Winterson

Congratulations to Bella Mung, the winner of the Winterson Prize 2013 for the Best Use of Pearls.

Announced yesterday evening at Central Saint Martins, London, Bella was awarded the prize for her contemporary and often humorous exploration of the use of pearls in everyday fashion.

There were many pieces of a high standard in the CSM BA Jewellery Design Class 2013, including Claudia Rice's collection of historically inspired jewellery and Simeï Iréne Snyman's ambiguous fantasy garden of ceramic food.

The judges, which included CSM course leader Caroline Broadhead and designer Alice Cicolini, however, loved the detailed development of Bella's concepts throughout the last year.

Initially exploring the idea of the hidden shape and form of a necklace beneath a garment, inspired by her mother's jewellery, Bella playfully extended the concept to using pearls in different pieces of attire.

These often amusing and sometimes peculiar pieces of fashion included a pearl necklace that transformed into a tie, a hoody with its suggestion of pearls and a pair of gentlemen's pearl-studded brogues.

The stand-out piece was this pearl necklace (above) that was transfixed like the wearer's hair blowing in the wind. The considered shape and graduation of the necklace was perfect.

We asked Bella about her inspiration and plans for the future:

Tell us about yourself.

I studied the foundation of art and design in Los Angeles and found out I am very interested in the jewellery field.

What was the inspiration for this piece?

I love the way my mother wears her mother's silver chain half hidden by her clothes and half shown. I copy the way she does this by combining a pearl necklace with everyday wear.

What's next for you?

I will be doing an internship in BLESS after I graduate and applying for an MA degree at the Royal College of Art in 2014.

Name one jewellery toolbox essential that you can’t live without.

My Pearl knotter.

We recently announced a very special collaboration in Pearls with the BA Jewellery Design course at Central Saint Martins (CSM), the creative arts institute of the University of the Arts London.

This week sees the start of the second set of degree shows at CSM, which are a celebration of design and the final year students' work. Later this week, we will also be announcing the winner of our prize for the Best Use of Pearls amongst the final year Jewellery students.

Here, we take five minutes with Caroline Broadhead, who is the course leader at CSM, to ask for her views on jewellery and pearls.

Caroline's own work in jewellery has explored the use of textiles and developing her work into garment form. She has exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally, including recently in the Unexpected Pleasures contemporary jewellery exhibition at the Design Museum, London.

Tell us a little about yourself and your role at CSM?

I am Course Leader, which means I have responsibility for the overall direction and management of the 3 year course. I also teach across the years, though mainly I am involved with the final years, along with the Year 3 tutor, Lin Cheung.

What does ‘jewellery’ mean to you?

Jewellery can be superficial or significant; an accessory or fundamental; mean nothing or everything. The subject can be interpreted widely, as it represents what we value.

It can be a spatial, formal construction relating to the physical body; as something worn close to the body it can relate to the emotions; it can indicate our relation to materials and what we do with them; it can be the means of expressing identity and reading that of others.

What influences have inspired you in your own design, can you give us an example?

A very obvious example was when I travelled to Africa in the late 70s and saw Masai jewellery being worn, colourful, bold designs that dominate the body. I also observed the women weaving baskets in the markets and both those came together later in woven nylon work. Other than that, it is a combination of a lot of different things.

What should come first in design - material, form or function?

I think that the best designs are those where these work together. Some people start from a particular material, shape or function and take it from there, but everyone has a different process and there is no failsafe formula.

What trends in current jewellery design do you like the most and least?

I am very supportive of the growing awareness of ethics and sustainability in the jewellery world.

What do pearls mean to you?

They are beautiful and organic.

What are the opportunities today for using pearls in jewellery design?

A string of pearls is an iconic piece of jewellery and pearls, as such, are ripe for experiment and questioning to extend their potential.

What are the main challenges for a new jewellery designer starting out?

Gaining the relevant experience of how to run a business is something that takes time and it is easy to make expensive mistakes. Each person has to find out what the appropriate context is for their work and how best to promote, sustain and develop it.

