Alternative engagement rings are reduced down to essential silhouettes by Jenny Sweetnam, who has gone back to basics with her new collection, Inverse. The 2018 Wallpaper* Design Award winner has established herself as a contemporary jewellery designer who brings a freshness to traditional pieces, through a simple and innovative approach. The new collection builds on these foundations with sculptural designs in 18ct yellow gold that make discreet, intimate engagement tokens or even men's engagement rings.
Lab-grown diamonds, rather than being on display, are encased in curving forms, uncovered for the eyes of the wearer only. In other pieces, diamonds are tucked into the smooth whorls of eternity rings, or capped with understated lids.
‘The stone is not the focus, it is not seen at all in the piece unless the wearer chooses to invert and position of the ring to reveal the stones,’ Sweetnam says. ‘I love the idea that it is the feeling of wearing such a valuable element that is important to the wearer rather than the show of it. I feel that the idea of wearing a diamond that is privately encased for yourself to know about is thrilling and empowering. It also creates the opportunity for someone who does not connect with a traditional engagement-ring aesthetic to wear the precious elements of an engagement or eternity ring just in a new modern way.’
In all her jewellery, Sweetnam focuses on crafting a graphic, bold silhouette. In her first collection to include diamonds, she builds on this without compromising these essential forms for pieces which make for chic and affordable engagement rings. Her pieces hold secrets; in the fine narrow diamond-encrusted ring hidden within an oversized ring there is an added sentiment to typical engagement jewellery design. ‘In other pieces, a larger diamond would sit at the end of a ring silhouette, such as in Silent Diamond Ring, punctuating a graphic shape rather than feeling like it was an add-on,’ she adds. ‘Conceptually, I knew the diamonds needed to be tucked away within the jewellery.’
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