A world of her own: there’s magical thinking in Olivia Creber’s landscape-informed jewels

Olivia Creber’s twisted, oversized hoops encrusted with organic, uncut crystals are inspired by the geographical extremes of the Australian Outback and the jagged cliffs of the Sussex Downs. ‘I grew up spending half of my time in each place,’ explains the West Sussex-based jewellery designer, who admits that she has ‘never really thought on a small scale’. Rather, Creber is drawn to the idea of ‘being inspired by something enormous and factoring it down to a wearable form.’

While her earring designs curve like tree trunks or spindly stalactices, these organic instincts are offset by the use of opulent gold vermeil in her designs. ‘When I am creating something I want to make layers,’ says Creber – who completed a Jewellery and Metal Masters at the Royal College of Art in 2016. 'I really double take at anything from the Baroque period, due to all the different facets. Everything about that period is glamorous and dramatic.’

The biggest challenge when creating her current Beyond Crystal Planes hoop designs, Creber says, was trying to make something ‘that was large but also light’. Clusters of uncut stones, sourced in Sussex, are bound in electroformed sterling silver, creating a shell of metal around an internal weightless structure. ‘They have the illusion of weight,’ she points out. ‘That aligns with my concept of having magical surprises in my pieces, like the landscapes they are inspired by.’

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Olivia Creber website