exploding on the global stage. In terms of Asian design, the world is just now starting to see the fruits of that labor.

Turquoise cuff bracelet with an embossed Egyptian-style eye design on a rectangular panel.
Hemmerle, Bangle, 2018. Ancient Egyptian faience and zircons in bronze and white gold, Private collection. Photo: Courtesy Hemmerle

Who are the designers that you find contemporary jewelers most consistently reference as inspiration?
JAR changed design, as we all know, representing a fundamental shift to the art space. For the next generation of collectors and designers, Hemmerle is proving to be a beacon of design and innovation. For me greatness isn’t about having one or two great pieces; it’s having a consistent level with everything that is made. You may not even like it, but you can see the genius. It’s a combination of technical and creative genius for Hemmerle. I love the combination of the Egyptian and the German. The color and simplicity. Their signature is so strong.