Paul Smith was inspired to create a new photographic-printed silk by the Bentley & Skinner Compendium catalogue. The London Victorian-jewellery specialist is also famed as Damien Hirst’s jewellery partner. It was the chief collaborator on Hirst’s ‘For the Love of God’ diamond skull, the largest diamond work to be commissioned since the Crown Jewels.
‘Someone once referred to me as a “collector of collections”. I collect everything from stamps to matchboxes, books to bikes. I love collections of things,’ admits Paul Smith. ‘With the Bentley & Skinner Compendium I just loved the mix of colours, shapes and textures in the jewels.’
‘We work to make an aesthetic combination so that the pages of our Compendium are a joy to look at, as well as the individual beauty of the jewels,’ says Mark Evans of Bentley & Skinner.
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection
This brooch is marked by a central diamond surrounded by five opals in diamond clusters and a diamond-set stem. It is a prominent motif in Paul Smith’s new printed silk collection.
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection Photography: Aylin Bayhan
‘With the Bentley & Skinner Compendium, I just loved the mix of colours, shapes and textures in the jewels,’ says Paul Smith
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection. Photography: Aylin Bayhan
‘We try to keep to a theme within the pages of our Compendium of Jewellery,’ says Bentley & Skinner’s Mark Evans. ‘We work mainly by way of colours via different stones, such as rubies and emeralds, and we also try to keep consistency in terms of the era in which the pieces were created,’ Mark Evans of Bentley & Skinner
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection
Paul Smith’s new silk print features a rich yellow-gold bee brooch by contemporary designer and jewel restorer Gaetano Chiavetta.
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection. Photography: Aylin Bayhan
‘I’ll see something and instantly be able to visualise how it will look as clothing. It could be anything from jewellery to playing cards, to a bowl of fruit, I’ll see it and just think “shirt!” or “holdall!”’ – Paul Smith
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection. Photography: Aylin Bayhan
‘My wife Pauline and I have been receiving Bentley & Skinner’s very beautiful Compendium for quite some time. Every time it drops through the letterbox I always think that it’s so perfectly created and laid-out’. – Paul Smith
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection
‘Without wanting to sound big-headed, in the early days I really was a pioneer of using photographic print on clothing. Over the years it’s become second nature to me.’– Paul Smith
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection. Photography: Aylin Bayhan
The Victorian pieces in Bentley & Skinner’s antique collection have been translated into photographic prints on silk. This diamond pendant is designed to be also worn as a brooch.
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection. Photography: Aylin Bayhan
‘The Victorians were very keen on naturalistic jewellery and a lot of our pieces include insect, butterfly and bird motifs. Serpent representations were also very popular.’ – Mark Evans, Bentley & Skinner
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection. Photography: Aylin Bayhan
‘When it comes to the silk printing process, Paul provides the magic!’ – Mark Evans, Bentley & Skinner
Rare jewels from Bentley & Skinner’s current Compendium have been translated into a silk-blend print, as seen in Paul Smith’s S/S 2018 womenswear collection. Photography: Aylin Bayhan
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The modernist home of musician Imogen Holst gets Grade II listingThe daughter of the composer Gustav Holst lived here from 1964 until her death, during which time the home served a locus for her own composition work, which included assisting Benjamin Britten
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This fun and free-spirited photography exhibition offers a chromatic view on the world‘Chromotherapia’ at Villa Medici in Rome, explores how we view colour as a way of therapy, and how it has shaped photography over the last century (until 9 June 2025)
