David Gill Gallery presents a new group exhibition of fine jewellery entitled ‘New Nature’, curated by author and historian Carol Woolton.

The exhibition explores the diversity of design through the work of seven jewellers, defining how nature is expressed now in the world of fine jewellery, and marking an exciting moment.

Two of the major names of our period will be on show: the poetic fluidity of Hong Kong-based Michelle Ong and Italian artist Maurizio Fioravanti, whose unique and highly intricate micro mosaic fantasies utterly enchant and delight.

US jeweller Mish Tworkowski offers a selection of pieces revealing detailed and textural artistry, whilst Italian artist Fabio Salini will show work that is bold, contemporary and highly creative. Delicate beauty can be found in the elegant work of British artist Christopher Thompson Royds. Fellow UK based jeweller Dina Kamal fuses her modern approach, rooted in architecture, with precise craftsmanship. The gallery is also delighted to announce an exciting new name and point of view in fine jewellery. Paris-based Philippe Vourc’h is showing new pieces that are imbued with a sophisticated and timeless elegance.

“Nature has provided the backdrop to our lives from the beginning,” explains Carol. “Historically, artists and designers have shown their recurring fascination with biophilic design in the decorative arts as the original way people chose to enhance, enrich, as well as describe their lives. As the world around us transforms so does our vision of nature. Designers interpret nature through a complex interplay of factors dictated by fashion, artistic movements, technological innovations as well as events and beliefs of the period.”

Francis Sultana, CEO of David Gill Gallery says, “The Gallery has a long association with showing jewellery and objets de désir - originally with 50 years of Fashion exhibition back in 1987; to a historical show of Line Vautrin, to fine jewellery of Luigi Scialanga, to more recent work by Michele Oka Doner and Emmanuel Tarpin. This new group show, curated by Carol Woolton, one of the UK's leading authors and fine jewellery experts, marks a wonderful new chapter in the gallery's long relationship with fine jewellery. The jewellers that Carol has brought together, from all over the world, really are some of the very best working in fine jewellery today and I am so excited with this new step for the gallery and its work with jewellers as artists.”

Christopher Thompson Royds is a British jeweller who looks to everyday nature that has always surrounded him for his inspiration. Christopher says: “the insistent jangle of my great aunt – her layers of gold chains chattering like crickets in a summer meadow. As a child, the first jewellery I ever made were daisy chains. Hundreds of them. A rite of passage shared by many. For me, the heralds of spring are catkins.

They jiggle in the breeze like little lambs’ tails, hopeful of the returning light. We’ve long brought nature into our homes to celebrate; Easter branches to welcome spring, holly to mark the winter solstice. This wild cherry branch carries that tradition, the joy of a new season captured in silver and bronze.”

Mish Tworkowski is Palm Beach-based, having worked from New York for over three decades, establishing Mish Fine Jewellery as one of the US’s most prestigious fine jewellery houses. Mish says, “the title of the exhibition New Nature resonates deeply with me, as so much of my work is inspired by the natural world. The pieces in the exhibition, based mainly on twigs and tree bark, have both literal and abstract references to horticultural material I found on my morning walks through the verdant woods near our country home in upstate New York. I take great pleasure in searching for the most beautiful specimens to base my designs on and the ‘Twig’ Neck Collar and ‘Bark' Cuff are two of my favourites. I find great inspiration in the magic of nature and love to continually explore its beauty in my work.”

Michelle Ong is one of the most influential and distinctive voices in fine jewellery today. The Hong Kong based jeweller and philanthropist is co-founder and creative director of the jewellery house Carnet. Powerful, often gravity-defying, meticulously crafted from the most precious of stones; shape, texture and colour combine in works that are inspired by the five phases of nature– wood, fire, earth, metal and water, which also sit in parallel to Chinese culture and philosophy. Ong uses storytelling to weave themes of power, art and timeless elegance into every unique piece that she creates.

Philippe Vourc’h is an exciting new name in fine jewellery, devoting himself to the essence of his art: conceiving singular pieces imbued with emotion. From his earliest days in Brittany, immersed in nature, Philippe Vourc’h nurtured the dream of becoming a jeweller. Trained at the École Boulle, he has devoted nearly twenty years to the world of jewellery, including close to fifteen at Place Vendôme.

Twice a finalist in the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France competition, he has honed his craft over the years in a ceaseless pursuit of excellence. Philippe devotes himself to the essence of his art: conceiving singular pieces imbued with emotion. Each jewel from the debut ‘Lobe’ collection captures that fragile instant when time seems to hold its breath—a reflection of secret inspirations, felt more than explained.