What is the best advice that you give to your students?

Have faith in yourself, don’t stop working.

What is your favourite part of the working day?

The first bit, when I feel I can get through all the things on my To Do list!

Just opened at Somerset House, London until 1st September is a celebration of the work of Erwin Blumenfeld, one of the most innovative fashion and advertising photographers of the twentieth century.

Featuring over ninety restored and coloured corrected prints of  his work, the Blumenfeld Studio exhibition tells the extraordinary story of Blumenfeld's journey behind and in front of the lens.

Born in Berlin in 1897, Blumenfeld was given a camera at the age of 10 by his uncle, a gift that was to help shape his future life.

The young Blumenfeld experimented from an early age with the technical aspects of photography, using innovative darkroom techniques, solarisation and multiple exposures to develop his own trademark style - without  the current temptations of Photoshop.

He initially focused on portraits and the nude female form, influenced in part by the work of Man Ray and the free expression of the Dadaist movement. The use of mirrors, silk, elaborate shadows, abstraction and angles also contributed to his work becoming noticed.

Moving to Paris in 1936, Blumenfeld was introduced by Cecil Beaton to French Vogue and was given a year's contract to work for the magazine.

Following the outbreak of Second World War, and a period of internment, Blumenfeld successfully fled France with his family for America.

Fashion photography for Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and advertising campaigns for Elizabeth Arden, Dior and L'Oréal followed, securing Blumenfeld a near legendary reputation.

Even today Blumenfeld is known as the photographer for having the most Vogue covers, an achievement all the more remarkable for his persistence in refusing to compromise with the magazine's picture editors.

Celebrity models such as Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn contributed to the glamour, but the exhibition images demonstrate that throughout Blumenfeld continued to develop  his work.

The confidently striking picture of a single eye, a beauty spot and a perfect pair of red lips for Vogue's March 1950 edition would be unknown on the front covers of today's magazines.

In a fitting tribute to Blumenfeld for Chanel, the Norwegian fashion photographer Solve Sundsbo commented "Blumenfeld was shooting 60 years ago what the rest of us will be shooting in 10 years time”.

Blumenfeld passed away in 1969 in typically unconformist style, believed to have deliberately forced a heart attack on himself by running up and down the Spanish Steps in Rome.

Following his death, an archive of some 8,000 prints were shared between his assistant and three children. Many of these have recently been faithfully restored and digitally mastered.

Blumenfeld left a stunning, much-copied and admired body of work that is surely as inspiring today as it was pioneering in the 1940s and 1950s.

We are delighted to announce a very special collaboration in Pearls with the BA Jewellery Design course at Central Saint Martins (CSM), London.

Central Saint Martins ranks amongst the most influential arts institutes in the world. It has the reputation for being the home of creativity. The College exists to generate knowledge, to inspire creativity and develop the next generation of ambitious designers, artists and performers. CSM attracts the world’s most talented students. Drawn from over 90 countries the students represent some of the world’s most exciting raw talents.

What will we be doing with CSM this year?

Firstly, we have been working with a selection of Year Three BA Jewellery Design students so that they have a fantastic opportunity to be given free rein to produce a stunning piece of jewellery using pearls. With our own heritage of over 50 years of knowledge and experience of working with pearls, we hope this collaboration will be a great experience for these soon-to-be graduates.

In June, Winterson will be awarding a prize for the Best Use of Pearls at the Jewellery Awards evening on 20th June 2013 during the Central Saint Martins degree shows.

Secondly, the Year One BA Jewellery Design students at CSM are working in conjunction the upcoming Pearls exhibition to be held at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the world famous museum of art and design, in the Autumn later this year. The exhibition explores the history of pearls from the early Roman Empire through to the present day, the beauty and allure of pearls which across centuries and cultures have long been associated with wealth, royalty and glamour.

