Completedworks has branched out into the bridal market with a chic capsule collection with Matchesfashion. Typically offbeat, the collection takes a sideways look at traditional bridal jewellery, eschewing the pretty and the polite in favour of asymmetrical design codes, pops of colour and opulently oversized silhouettes.
The 13 pieces in the collection draw looping forms in freshwater pearls and coloured zirconia gemstones. For founder Anna Jewsbury, it is a natural development for the brand. ‘We’ve always had a fairly large bridal client base for our demi-fine pieces as well as our 18ct range, and jewellery has fairly obvious connotations to bridal but off the back of the pandemic, the idea of being able to celebrate communally again feels really powerful. So it felt like the right time to create a collection that really had the idea of connectivity at its core,’ she says.
New take on bridal jewellery
The pieces, crafted in 14ct gold-plated recycled silver, bring sustainability to the forefront. ‘An awareness and respect for materials and the environment have been important to us from the beginning,’ Jewsbury acknowledges. ‘It started with the reclaimed marble in our very first collection – we were putting marble in our products from quarries that had closed – and you are sitting holding a piece of marble and have the realisation that this is the only piece you are going to get to work with. So we had a sense that we were working with finite resources from an early stage.’
It is a considered philosophy carried through to the pieces, which play on classic styles with a cool irreverence, making a chic addition to traditional wedding jewellery such as engagement or eternity rings. ‘We wanted to take the designs off-centre and add in deliberate juxtapositions with the ultimate aim of creating new classics. It was important to us that the pieces weren’t too fussy too. That they’d look equally good with a white T-shirt and flared jeans,’ says Jewsbury.
And what did she wear on her own wedding day? ‘I wore some pearl and diamond earrings borrowed from my mum. My husband proposed with a coupon for a Completedworks engagement ring. I think it was the longest commission I’ve ever worked on!’ §