Based in Rome, Fabio Salini’s background in geological sciences and a specialisation in gemmology was refined for many years working for Cartier and Bulgari. Since opening his own atelier in 1999, Salini brings a Sicilian atmosphere into his jewels, through colour, material and a connection with nature. Salini says: “my creative journey is best seen through exploration of different materials; from leather to straw and carbon fibre, each material presents its own strengths, and challenges to work with, which constantly pushes my work to new dimensions. I have always wanted the objects I create to be surprising and unexpected, and through my understanding of contemporary art, I am always questioning the accepted norms of jewellery-making, so I can approach it in a more conceptual way.”

In In the world of contemporary High Jewellery, Roman artist Maurizio Fioravanti stands apart. Entirely self-taught and raised in the Eternal City, his life since childhood has revolved around collecting ancient marbles and studying the extraordinary craftsmanship and lapidary traditions of Rome’s past. One of the few true micro-mosaicists remaining in the world, Fioravanti is singular in his fusion of this revered ancient art with highly avant-garde materials. As a result, he creates fewer than ten pieces each year. Captured here in the playful Cage earrings, precious micro mosaic is set into porcelain wings to form ethereal butterflies, mounted on an impossibly light zirconium structure that shimmers with diamonds. A poetic evocation of nature, the work embodies centuries of savoir-faire expressed through a distinctly modern language.

Dina Kamal is a Lebanese, UK-based architect and fine jewellery designer, focused on jewellery and objects. Handcrafting is at the heart of the design process and each piece is inspired by a story, a function or a bespoke commission. Dina says, “as an architect, I always consider form, proportion, context, structure, and beauty in everything I do. Most of all I consider how a piece or design can impact us emotionally.

I love to define the character of the piece. To expose its’ soul. There is a balance that I aim to reach so that the work is bold yet understated. Also, a balance between a structured / architectural and a sensual form. I feel when I give attention to these factors the work tends to be stronger and more timeless.”

Curator’s Statement – Carol Woolton

Nature has provided the backdrop to our lives from the beginning. Historically artists and designers have shown their recurring fascination with biophilic design in the decorative arts as the original way people chose to enhance, enrich, as well as describe their lives. As the world around us transforms so does our vision of nature. Designers interpret nature through a complex interplay of factors dictated by fashion, artistic movements, technological innovations as well as events and beliefs of the period.

Apart from precious materials successful jewellery compositions include unique design, imagination, a sense of artistry combined with the current preoccupations with how we live. In a world experiencing eco-anxiety related to the environmental crisis what defines the ‘new nature’ is an intensely personal moment experienced by the artist and their own connection to nature. It might be the simplicity of a twig underfoot, rendering the textural pattern of bark in gold or the shape of grassy semi circles on the horizon. When newly hunted exotic looking orchids were propagated by industrial magnates in hothouses, they dominated the jewellery landscape mimicked in enamel and diamonds. Now orchids are mass produced and widely sold in most supermarkets and what appears more precious to us are humble hedgerow blooms, like the clovers and catkins rendered by Christopher Thompson Royds, that we know need protecting. In some cases, the vision of nature is more straightforward and figurative than others; the biomimicry of Michelle Ong’s breathtaking butterfly with gossamer diamond-lace wings exemplify her excellence of execution as do Maurizio Fioravanti’s painstaking fabrication of micro mosaic tesserae ‘tiles’ by hand without magnification to create intricate and fanciful images of colourful butterflies.

Pattern, texture and material make common ground. But these jewels are driven by individual emotional responses to nature or fleeting moments quietly observed. So, the wayward splendour of Philippe Vourc’h’s earrings, the new voice in high jewels we are launching here, are a dream inspired by his secret garden - which remains, secret. Whilst the work by renowned Palm Beach jewellery designer Mish, an obsessive gardener, often reflects his favourite colourful blooms in nature-inspired featuring unusual materials, he’s vocal here about the furrowed nature of bark engraved on smooth and irregular surfaces of gold and diamond collars and cuffs. Lebanese architect turned jewellery designer Dina Kamal focuses on the natural volume and shape of specific phenomena in her matt golden fish-tail rings whilst Fabio Salini brings a Sicilian atmosphere into his jewels through colour, material and a connection with nature. These modern jewels are collectible with each one illustrative of the maker’s intimate relationship with small natural wonders in their own environments from Hong Kong to Rome, Lebanon, Florida and the British countryside. Supremely crafted they are symbolic of joy - embodying a sense of permanence to shine long into the future.