Solange Azagury-Partridge: I want to do jewellery that is not so common, different from everyone else’s

Solange Azagury-Partridge is an outstanding British designer whose jewellery is very different from everyone else’s. She has a style, all her own, edgy, quirky and very appealing to celebrities and some members of the Royal Family. Very interested in Solange’s creations, I met with the designer to talk about some of her iconic collections, her time at Boucheron and what jewellery means to her.

K.P.: It was you who designed the Quatre ring for Boucheron, wasn’t it?

S.A.P: Yes, I did design it before the other variations that you can now find here. I don’t know why I did Quatre for Boucheron, I took it from me and gave it to them and they make about 40% of their turnover with that ring.

K.P.: Would you say that you have learnt a lot from working at Boucheron?

S.A.P: Yes, I would say that, it gave me more courage and confidence in myself when I left, I felt much stronger.

K.P.: Have you ever thought about becoming a jeweller yourself?

S.A.P: I am too impatient; sometimes I cannot even be bothered to draw. I like working with my hands, but I like to see an immediate effect.

K.P.: There are many gemstones in your collections. Is there any that you particularly like yourself?

S.A.P: Yes, I love emeralds the most and rubies. They are such intense extraordinary colours, aren’t they?

K.P.: And when you prepare the design, do you match a stone to a design or vice versa?

S.A.P: Yes, generally I do the design first, which is not the traditional way of doing it. Lots of times a stone is so intrinsically valuable that you have to design around the stone. It depends…I design jewellery rather than structures for gemstones.

K.P.: Many of your jewellery pieces have geometrical design…why?

S.A.P: I do not know really, I did not have any maths background. Platonic was about maths, but I actually failed my maths. It is about the imagery of maths, which is very beautiful. If you look at the structures and shapes, this is what appeals to me. The natural shape of the diamond, the crystal: this is one of the Plutonic solids. That’s why suddenly I had an idea to do a whole collection about diamonds.

K.P.: There is lots of personality in your jewellery I must say. How was the “Stones” collection born?

S.A.P: Stones was about exploring the beauty of stones in every way: real stones, fake stones, fruit stones. And then I wanted to do the enamel story. It started off with a desire to design a collection an old-fashioned way. So we got the stones and then we designed.

K.P.: I am particularly attracted to your lips collection. What does it symbolize for you?

S.A.P: You know when I was much younger I always drew eyes and lips and kissed the piece of paper before sending a letter. It is figurative and my favourite artists are figurative art, I love faces. The eyes are a window to the soul and the lips express sensuality. Two parts of a person, two different aspects of somebody: a soul and physicality.