Bigger is better.
I almost want to wash my mouth out for churning out that tired old phrase but in jewellery terms it’s true.
It’s always the more dramatic and attention-seeking of my jewellery that attracts compliments.
Dainty, pretty little pieces are fine, but we’re so used to them that they can become practically invisible. Throughout history, even if clothing styles haven’t endured, fashions in jewellery typically have. So it takes something unusual, loud and original to make us take notice.
A case in point being a girl I spotted in the street this week wearing a Victorian print of a typewriter around her neck. It turns out she was a journalist and she bought the necklace to celebrate a new job. I liked the symbolism but I liked the necklace even more.
It comes from a website called mamaslittlebabies.com. Have a look, it’s fantastic. All the jewellery is created from Victorian illustrations printed on to plastic, with sterling silver fixings.
Like the Victorians, some of the pieces are, to quote Dizzee Rascal, bonkers. Take a look at the bloomers necklace featuring Victorian underwear, numerous necklaces featuring cups of tea, cats, octopuses, binoculars and a fat man called Plump Joe and a man with a flying machine strapped to his back.
Eccentric and simply brilliant.