‘Love Knots': Alexandra Jefford and Smythson create five gold rings for Wallpaper* Handmade

Since early times, natural materials – wool, grass, leather – have been used to create symbolic finger knots denoting unity. As ancient symbolism for partnership goes, few motifs resonate as powerfully, whether in love, comradeship or political union.
Considering the gold ring, a refined form of the early love knot, and the jewel that typically represents togetherness in the Western world, the 2019 Wallpaper* Handmade ‘love’ theme presented an opportunity to explore the global origins of early knots. The range of cultural references in Jefford’s designs made her stand out as our jeweller collaborator of choice, while the rich leather palette Smythson is famed for led us to the heritage British leather house. Here we present their unique series of five gold rings inspired by the ties that bind us all.
Alexandra Jefford
We’re big fans of jeweller and artist Alexandra Jefford’s art-theory inspired precious pieces. From her ‘O’ series, featuring a Josef Albers font-inspired ring collection, to solo exhibitions where her jewellery informs wider, sculptural works, a constant interplay of art, craft and architectural discipline weaves deftly through her designs. The London-based jeweller is driven by the notion of creating an accessible art form, while staying true to her roots in fine art. Jefford works mainly on a commission-only basis from her studio in Soho, London.
Smythson
The British leather goods house famed for its lightweight, bound portable diaries, handbags and personalized pale-blue stationery has, in its 130 years, become one of the great names of British craft tradition. A natural product designer, its founder Frank Smythson made his name in 1908 with a leather-bound diary so pliable it could be “squashed, folded or rolled up without becoming marked or misshapen, fitting into a gent’s breast pocket without causing the least disfigurement’. Today, newly appointed creative director Luc Goidadin is gearing up to explore Smythson’s colourful heritage through the prism of a keen, contemporary vision.
Jeweller Alexandra Jefford's sketches for the yellow-gold 'Neverending Knot', celebrating lasting unions
The thinking behind the gold and leather 'To-Do Knot' – or quipu – design is illustrated in Alexandra Jefford's original sketch
INFORMATION
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Caragh McKay is a contributing editor at Wallpaper* and was watches & jewellery director at the magazine between 2011 and 2019. Caragh’s current remit is cross-cultural and her recent stories include the curious tale of how Muhammad Ali met his poetic match in Robert Burns and how a Martin Scorsese Martin film revived a forgotten Osage art.
-
Meet Malak Mattar, the Palestinian artist behind the 'Together for Palestine' concert at London's Wembley Arena
The London-based artist curates a landmark concert of music and art in support of Gaza, alongside Brian Eno, James Blake, Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry and more
-
A new coffee table book proves that one designer’s trash is another’s treasure
The Rizzoli tome, launching today (16 September 2025), delves into the philosophy and process of Retrouvius, a design studio reclaiming salvaged materials in weird and wonderful ways
-
A carbon-emission-busting house, yeast-biomass building, and more ‘Designs for a Cooler Planet’
‘Designs for a Cooler Planet’ returns to Aalto University in Finland as part of the annual Helsinki design and architecture week, highlighting buildings, materials and solutions towards a better future
-
Art takes London: Tiffany & Co, Damien Hirst and artists take over Selfridges' windows
Four British contemporary artists celebrate Tiffany & Co's pioneering history with a series of storied window displays
-
All smiles: How a grillz jewellery making class in London became an international hit
What started as a passion project quickly exploded in popularity. We get the story behind the grillz-making workshop at Cockpit London
-
Emerging jewellery designers to get to know
These independent, new and emerging jewellery designers and brands from New York to Paris are firmly on our radar
-
Playing it cool: pearls are having a moment
We've been deep-diving into boutiques around the world to find the very best calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form. It seems jewellers have been busy rethinking pearls, with contemporary (and often affordable) results
-
Eternity rings for the modern couple
Eternity rings, whether sleekly minimalist or sprinkled in diamonds, can be a chic and contemporary love token
-
CryptoPunks come to life on Tiffany & Co pendants
Tiffany & Co has partnered with blockchain infrastructure company Chain to create custom pendants and NFTiffs
-
Order of the day: Pomellato’s high jewellery takes us from dawn to dusk
Pomellato’s new high jewellery collection, La Gioia, tells the story of a day in precious stones
-
Anklets welded onto the body make romantic and enduring jewellery tokens
Atelier VM’s ‘L’Essenziale’ jewellery collection now includes slender gold anklets