Crystal Bubbles Cap, Cuff and Ring

I was one of sixteen high profile jewellery designers with experience in catwalk collaborations to be commissioned by Swarovski (synthetic crystal manufacturers) to design for a catwalk event 'Runway Rocks', showcasing jewellery, rather than clothing. It gave me the opportunity to challenge the idea of preciousness by using industrial materials to create a glamour product, crossing the boundaries of product and jewellery design.

I produced a pink rubber head piece with a matching cuff and ring encrusted with crystals. Material exploration was at the heart of my process. Instead of the conventional Swarovski jewellery range, I chose to use very large, heavy crystal balls originally developed for the Swarovski Interior Design division and adapted to my request in the Swarovski factory in Austria. I chose silicon rubber as the base material for its aesthetic and physical qualities: vibrant colour, tactility and elasticity. Working with specialist model makers I devised rubber suction settings for the stones, which is a new method of setting costume jewellery stones.

This project is an example of post modern application to jewellery design. Both the rubber and the large crystal stones are conventionally used for domestic, product and industrial design, but they adapt well to glamour catwalk accessories.