Following an introductory talk by the exhibition's curator Beatriz Chadour, the students will be investigating the historic and cultural significance of pearls and their contemporary relevance and versatility. In addition they will be given a handling session at the V&A and experimenting directly with pearls in the workshops.

We will also be supporting these students with a range of pearls to work with. The results will be shown at the V&A on the Pearls exhibition Study Day, alongside a How to Wear Pearls event, which the students will be hosting.

It's a truly great privilege to be working with these two highly respected institutions of design.

Follow our Journal or Facebook page to keep up to date with how the collaboration develops this year.

Our buying team returned this week from Hong Kong with a new selection of fine pearls for our jewellery collections.

Hong Kong is the centre of the pearl business today, with dealers and pearl farmers from around the world sorting and selecting through the best (and the worst) of the new season's harvest of cultured pearls.

The size of this jewellery show also makes it one of the biggest in the world, with over 42,000 buyers from 140 different countries. Finished jewellery, brands and designers exhibit alongside the glittering distraction of rows upon rows of diamonds, precious gemstones and pearls.

With three main jewellery fairs in Hong Kong a year, the March and June exhibitions are the best time to view and select from the new harvest. This is because most pearls are harvested when the water is cool. Colder temperatures are believed to improve the quality of the lustre of the pearl.

Most sellers in the main part of the jewellery fair are wholesalers, but a number of the big pearl farmers and trade groups from the pearl producing regions of Tahiti, Australia and Indonesia also hold auctions by invitation to try and obtain the best prices for their new harvest.

In high demand this year were golden pearls from Myanmar, famed for their deep rich, burnt orangey golden colour. Prices for some pearls were reported to be reaching 5-8 times the seller's asking prices.

This is where it can take years of experience to be able to select a lot of fine pearls from the many others, recognising the excellent quality of nacre that gives the exceptional Akoya pearls above their mirror like shine, or the telltale signs of when a pearl's lustre is fading.

A typical pearl auction is held in a large quiet room away from the bustle of the main jewellery fair. Perhaps up to 300 or 400 different lots of loose pearls are arranged in bowls along long tables. Each lot will be comprised of between a few hundred to 5,000 individual pearls, sorted by shape, colour and quality, but usually mixed by size.

Buyers select a bowl that they are interested in, ask for it to be weighed and then search for a clear table with good, natural daylight to look at the pearls in each lot.

Sorting through such a large group of pearls such as the one above can be a daunting and rewarding challenge. It is important to think about the eventual use of the pearls in jewellery, their various grading qualities in terms of lustre, shape, colour and surface. Higher quality pearls will be used for earrings and pendants, whilst slightly less perfect pearls tend to be made into necklaces.

If everything looks good, the final stage of the auction is to make a sealed bid. A price in Japanese yen, dollars or euros (depending on the particular auction) is written on a small ticket and dropped into a ballot-like box.

A short wait follows, until the auction closes, before it is possible to see if your bid is ultimately successful.

Amongst our immediate favourites from this trip's selection were the beautiful dark Tahitian pearls picture above, with their gorgeous natural colours of peacock purple, cherry, aubergine, blue and green.

Over the next few months, we will be introducing these gems to Winterson.

Sometimes the simplest of thoughts can say it all.

With Valentine's Day being celebrated by lovers around the world this week, why not take a moment for some inspiration from one of our greatest and most romantic poets?

In his short life John Keats (1795-1821) wrote some of the most beautiful and sensual poetry that we know, including hundreds of letters and poems to the great love of his life Fanny Brawne.

Their time together, however, was cut tragically short. Soon after having met in the Autumn of 1818, Keats was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Moving south away from the cold English winter, Keats died in Rome in 1821 at the early age of 25. After leaving London, Keats did not see Brawne again and asked to be buried with a lock of her hair and her unopened letters that had been too painful for him to read.

This poem by Keats from an unidentified opera was published some time after his death and is filled full of longing for a lost love, who Keats symbolically compares to the innocence and purity of a perfect white pearl.

Asleep! O Sleep A Little While, White Pearl!

