Inverted diamonds spell a secret message, picked out in Braille and numbers, in an elegant statement ring with hidden meaning. For London-based designer Jessie VE, jewelry can be a medium for personal storytelling, via pieces that take personalization further than the ubiquitous monogram.
The three rows of brilliant-cut white diamonds on a triple 18k band make their own statement, but look a little closer and you’ll see that some are intriguingly set point-up. The Feel the Love ring is created to spell out an eight-character message – initials, dates, star signs – in a sensory secret communication designed for the wearer alone. And it’s one of the most discrete and personal forms of personalized luxury around.
A ring born of inclusivity
The idea itself was born of a personal reflection around inclusivity: “I love that this collection could include a vast community of people who might feel overlooked by the aesthetic-based world of fine jewelry,” says Jessie Evans, whose thoughtful work has won over stars including Taylor Swift, Debra Messing, and Gemma Arterton. “Inclusivity is something I try my best to remember in both my work and personal life.”
A private message is rendered all the more intimate when it can be read solely through touch, and those messages are safe with the Jessie VE team. The designer would not divulge her most unusual requests for this piece but added that the collection is: “a joy to create for people. We’ve been part of some really heartfelt moments”.
I first came across Jessie VE’s striking diamond jewelry at a London Fashion Week accessories showcase, where the lighting in the ironic location – a repurposed office building – did nothing for the treasures within. Alongside the trend-led fashion jewelry and directional hats, Jessie’s delicate Constellation rings caught my eye, mapped-out signs of the Zodiac, modeled in 18k gold with diamond accents.
A passion for storytelling was sparked early on in her career when she worked for jeweler Elizabeth Gage researching and painting the Roman coins and other artifacts that inspired Gage’s work. She was led to research the myths and gods of antiquity and from there, came the idea of hiding deeper meaning in her own collections.
Art or adornment?
“I find it very difficult to wear jewelry that doesn’t have a deeper meaning,” she says, citing the Victorian enthusiasm for symbolic jewelry to illustrate her own relationship with the pieces she wears. Aesthetically, her Lucky Numbers collection of rings and necklaces draw from that era, with Victorian design signatures like millegrain texturing, belcher chain and blackened gold highlighting black diamond-set numbers with special significance.
Inspiration is wide-ranging, from fortune-telling and architecture to feminism and history, but it’s not the concepts themselves that spark ideas, it’s the human perspective on each one. “Braille is a fascinating technique,” she says of the sensory language originally developed as a way for visually challenged people to read and communicate that she honors in the Feel the Love ring. And it’s the human interpretations of that language of touch, mixed with a little of the language of love, that make this investment piece so special.
