Every Solenne piece begins long before the first bead is threaded.
It begins with the stones.
I spend time looking at colour, texture, finish and the subtle variations that exist within natural materials. Sometimes a design begins with a particular gemstone. At other times, it begins with a colour I have seen in nature, a landscape, a memory or simply two materials placed beside one another unexpectedly.
From there, the process becomes instinctive.
Stones are arranged and rearranged. Proportions change. A pearl might soften a composition; a gold detail might introduce warmth. Sometimes the smallest adjustment completely changes the feeling of a piece.
Nothing is rushed into its final form.
Once a design feels right, each piece is made by hand. This is an important part of Solenne for me. I want there to remain a direct connection between the person imagining the jewellery and the hands creating it.
Natural gemstones inevitably introduce their own character into the process. One may be slightly deeper in colour; another may carry an inclusion or marking formed within the earth. Rather than trying to eliminate those differences, I work with them.
They are part of the piece.
Once finished, the same attention continues into the details surrounding the jewellery. Each piece is placed inside a handmade suede leather pouch and accompanied by a card telling the story of its materials, before being presented in its Solenne box.
The packaging is not intended simply to contain the jewellery. It is part of the ritual of receiving something that has been made carefully.
From choosing the stones to tying the final detail, the process is deliberately personal.
A collection of natural materials becomes a piece of jewellery.
And somewhere along the way, it acquires a story of its own.
