Get personal with Bea Bongiasca’s colourful initial necklaces in enamel
Bea Bongiasca’s ‘B Colour’ collection of initial necklaces brings a chic modernity to personalised jewellery
Bea Bongiasca brings her distinctive brand of colourful irreverence to her new series of initial necklaces. Spelling out the letters of the alphabet in gold and enamel, the new pieces make the perfect playful summer accessory.
‘I started with bi-colour combinations. Once we perfected this effect, it then allowed me to go more deeply into creating the tri-colour and then the multiple colours,’ Bongiasca says. ‘The other jewels have a gold and enamel look, which was also great because it allowed us to use four to five different colours at a time.’
The jewellery designer was inspired by everything from interiors to painting and fashion for the pieces, part of the new ‘B Colour’ collection, which unites contrasting colours in both the initials and vine and flower motifs.
‘We saw an increased demand for personalised pieces and noticed the gap in the market for beautiful and affordable enamel initials,’ she adds.
Each letter encompasses a different design, with some stripped-back pieces leaving the gold exposed in a new move for Bongiasca. Other pieces mix jewel, pastel and bold hues in an amalgamation of colour and styles, which can be worn alone or stacked for greater effect.
The letters necklaces join enamelled earrings in new shapes, from freely drawn flowers to her distinctive coiling tendrils, while the addition of a smaller hoop for the first time brings an added wearability to jewellery. 'I think that there is always a place for a splash of colour in people’s lives, so why not in their jewels?’ Bongiasca has commented in the past, when discussing diamond and enamel rings. ‘It’s a small, mood-boosting escapism that, applied to fine jewellery, is something that you wear and cherish forever.’
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Hannah Silver is the Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*. Since joining in 2019, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury. She enjoys travelling, visiting artists' studios and viewing exhibitions around the world, and has interviewed artists and designers including Maggi Hambling, William Kentridge, Jonathan Anderson, Chantal Joffe, Lubaina Himid, Tilda Swinton and Mickalene Thomas.
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