And let me kneel, and let me pray to thee,

And let me call Heaven’s blessing on thine eyes,

And let me breathe into the happy air,

That doth enfold and touch thee all about,

Vows of my slavery, my giving up,

My sudden adoration, my great love!

 John Keats, Extracts from an Opera, 1818

 

Our perfect gift for Valentine's Day would be this beautiful Akoya Pearl and Diamond Pendant, which features a classic round, white Akoya pearl with a sparkling diamond set in 18 carat white gold.

An understated and elegant piece of jewellery, there could be few simpler ways to surprise and celebrate your love.

Study any book on the history of fashion or jewellery and there is likely to be a bow design featured in its pages. This legendary motif is a symbol of love or marriage, and like the knot and the tassel, its origins are inspired by the most simple of fastenings.

From the late 17th century in the French royal court of Louis XIV, the bow motif in jewellery was perhaps first popularized. At a time when trade in gemstones was growing, and with new stone cutting techniques being developed, women enjoyed wearing sparkling bow jewels pinned or stitched to their attire.

How bow jewellery was worn also carried its own meaning  – a bow attached to a ribbon adorning a woman's neck is said to have suggested a playful side, whilst  a bow-shaped brooch worn close to the heart was a sign of being in love.

Bow brooches were known as Sévigné, named after the Marquise Marie de Sévigné, a French aristocrat who wrote numerous letters to her daughter depicting life at the 17th century Court.

An early description of the Sévigné brooch was by H. Clifford Smith in the early 20th century who wrote that "an important jewel worn at this time was a breast ornament, termed a Sévigné, after the celebrated lady of that name. This ornament took the form of a bow or rosette of open-work, of foliated design, generally of silver, set with small diamond splinters." (Source: Jewellery. G. P. Putnam’s Sons. New York. 1908).

The bow motif fell out of fashion with the French Revolution, but by the early 1900s appeared again as a favoured design motif of Edwardian ladies. Necklaces, earrings, pendants, rings and brooches in the shape of bows are very characteristic of the period.

With advances in the techniques to make platinum, bow jewellery designs also became delicate and elaborate like embroidery, and were often decorated with diamonds.

The bow is as popular today with its shape, symbolism, and classic influences in fashion. At Winterson, we are working on a new designer collection with Alice Cicolini that is inspired by the history of this celebrated motif.

Tim Walker: Story Teller is a new exhibition at Somerset House, London. What would fashion, a love for beautiful clothes and accessories be without the magic of photography?

Vogue has promoted fashion through its illustrations and photography since the foundation of the magazine in 1891. Amongst the most exciting fashion photographers today, Tim Walker has been working with the influential magazine for nearly 20 years.

For another two weeks until 27 January 2013, a selection of Tim Walker’s most exceptional photographs are being presented in a stunning exhibition at Somerset House, London.

Image 1: Karlie Kloss and broken Humpty Dumpty, Rye, East Sussex, 2010
Image 2: Olga Shearer on blue horse, Sennowe Park, Norfolk, 2007

Born in 1970 in England, Tim Walker started taking photographs as a teenager and at the age of 25 published his first fashion story for Vogue. The work of Tim Walker is in a way quintessentially British, with originality, eccentricity and humour.

The images are filled with wonder and fantasy as Tim Walker presents fashion in the context of magical sets, inspired by legendary fairy tales. The 175 photographs may be deceptively simple or elaborately staged using unusual props such as a monstrous giant doll or a life-size Spitfire crashing through a room. In every case, the photograph tells a story.

Image 1: Stella Tennant and pink powder cloud, Eglingham Hall, Northumberland, 2007
Image 2: Giant doll kicks Lindsey Wixson, Eglingham Hall, Northumberland, 2011

This romantic and extravagant style has attracted some of the biggest names in fashion. As well as working on the advertising campaigns of Mulberry, Hermès and Valentino, in recent years Tim Walker has succeeded in shooting some extraordinary images of Marion Cotillard, Kate Moss, Alexander McQueen and Helena Bonham Carter.

