“I also wanted to wear colors, diamonds, sapphires,” claims Toby Vernon. By launching, at the age of 23, in 2021, the jewelry brand The Ouze, this native of Brighton, United Kingdom, gave himself a selfish pleasure. “During the Covid-19 pandemic, after finishing my studies in menswear at the University of Westminster, I discovered the lost wax casting technique and imagined pieces that I would want to to carry. »
Thus, he inlaid small emeralds, pink or blue sapphires, raspberry rubies or blackcurrant garnets into silver rings. The recipe appeals to other men who spend 300 to 800 euros to acquire a model. “My clients often tell me the same thing, states Toby Vernon. I had never dared to wear jewelry with stones, but with you, it’s different…”
Like The Ouze, creative and confidential labels have been making rings combining colored stones and silver a field of expression for several months. However, in the 20th century, such an association passede century, for sacrilege. “It’s true, but it was not rare in the 19the. And, when I come across old ornaments made of silver and stones in museums, I find a certain nobility in them. objects Catherine Servel, founder of De Cosmi, who has pink, yellow or orange sapphires set in silver signet rings drawing a diamond or a question mark.
Seb Brown envelops brushed silver with sapphires, emeralds, topaz, tsavorites or rubies for the brand in his name launched in 2018. His signet rings made in Melbourne then found buyers within the London department store Liberty or the Dover Street Market network . The inspirations of this Australian based in Paris who presents his collections during men’s fashion weeks? “Jean Arp’s prints for his collaborative practice with artisans and contemporary Australian Aboriginal painters for their repetitive, colorful and nature-inspired compositions. »
“My approach is sculptural”
All these independent creators claim a “50-50”: a clientele made up of as many men as women. A rare ratio in the jewelry market which has prospered for more than a century by favoring a female target. At Bleue Burnham, a whimsical London designer who enriches silver with multi-colored stones, this proportion even reaches 70% of male clients. “Men are ripe for free and radical proposals that the big brands do not offer them. They confine themselves to stereotypical options, ranging from the virilistic signet ring to the leather cord bracelet. abondon Paul Alvernhe.
In the spring, this art historian and gemologist launched Meteor, a brand which sells (to order) rings made from a magma of blackened or rhodium-plated silver, studded with gold nuggets or shards of sapphires, topazes or aquamarines. “My approach is sculptural”, he explains. When traditional jewelry involves choosing a gem to place on the pedestal of a solitaire, giving it an organic shape to the piece and then setting it. As with Meteor, a crude aesthetic is found in other young shoots, such as Perez De Vecchi, a Milanese brand which captures sapphires in imperfectly modeled silver.
“When its surface is poorly polished, silver reveals imprints and scratches,” observes Toby Vernon of The Ouze. This is how silver signet rings are found with an irregular texture at Bleue Burnham, marks and scratches at De Cosmi, settings which appear to draw star branches around the stones at Seb Brown… Offering preciousness colored gems a metallic case neither too formal nor too smooth.
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