Knock on Wood: Precious Wooden Jewellery for Luck and Grounding
Would you consider swapping gold and gemstones for wood? Rachael Taylor speaks to the designers embracing this alternative jewellery material and discovers that – when sourced and treated in the right way – this familiar everyday material can be elevated to new luxurious heights.
Wood is integral to our lives. Be it the tables we sit at with friends or the front doors we pass through to do so, we have so many touchpoints throughout the day with this grounding material. And now, you can incorporate it into your jewellery collection as a growing number of jewellery designers seek out cuts of exclusive wood as an alternative to more traditionally precious materials.
For Danish designer and architect Sarah Müllertz, founder of the jewellery brand Kinraden, choosing cuts of Mpingo blackwood faceted into gemstone shapes rather than the real thing was about minimising her environmental impact. “One of the values underpinning Kinraden from the start was that everything would be sourced in the most gentle way,” she says. “To prevent any climate effects or CO2 emissions, I would not be digging anything from the ground. This meant it was quite easy and quick for me to decide that I couldn’t use gemstones in any way.”
Kinraden Brethren ring with cushion-cut Mpingo blackwood set in 18k yellow gold
The Mpingo blackwood is grown in a small, ethically managed forest in Tanzania for the purpose of crafting wind instruments, such as clarinets and oboes. Jewellery designer Cora Sheibani also sources the wood for her Pottering Around collection in this way, which includes a pair of earrings in the form of upside-down pots with cascades of wooden leaves. “My decision to use [ebony and walnut] woods was logical, as they fitted the design and organic shapes I wanted to accomplish,” says Sheibani. “My two trusted goldsmiths in Switzerland are highly skilled in working with all kinds of materials, including wood. Anyone who can carve in wax can also carve in wood.”
Kinraden uses its musical offcuts in a variety of ways: as quirky alternative gems (which are popular with its male clientele), as pendulous drops in its Doric earrings, or alternating them with gold to make its striped Bauhaus-inspired Two Worlds collection. “It is interesting to introduce a material that is beautiful, valuable and provides a fresh outlook on how we introduce and repurpose existing materials in fine jewellery,” says Müllertz.
Kinraden Ionic Mpingo earring with cut and polished Mpingo blackwood set in 18k gold
Just as with gems or jewels, it is important to ask how any precious wood has been sourced, as rare types of hardwood can have ethical complications, as jewellery designer Emily P. Wheeler explains: “[New] ebony is impossible to source sustainably today as the trees are endangered and farming and harvesting them is extremely damaging to the environment. My ebony pieces are made from an old log I sourced from a sculptor who purchased it in the 1960s and used it in his work. He had extra, and I bought it all.” Wheeler also uses petrified wood – fossilised wood that can display unusual colouring due to traces of elements such as iron, cobalt and copper – which she says is plentiful and free from sustainability concerns. It does, however, require a skilled hand to carve it. “I did once use a petrified piece that was so hard it broke our saw, but we persisted, and the result was beautiful,” she shares.
Peggy Grosz, former creative director at New York jeweller Assael, is a fan of fossilised wood, too. “I find the patterns to be so interesting,” she says. Assael picks out the hues in the wood and matches it to gems: luminous petrified bog wood with bright-white South Sea pearls; blue opalised fossil wood with aquamarines and blue Tahitian pearls; earthy-toned petrified wood from Oregon matched with green Tahitian pearls.
At the PAD art fair held in London in October, Fernando Jorge presented his first pieces crafted in wood, a nine-piece limited edition called Deep Stream. The Brazilian designer has a penchant for homegrown materials, and this was no exception. The wood he chose was Amazonian Red Louro, a flexible and durable hardwood that displays no knots and few imperfections of any kind. “An ethically sourced wood from the Amazon is just as precious and exciting to me as a rare gem,” says Jorge, who reminds us that this is just another exquisite natural material in his arsenal as much as any gemstone.
The designer has shaped the wood into his signature curvaceous style and adorned it with pear-cut brown diamonds and droplets of yellow gold. When you first see it, its strangeness attracts the eye, as it seems deliciously out of place side by side with more traditional high jewellery. Yet, when you place it on your skin, a different feeling altogether occurs: it feels like home.
There is a calming familiarity about wood that makes it feel instantly ours. That makes us feel safe and grounded. As the well-worn phrase tells us, we must ‘touch wood’ for luck and protection. Though luxury wooden jewellery seems to be very much in vogue now, it is not a new idea. Van Cleef & Arpels’ talismanic Touch Wood collection of wooden rings set with gemstones launched in 1916.
Silvia Furmanovich has become well known for her work with wood marquetry, which she uses to create complex yet lightweight jewels. Her pieces use ‘found wood’, with hand-cut veneer pieces made from fallen materials such as fallen tree branches or bark from exotic species, including Muirapiranga, Tatajuba, Louro Abacate, Roxinho and Azul Carvalho. Each has a different natural hue of red, yellow, green, purple or blue. She describes the process as offering an “endless variety of intricate and detailed motifs, which gives a lot of creative freedom”.
Silvia Furmanovich earrings with wood marquetry and aquamarines
“Wood is a remarkable medium in its own right, offering boundless creative possibilities,” agrees Floridian artist Christina Puchi, whose jewellery brand CCWW Designs creates ebony, walnut, and chestnut jewels with shell and heart motifs adorned with diamonds and yellow gold. “I have a deep appreciation for texture and enjoy crafting pieces from diverse materials that feel, look, and even sound unique.”
While Puchi cautions that wood jewellery requires special care (the main advice is to keep it dry), she also extols its ability to age with us. “Jewellery, especially pieces made from natural materials like wood, is meant to be worn and loved,” she says. “It will change over time, developing a beautiful patina that reflects its journey. I believe this ageing process adds depth, making each piece more meaningful as it accompanies clients through their lives.”
For luxury jewellery collectors, the following question will inevitably arise: what separates cheap wooden trinkets from luxury jewellery incorporating wood? Firstly, it comes down to the choice of wood. Seek out ethically sourced rare or precious specimens, such as African blackwood, Brazilian rosewood, ebony or petrified wood. But also, as Grosz at Assael advises, find someone who will treat this natural wonder like the precious commodity it is: “Only when the finished pieces are made in the same way as fine jewellery, with appropriate metalsmithing and other precious elements, such as gemstones or pearls [would I consider wood jewellery to be luxurious].”
We all need to ‘touch wood’ now and again, be it for luck or to bring us back into harmonious alignment with the natural world. And what better way to have instant access than with precious wooden jewels?
WORDS
Rachael Taylor Rachael is a sought-after speaker, industry consultant and judge at prestigious jewellery competitions including the UK Jewellery Awards and The Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards. She is also the author of two books on jewellery.
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