Despite this, Walker says the camera "is simply a box put between you and what you want to capture".

Image: Tilda Swinton and aviator goggles, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2011

The fabulous images exhibited at Somerset House include Xiao Wen & Lui Wen dressed as samurai nuns, Karlie Kloss shocked at a broken Humpty Dumpty, Olga Shearer on a dreamlike blue horse, Tilda Swinton in aviator googles and Malgosia Bela with five gravity-defying guardsmen.

If you are unable to visit the Tim Walker: Story Teller exhibition at Somerset House this month, a number of Tim Walker's photographs can also be viewed in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Or take a journey and wander into the fantasy world of Tim Walker.

It's time to drop a few subtle hints for Christmas and perhaps nudge them in the right direction, so we have selected a few of our favourite pieces of pearl jewellery from our collections for you to send as a reminder.

There are many different designs, types of pearls and colours to choose from. Timeless in style and always beautiful to wear, a carefully chosen gift of pearls will always be loved for a lifetime.

AKOYA PEARL AND DIAMOND PENDANT

New to Winterson this Christmas, is an elegant single white pearl and diamond pendant necklace. The most traditional of cultured pearls, the white Akoya pearl has a beautiful lustre to match the sparkle of its diamond.

 RUBY AND AKOYA PEARL STUD EARRINGS

These colourful earrings feature a circle of pink rubies set in 18 carat white gold around a white Japanese Akoya pearl. Designed by Sophie Breitmeyer, each stud earring is less than 10mm in diameter and are easy to wear and very comfortable.

 TAHITIAN PEARL AND DIAMOND YELLOW GOLD RING

Sparkling round brilliant cut diamonds showcase the gorgeous colours of this beautiful Tahitian pearl. This contemporary ring features a grey saltwater Tahitian pearl, which has been cultured in the warm ocean waters of French Polynesia.

CLASSIC AKOYA PEARL NECKLACE, BRACELET AND EARRINGS SET

A beautiful set of matched white Akoya pearls, finished with either an 18 carat white or yellow gold clasp. These classic cultured pearls from Japan are adored for their exquisite lustre and effortless elegance.

All our jewellery is delivered in our signature gift-wrapped jewellery box and pouch, with its distinctive classic zigzag pattern. The box is sealed with our coral Winterson flower and would be a delightful gift to be opening this Christmas.

If you would like to learn more, browse through the other gift suggestions of pearl jewellery in our new Christmas Gift Guide or view our Collections.

Dinner with Patron and Olympic medallist Tom Daley on a cold November's evening in London was just one of the highlights of the The Brain Tumour Charity's 15th anniversary Gala Dinner last week.

The Brain Tumour Charity is the leading brain tumour charity in the UK and was set up 15 years ago in memory of Samantha Dickson, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of 14. Her parents, Neil and Angela Dickson, set up the charity to make a difference after finding there was no dedicated brain tumour charity in the UK and a dire need of funding for research and support.

To date, the charity has raised over £12 million of funds solely from volunteers and donors, which has allowed it to sponsor research into new diagnosis and treatments, provide support to patients and their families, and to improve information about this critical illness.

The charity's most recent campaign Headsmart is raising awareness of how professionals and the public can improve the diagnosis of childhood brain tumours in the UK. One year on, the campaign has shown that diagnosis times have already been reduced from 9.3 weeks to 7.5 weeks, with a target of 5 weeks now in reach.

Speaking about the last 15 years, and their achievement in building the work of The Brain Tumour Charity into the UK's dedicated brain tumour charity, Neil and Angela Dickson said "we are proud of our work over the last fifteen years but remain resolute in our determination to find new treatments and diagnosis techniques for brain tumours."

We are really delighted to be able to help support this hardworking and professional team in the important work that they do.

If you would like to help or fundraise for The Brain Tumour Charity, then more information can be found on their website. Thank you.