The Age of Understatement

What do we see in jewellery? Extravagance and riches, sparkles and dancing light, abundant beauty pleasing the eye? Yes, but if you drill down, there’s another truth buried in the depths, running like a precious seam through a mountain. It is this: most jewellery is overdone.The enchantment of ‘more’ was originally dispelled by Thomas More. In 1516, he published Utopia, which explores an ideal society… fictional, of course. In the land of Utopia, gold and rare stones do not signify high status. Instead, they betray the wearer’s inability to resist emblems of material wealth.

That’s why we have chosen 77 Diamonds to achieve minimalist splendour; for they know over-exerted flamboyancy and mindless ultra-maximalism never serve the wearer. Gone are the days of diamonds the size of a fist and rubies the size of pigeon eggs. We are not the Romanovs or Elizabeth Taylor. In our age of Transformative Twenties, delicate fixtures are the winners. In Utopia, finery is used to adorn infants, and when adolescence dawns they discard their precious metals and gems, embarrassed at being grouped with the children and their puerile affinity towards shiny objects. Please reader, do not recoil! Do not run from the idea that status symbols may not be quite all that. And do not, at any cost, whip off your engagement ring and guiltily donate it to the nearest newborn. It’s worth remember that we don’t live in utopia. And we are all occasionally seduced by piles of coloured rocks. 

In our age of Transformative Twenties, delicate fixtures are the winners.

The trick is knowing how to play it, for jewellery can decorate and define an outfit. When done right, an earring full of flickering light as seen in the Gaia Tanzanite diamond drops, or a kinetic pendant slipping on a sylveren chain like the Muse Duet Necklace and Drop, can round out a whole look. Render it expensive, explosive, tasteful, tantalising, sensual, or sophisticated. Over five-hundred years ago, More set in motion the grand revelation we see here today. Let us not run amok, clutching huge pearls like toddlers, smitten by the twinkling of tin foil! Insouciant cool and current-day beauty are achieved through the wisdom of knowing overindulgent displays are mere distraction… for truly good jewellery enhances the wearer, it doesn’t drown them.

Photographer: Judith Rita Nanyonga

Lighting Assistant: Michael Kind

Model: Nadia MendesHair-stylist: Racheal Barker

MUA: Nana Andersen

For more from 77 Diamonds visit: https://www.77diamonds.com/engagement-rings